Republican Voters: Five reasons to examine the record

Just because a candidate for public office runs as a registered Republican doesn't mean they are a Conservative that adheres to traditional Republican values. There are A LOT of RINOs out there; those who have ambitions towards being elected to public office, and simply check the Party Affiliation box on their voter registration card that they think will give them the best chance of winning.

Such is the case with Pat Bradford and Josie Barnhart. They might have "talked a good game" when they were on the campaign trail, but its been a whole different story once they won office and started serving on the New Hanover County School Board.

Square crop of Pat Bradford and Josie Barnhart as spooky witches beside a boiling green cauldron

Supported Superintendent Foust

Dr. Charles Foust Former Superintendent Foust was a disaster for New Hanover County Schools during his tenure. He promoted the divisive and Marxist ideologies of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) and Gender Ideology within our schools. In addition, he often went behind the prior School Board's back and didn't provide them with the critical information necessary to make decsions. Finally, his dictatorial management style alienated our teachers and other school staff; so much so tha by 2022 over 1000 teachers had signed a petition demanding his removal!

If Pat and Josie were real conservatives they would have fired Dr. Foust as soon as they were sworn on to the School Board in December of 2022. Not only did they not do that, but they actually voted for and granted him a 4-year contract extension in August of 2023. Former New Hanover GOP Chair Nevin Carr stated afterwards that local Republicans had "every rightto be furious with the school board decision."

It wasn't until the public revelation (and blowback by the local GOP base) that Dr. Foust had made secret plans to close the Mosely Academy and turn it into a "Newcomers School" and the results of a Climate Survey conducted by UNCW showed that teachers and staff were still completely dissatisified with Dr. Foust, that the Board finally decided to fire Dr. Foust in July of 2024. However, since Dr. Foust already had a signed contract extension, NHCS was forced to pay him over $250,000.

Apathy towards DEI and Gender Ideology

DEI & Gender Ideology During their 2022 campaigns, Pat Bradford and Josie Barnhart promised Republican voters that they would eliminate Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, along with Gender Ideology, from the school district. The facts demonstrate that they were negligently slow to even partially fulfill that promise.

It took them a full year of being on the School Board before they finally eliminated the EDI (DEI) Board Committee in December of 2023. It took them until July of 2024 to finally eliminate the Chief Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Officer position from the school district. However, it wasn't until the Trump Administration issued its January 2025 Title IX Enforcement Directive DCL and its February 2025 "Dear Colleague" letter regarding DEI, did Pat and Josie vote to do anything substantive in this area. At that point they did vote to remove DEI from the NHCS Strategic Plan and did vote to task the Policy Committee to remove references to DEI and gender ideology from school district policy.

Over the next few months the Policy Committee did bring forward those relevant amendments to Policies, and Ms. Bradford and Ms. Barnhart did vote for most of the recommended changes. However, they failed to approve proposed language changes to Title IX policies that would have replaced references to "sex" with references to "biological sex."

Supported AI Surveillance in our Schools

In 2025, Pat & Josie led the charge to introduce an intrusive AI Surveillance System into New Hanover County schools. This system had the capability to perform facial recognition and could track our students’ every movement throughout the day. All of this without requiring parental permission.

Thankfully, a bipartisan coalition formed that narrowly defeated the introduction of this Big Brother system 4-3. However, the NC General Assembly is in love with this idea, and it is likely that they will try and push it to NHCS again in the future.

We must remain vigilant and be sure to elect school board members who are committed to the 4th Amendment and to our families’ privacy rights. Ms. Bradford and Ms. Barnhart promised that they would stand up for parents rights. They have not, and they must be voted out!

Continue to Approve a Bloated Technology Budget

Bloated Technology Budget While employee salaries constitute the largest portion of the NHCS budget, Technology expenditures are still a MAJOR expense. Any fiscally conservative Republican serving on the Board of Education should be constantly examining these expenditures to determine if they are truly necessary and provide value at the best price possible for the taxpayers.

And the fact is that there is A LOT of waste! The Technology Department is always seeking funding so that they can possess the "latest and greatest" hardware and software that has all the "bells and whistles." They sell off perfectly well functioning computers (that are sometimes only 3-4 years old) as surplus, and constantly want money for "shiny" and brand new ones. Instead of buying software that can be used for years without needing to be replaced, they buy expensive software subscriptions that cost more.

Pat and Josie hardly ever question these expenditures when they come up for approval. Even when other board members question those expenditures, they always vote to approve them.

Curtailed Transparency & Public Participation

Shadow Government Good government is transparent and is responsive to the input of the people it serves. That is not only a good principle, but one that is supported the NC Open Meetings law. It is quite apparent from their actions that Ms. Bradford and Ms. Barnhart don't agree.

They both voted to end the live-streaming and recording of many important Board committee meetings. Except for the monthly Regular Board Meeting, they schedule all their other board and committee meetings to take place during the working day, when most of the public are unable to attend. They both have publicly expressed opposition to the idea of allowing a short Call to Audience segment at other board and committee meetings. Finally, they both voted to change our policies regarding Call to Audience so they can shut down speakers they don't care for.

In summary, it is fairly apparent that Pat and Josie would rather have all their meetings in a private, dark, and smoke-filled room.

And don't forget that they are...

Vindictive Witches

Vindictive Witches Pat Bradford and Josie Barnhart are constantly brewing up strife and turmoil on the Board of Education in their attempt to constantly punish other board members that simply won't capitulate to them. This was evident during their first two years on the Board by the manner in which they treated Board Member Melissa Mason. During their second two years they have switched to persecuting board members Tim Merrick and David Perry.

Pat and Josie are always advocating for the addition of new and vague restrictions on board member conduct to Policy 2120 : Code of Ethics for School Board Members, so they can use them as pretextual justification for punishing board members they don't like. In addition, they will often selectively utilize Roberts Rules of Order to stop or undermine the proposals of the board memebers they persecute. It doesn't matter whether they agree with the proposal or not. It's all about vindictive payback.

The NHCS Board is wasting far too much time and effort holding censure and disciplinary hearings, so that these two can continue their personal vendettas. We need School Board members who will respectfully listen to all individual board members, even when there is disagreement.

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