Welcome back to the Carolina Cabinet, Cumberland County's smartest hour of talk radio. Host Peter Pappas sits down with Quincei Lovejoy, a CPA, financial planning manager at Fayetteville PWC, and one of 16 candidates for three at-large seats on the Cumberland County Board of Education.
Lovejoy explains why her own family's experience with the IEP process pushed her to file, and says a parent asking for an evaluation should get one in under 30 days. She and Peter get into school safety beyond locked doors — bullying, mental health, and the SROs who have become bouncers — and how discipline works when a student is covered by an IEP.
Peter asks the CPA about the numbers: 1,200 fewer students this year, families leaving for charters and Opportunity Scholarships, the cost of rebuilding E.E. Smith, and a $670 million budget. She gives credit where it's due, to the IB and AP programs and a superintendent whose district cut its low-performing schools from 27 to 20, and closes with her case for a shake-up on the board: trust, but verify.
Find all of our candidate conversations at thecarolinacabinet.com.
00:00 Intro
00:17 Meet Quincei Lovejoy
03:12 Why she's running
03:25 The IEP process
06:56 Supporting teachers and staff
09:23 Safety is more than locked doors
10:02 IEP protections and discipline
13:00 Counselors and staffing
13:45 Enrollment, budgets and vouchers
16:13 What's working: IB, AP and EC
17:10 Low-performing schools and the superintendent
17:51 Career and technical education
18:57 1,200 fewer students
20:24 Families voting with their feet
24:50 E.E. Smith and the cost of new schools
26:31 Working across board factions
27:57 School closures and transparency
30:07 Trust, but verify
33:32 Time for a change
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