An effort at the state level to make traditionally apolitical elections partisan is finding resistance at home.

This week, both the Beaufort County Board of Commissioners and the Beaufort County Board of Education passed resolutions stating the boards’ lack of support for House Bill 265 and Senate Bill 94, which are currently under consideration in Raleigh. HB 265 specifically calls for a change to partisan elections to Board of Education elections in six counties — Beaufort, Dare, Haywood, Hyde, Madison and Yancey. SB 94 is broader, seeking to make partisan judicial, municipal and boards of education elections in all 100 counties in the state.

While the reasoning behind the bills has been described as a need for transparency, local elected officials have expressed dismay at the potential switch, particularly with regard to Beaufort County Board of Education elections.

“Personally, I feel that politics do not belong in the Board of Education or in our school system,” said Commissioner Ron Buzzeo.

Buzzeo introduced the county commissioners’ resolution at Monday night’s meeting. Stating that nonpartisan BOE elections have been a success and have fostered a climate of mutual respect and cooperation, the resolution passed 5-2, with commissioners Gary Brinn and Hood Richardson voting against. Richardson went on record as being opposed to the resolution, further describing the nonpartisan elections as an example of “the good ol’ boy system.”

“This is why you need these elections to be bipartisan, so the public can have a choice. … Right now, we have people who get elected to a school board seat, and they own it for just about as long as they ever want to own it. There’s nobody that ever wants to run against them,” Richardson said.

According to N.C. Sen. Bill Cook, who represents Beaufort County, the need for partisan BOE elections is based on informing voters.

“I believe it’s good policy to provide our constituency with more information about the candidates that they elect. Approximately 1/4 of the school board elections in North Carolina already elect their members through partisan elections,” Cook said in a written statement.

Buzzeo said he doesn’t believe voters’ lack of information is a reason to introduce politics into school boards because BOE candidates campaign before the election — voters already have the ability to personally ask them about their views. He said he’s concerned that partisan BOE elections will shift campaigns’ focus away from what’s good for local students to hot-button education issues on the state and national level.

“When I talk to the Board of Education, I want to know how it’s impacting the children of Beaufort County. I never ask whether they’re Democratic or Republican, conservative or liberal,” Buzzeo said.

That the House bill was sponsored by Beaufort County representatives Beverly Boswell and Michael Speciale, neither of who consulted with county commissioners or BOE board members, according to several officials, is a mystery to Buzzeo.

“They took it upon themselves,” Buzzeo said.

Based on their own resolution passed this week, BOE board members are just as concerned about introducing politics into education.

“I don’t know what purpose it serves, unless there are a lot of people that think that every governing board should be on the right or left of every issue,” said BOE Vice-Chairman Carolyn Walker.

Walker said those parents — and potential voters — seeking the board’s assistance with issues have been uninterested in BOE members’ party affiliation.

“They don’t ask me whether I am a Democrat or Republican — they ask me if I’ve taken care of it,” Walker said. “Where I sit, I’ve got a Republican to my right and a Democrat to my left, and I have a great working relationship with both them.”

Walker is a registered Republican, as is Buzzeo.

Walker said introducing politics into public schools is a “slippery slope;” that BOE board members shouldn’t have to make judgments on how they get things done based on party affiliation.

“I was elected to serve the people of Beaufort County — the students, the staff, the administration — and represent their best interests,” she said. “I am never going to a cast a vote because it’s political. I’m going to cast it in the best interest of the students.”