What was intended by the District 1 PTA, Greenville County League of Women’s Voters and Public Education Partners to be a forum to highlight the points of contrast between three candidates for school board turned into a one-woman show Tuesday night.
Joy Grayson, running for the District 17 seat on the Greenville County School Board, ended up being the only candidate to show up and take questions at the event Tuesday night at Blue Ridge High School.
Sunny Weigand, who works in the homeschool curriculum field, informed the organizers of the event that her mother had taken ill, while Paul Fallavollita, a self-described Tea Party candidate, simply didn't show.
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That left only Grayson, a former prosecutor and the only candidate of the three with children of her own in the county's public school system, to field questions.
Among points Grayson made were the necessity of pushing for higher teacher pay, implementing more technology in the classroom like iPads and taking steps necessary to ensure students are reading at their grade level by the 3rd grade - a threshold Grayson said studies show can make or break a child's chance of graduating in the future.
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She also touched on the county's aged school bus fleet, which she said was in "abysmal shape."
"We buy school buses other states discard because they're too old and we put them on rural roads," Grayson said.
After the forum, Grayson told Patch she didn't know she'd be the only candidate to attend the forum until 10 minutes after the event was scheduled to start.
"Well, I only do things 110 percent," Grayson said. "I'm here because I'm dedicated to our kids and our community."
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