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Robert Barr (North Carolina)
From Ballotpedia
This page was last updated during the official's most recent election or appointment. Please contact us with any updates.
Tenure
2023 - Present
Term ends
2026
Years in position
2
Winston-Salem Forsyth County Schools school board At-Large
Robert Barr (Republican Party) is a member of the Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Schools school board in North Carolina, representing District 2. He assumed office on January 5, 2023. His current term ends in 2026.
Barr (Republican Party) ran for election to the Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Schools school board to represent District 2 in North Carolina. He won in the general election on November 8, 2022.
Barr completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2022. Click here to read the survey answers.
Biography
Robert Barr was born in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Barr earned a bachelor's degree in intermediate education from Winston-Salem State University in 1988. He later earned an M.Ed. from Wake Forest University in 1999. Barr worked as a teacher and curriculum coordinator for district schools for 14 years. He has served as the staff pastor for Agape Faith Church since 2002. Barr has also served as a trustee for Winston-Salem State University.[1][2]
Elections
2022
See also: Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Schools, North Carolina, elections (2022)
General election
General election for Winston-Salem Forsyth County Schools school board District 2 (4 seats)
Incumbent Leah Crowley, Susan Miller, Robert Barr, and Steve Wood defeated Jennifer Castillo in the general election for Winston-Salem Forsyth County Schools school board District 2 on November 8, 2022.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | Leah Crowley (R) | 21.9 | 61,658 | |
| ✔ |  | Susan Miller (R) | 20.2 | 57,037 |
| ✔ |  | Robert Barr (R)  | 20.2 | 56,920 |
| ✔ |  | Steve Wood (R) | 19.6 | 55,185 |
| Jennifer Castillo (D) | 18.1 | 50,956 | ||
| Total votes: 281,756 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Withdrawn or disqualified candidates
- Stanley M. Elrod (R)
Democratic primary election
The Democratic primary election was canceled. Jennifer Castillo advanced from the Democratic primary for Winston-Salem Forsyth County Schools school board District 2.
Republican primary election
Republican primary for Winston-Salem Forsyth County Schools school board District 2 (4 seats)
The following candidates ran in the Republican primary for Winston-Salem Forsyth County Schools school board District 2 on May 17, 2022.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Robert Barr | 14.3 | 9,269 |
| ✔ | Stanley M. Elrod | 14.1 | 9,123 | |
| ✔ | Leah Crowley | 12.1 | 7,823 | |
| ✔ | | Steve Wood | 11.6 | 7,483 |
 | Lida Calvert Hayes | 10.5 | 6,799 | |
| Susan Miller | 9.7 | 6,254 | |
| Holly W. Pegram | 9.0 | 5,802 | ||
| Jimmie Boyd | 7.5 | 4,831 | ||
| Jason Lucero | 7.2 | 4,645 | ||
| Yvonne Williams | 4.0 | 2,592 | ||
| Total votes: 64,621 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
2018
General election
General election for Winston-Salem Forsyth County Schools school board At-Large (3 seats)
The following candidates ran in the general election for Winston-Salem Forsyth County Schools school board At-Large on November 6, 2018.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ |  | Deanna Frazier Kaplan (D) | 19.8 | 72,758 |
| ✔ |  | Elisabeth Motsinger (D) | 19.0 | 69,952 |
| ✔ |  | Andrea Pace Bramer (D) | 16.8 | 61,779 |
| Robert Barr (R) | 15.7 | 57,611 | |
| Timothy Brooker (R) | 14.4 | 52,835 | ||
| Jim Smith (R) | 14.3 | 52,393 | ||
| Total votes: 367,328 (100.00% precincts reporting) | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
2014
Robert Barr and fellow Republican candidates John M. Davenport Jr. and Mark Johnson competed with Democratic candidates Elisabeth Motsinger, Katherine Fansler and German D. Garcia in the general election on November 4, 2014.
Results
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic |  Elisabeth Motsinger Incumbent |
18.4% | 52,582 | |
| Republican | Robert Barr |
17.1% | 48,789 | |
| Republican | Mark Johnson |
16.9% | 48,418 | |
| Democratic | Katherine Fansler | 16.8% | 48,115 | |
| Republican | John M. Davenport Jr. Incumbent | 16.5% | 47,125 | |
| Democratic | German D. Garcia | 14.2% | 40,636 | |
| Total Votes | 285,665 | |||
| Source: North Carolina Board of Elections, "2014 General Election Results," accessed December 30, 2014 | ||||
Funding
Barr had not reported any contributions or expenditures to the Forsyth County Board of Elections as of April 30, 2014.
Endorsements
Barr had not received any official endorsements as of April 30, 2014.
2010
| Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Schools, At-Large General Election, 4-year term, 2010 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Nonpartisan | Jeannie Metcalf |
21.2% | 43,279 | |
| Nonpartisan | Donny Lambeth |
19.9% | 40,681 | |
| Nonpartisan | Elisabeth Motsinger |
16.3% | 33,215 | |
| Nonpartisan | Robert Barr | 16.2% | 32,996 | |
| Nonpartisan | Lori Goins Clark | 16.1% | 32,922 | |
| Nonpartisan | Nancy P. Sherill | 9.8% | 20,056 | |
| Nonpartisan | Write-in votes | 0.4% | 915 | |
| Total Votes | 204,064 | |||
| Source: North Carolina State Board of Elections, "Official Results," November 19, 2010 | ||||
Campaign themes
2022
Ballotpedia survey responses
See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection
Robert Barr completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2022. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Barr's responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.
| Collapse all
My name is Robert Barr and I am running for a seat on the Winston-Salem Forsyth County School Board in District 2. Between my wife and me, we have over 40 years of educational experience. My wife is a retired school teacher who retired with 31 years of service. I taught 14 years in the Winston-Salem Forsyth County Schools. I taught 3rd, 4th and 5th grades, 6th and 7th grades, plus served as a curriculum coordinator. I serve as a trustee in one of our local colleges. Both of my children are graduates of the Winston- Salem Forsyth County Schools.
