By By BETTY MITCHELL GRAY
Staff Writer
As president of the Beaufort County Schools Education Foundation, Washington resident Chase H. Stallings has had a first-hand look at the county’s schools and conversations with many of its teachers.
Stallings said the main problem facing the schools today is one of the most difficult to solve — student apathy.
“We have too many students who don’t care about their education,” he said. “At least they give the appearance of not caring.
“And that becomes a problem for all involved,” he said in a recent interview.
Part of the answer to that problem is “beyond the scope of the board of education” because it lies with a student’s home environment, he said.
While stricter discipline may work for some students, it will take creative thinking on the part of local educators to actively involve these students in their education and their futures. 
“At the end of the day, you have to have some creativity in order to have things that work,” he said.
Stallings would, if elected to the Beaufort County Board of Education, work to encourage this creativity, he said. 
Stallings faces incumbent school-board member Teressa Banks in the Nov. 2 nonpartisan election to represent District 6 on the school board.
District 6, generally, comprises the First and Fourth wards of Washington and, generally, runs east of Market Street to the city limits.
He said he is concerned by the growing frustration of many public-school teachers with the education system.
As a school-board member, Stalling said he would work to understand and address the sources of that frustration.
As the parent of two school-age children, Stallings hopes he “can make an impact while they are in school.”
“I am running to serve Beaufort County on the school board,” he said. “I have no predetermined agenda. I believe I can serve this county well by being on the board.”
Stallings said he would work for the betterment of the schools, not only for the students and the school system’s employees but also for the county’s taxpayers who contribute financially to the public schools.
“I want to make sure the public schools are working in the most cost-effective way for the taxpayers of Beaufort County,” he said.
BEAUFORT COUNTY BOARD OF EDUCATION
DISTRICT 6
NAME: Chase H. Stallings
AGE: 40
ADDRESS: 202 N. Reed Drive, Washington.
OCCUPATION: Director of Human Resources at National Spinning
EDUCATION: Graduated from N.C. State University with a bachelor’s degree in textile management, earned a master’s of business administration from Elon College, now Elon University.
FAMILY: Wife, Joy; children, Hope, 10, and Hundley, 7
BEAUFORT COUNTY RESIDENT: Has lived in Beaufort County for 12 1/2 years.
LAST BOOK READ: “Total Money Makeover” by Dave Ramsey
EXPERIENCE AS ELECTED OFFICIAL: None
OTHER RELEVANT EXPERIENCE: Member, Beaufort County Schools Education Foundation Board of Directors for more than three years; president, Beaufort County Schools Education Foundation, two years; coach of several youth sports teams; Sunday-school teacher for high school-aged youth for seven years.