Six candidates for two at-large seats on the Lexington-Richland School District 5 Board of Trustees gathered Oct. 19 at a breakfast forum to answer questions prepared by the Greater Chapin Chamber of Commerce, Irmo Chamber of Commerce and members of the community.

All nine candidates running in the Nov. 8 election were invited to attend, with all but Mike Satterfield, Kevin Scully and incumbent Nikki Gardner participating.

During the event at Lake Catholic Church, William Lynch of Thompson Funeral Homes, past-chair of the Chapin Chamber Board of Directors, asked questions about district priorities, measurements of success, trangender children within schools and sports, transparency, capital project funds, critical race theory, and discipline.

When it came to the topic of transgender children in schools, most of the candidates agreed every student should be embraced and that there’s a learning curve for figuring out how to handle the issue appropriately.

Ken Loveless, current vice-chair of the Lexington-Richland board, said his personal feelings are not what needs to be considered here but the students.

Elizabeth Barnhardt, who is running on the platform of being a “conservative reformer”, spoke about what she sees as a need to keep girls and boys restrooms separate.

“I don't believe that we need to start mixing the two in between,” she said. “I don't think that there's any place for men in girls restrooms, there's no place for girls in boys restrooms.”

When it came to the topic of transgender students in sports competing in the gender with which they identify, the candidates gave a variety of answers: Loveless said it would be unfair; Barnhardt thinks separate teams are an option; Kimberly Snipes is divided; Scott Herring did not have an opinion yet; and Renard Green brought up Title IX.

Tiffany Moore, a current board member, was an active voice during the forum regarding students and teachers mental health, one of the pillars of her campaign platform. 

“You're talking about the child as a whole, and you have to focus on the mental well being of the child, what is best for that child,” she said. “If that child is is not comfortable in their body and they are transgender, as a school, we're there to provide them a mental safe space“

When the budget was discussed, Moore advocated for the “Irmo cluster,” saying that regardless of being over budget, Irmo High School and surrounding elementary schools have to be taken care of.

When Lynch asked the canidates about their stance on critical race theory and how parents can know if it is hidden in the curriculum, candidates were unanimous on the stance that CRT should not be taught in the classroom. A majority of board members spoke about how they are not aware of CRT being taught in District 5, with many positing it would have been discovered already.

“My stance of it is that CRT is not being taught and is illegal,” Loveless said. “As a board member, one of the things we're going to have to do is enforce the law. So the governor and legislature passed a law saying that that's not legal. So therefore, it should not be taught.”

Green, a district resident for 33 years, said the teachings of CRT are for higher education and graduate students.

“For big kids up into college? Yeah, let them have that,” he said.

In regard to student safety, the candidates were unanimously supportive of the choices made by the district so far, though some mentioned that there is still more to be done.

Snipes spoke about her experience with her child's school, which has metal detectors at the front office – though, when an event was held in a different area of the school, that detector was moved, leaving the front open. This led to her gathering the belief that more needs to be done.

“I think it's less about change for me and more about growing some of the things that we already have started putting in place.” she said.

Herring also shared an experience with school safety. He spoke about how these safety regulations and mishaps can be boiled down to human error.

“Just three to four weeks ago I went into the high school at Irmo, signed in, walked through the metal detector, it went off, no one said a word,” he said. “As I was leaving it went off again, no one said a word.”