Beatty said that hers was “not a hard decision” to run again. She feels, she said, “like I owe it to Person County, in light of the fact that we have a new administration” in Supt. Dr. Larry W. Cartner, who in July completed his first year on the job. 

Beatty and the other three incumbents who have filed thus far have said the same thing — that the current board works well together and that, with a new superintendent, they would like the continuity that an incumbent board would provide.

Chairman Gordon Powell, Vice Chairman Jimmy Wilkins and member Vickie Nelson, all of whom have filed for re-election, have said want to keep the board intact if possible to see the programs and initiatives they are working on continue.

Perkins, a retired teacher who taught for 28 years at Person Senior High before retiring in 1995, said she was seeking a school board seat because after spending 40 years in Person County Schools, her “solid experience and qualifications” would be beneficial “with the present issues facing our education system. I am concerned about student motivation and performance in Person County and their level of preparedness to meet the challenges ahead in a rapidly changing world,” she said.

Perkins, a native of Durham County, has spent the past 50 years in Timberlake. She graduated from Roxboro High School in 1955 and received a bachelor of arts in education degree from UNC-Chapel Hill in 1967.

Since her retirement from full-time teaching, she has substituted and filled in, she said, for “teachers on leave on all levels. I have taught every grade,” gaining insight into the needs of students across the system, she said.

Perkins is a member and president of the Person County Retired School Personnel and serves as district treasurer for District 9 of the North Carolina Retired School Personnel. She is a member of Ebenezer Primitive Baptist Church and was married to the late Ryan D. Perkins.

She has three adult children, Merilyn P. Newell of Roxboro, Teresa P. Weber of Indianapolis, Ind. and Ralph D. Perkins of West Hartford, Conn. She has two grandchildren.

Beatty, a Person County native, is director of the Roxboro Housing Authority and has for years been active in the community.

She said this week that she hoped to be able to continue working on the board with programs the current board had implemented and to ensure that “the children get what they need and the staff get what they need to teach these children.”

Beatty added that the current board “has been a great board to work with.”

Ronnie King remains the only board incumbent yet to declare his intentions regarding re-election.

The candidate filing period for school board closes at noon on Friday, Aug. 29.