- Engage our parents. Parents are the key to their child experiencing success.
- Focus on academics. Build a strategic plan of academic growth for our children.
- Support our educational staff with the resources they need.
Making sure all of our kids have the support and resources to learn. I grew up in public housing, raised by a single parent, and economically disadvantaged. However, because of the support of a guidance counselor and a program called Upward Bound that helped my mother and I navigate the educational system I was able to achieve some success. I have a Masters Degree from Wake Forest and a Bachelors Degree from Winston-Salem State University. Through education and the proper support, all children can learn. I am a big advocate of parental involvement and engagement. Parents are a crucial and critical part of children learning.
I admired a minister by the name of Dr. Fred Price. He was an excellent Bible teacher. He took complicated issues on faith and made them understandable and practical. Plus, Dr. Price was a man who was very courageous. He took a very unpopular stand about an issue involving race and religion many years ago. He said things that needed to be said. While others were quiet, he spoke loudly from his media platform and he spoke clearly. Because of his courage, he help tear down walls of misunderstandings and built a bridge of trust and respect. Dr. Price died of COVID in 2021.
While working on my Masters, I have read lots of book. Some that hold perspectives that are different than mine. The book that I continue to come back to during good times and challenging times is the New Testament that inspires me to treat people well and trust God to help me make the right decisions.
I think character, competency, and chemistry with the constituents that they represent.
Experience in education (taught 14 years -grades 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th, and serve as curriculum coordinator)
Strategic planner and thinker
Levelheaded during problematic issues
Interpersonal skills
To listen to his/her constituents--Those who elected him/her to office.
To act based on values and needs of the community by implementing policy.
To act based on values and needs of the community by implementing policy.
The legacy I would like to leave behind is strategic planning and execution that supports parental involvement. Also, engagement and strategic planning that begin to successfully close the achievement gap.
The first historical event I remember was President Reagan getting shot. I think I was 18 or 19 years old.
My first job was working at a restaurant on 4th Street as a busboy in Winston-Salem called Shouse & Gunter. After finishing college, I became a teacher in 1988.
My favorite book is the New Testament because it inspires me be a better person and to make sound decisions.
A gospel song by the late James Cleveland --"I Don't Feel No Ways Tired"
Attempting to understand the reason behind why resources have seemingly been given to target ongoing issues, but no change has occurred over the years. For example--closing achievement gap.
To create, establish, and monitor polices that support student achievement, school safety, and ensure support for staff.
All of the families whose children attend Winston-SalemForsyth County Schools.
First, recognize that there are diverse needs. Secondly, talk to parents, students, and staff who represent the different needs in the district. Thirdly, prioritize those needs based on strategic planning and resources. Finally, begin to implement plans with resources and policy to support our students.
I would like to hear the voices of our parents who are sending us the most important individual to them (their child). Parental organizations that will help me understand the critical issues that parents are voicing would be crucial for me to meet with on a frequent bases. Organizations that represent staff would also be crucial to me as well as community leaders who represent businesses. By working with these community stakeholders, solid infrastructure for our students and community can be built to achieve positive outcomes.
To diversify faculty, staff, and administration is crucial. When I see someone in a leadership position whose culture is similar to mine and who looks like me, it inspires me to become better. Intentionality is a must being driven by sensitivity and awareness.
Bureaucracy and political divisiveness are two primary obstacles in education. We must do what is right for our children by working with other board members and talking to our legislators with the support of our parents, teachers, and staff who make up a significant voting block. With collaboration from these stakeholders, I believe obstacles can be overcome so board members can do what is best for our children.
As an educator who taught 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th, and served as a curriculum coordinator, I come from the Madeline Hunter school of thought. Good teaching consists of the following: Anticipatory Set, Instructional Input, Modeling, and Independent Practice. Of course, those steps are often integrated. Students should be measured based on different modalities: verbal responses, project based activities, group activities, written, etc. Advanced teaching approaches can be integrated with Early Colleges where students can take college courses while in high school.
Curriculum could be expanded from the perspective of technical skills and work trends. In other words, if businesses' needs are centered around social media applications and integration, then curriculum should begin to change, and adapt to develop a workforce where students can become competitive in that particular industry in order to satisfy the demands of businesses. Innovative programming should be centered around social media integrations.
Simply, allocate federal, state, local, and grant money to specific goals. If those dollars aren't enough, have a discussion with county commissioners and state legislatures about increasing budgets.
Simply, every child should be able to learn in a safe environment.
In order to support the mental health needs, there should be more integration and communication between mental health facilities, schools, and community resources. All entities will need to emphasize mental health issues that people may be facing and deemphasize any stigmas about mental health, and provide clearer accessibility to students, staff, and faculty to support mental health.
I think colleges who prepare teachers will need to think differently about how this generation learns. Platforms such as TicTok, Snapchat, Instagram , Youtube, etc. will need to be skillfully integrated into the classrooms. Research will be done from multimedia platforms and not only from the traditional resources.
Don't really have a favorite joke, however, I like comedy and humor that comes in the spur of the moment that makes everyone laugh, but never at the expense of others.
The Board of Education needs to get an unbiased diagnosis and prognosis of issues surrounding a pandemic. Create a parent base committee along side the school board to listen to the facts, and make decisions that would be for the best physical and mental health of our children. Parents should be essential in the process of making decisions about their child 's physical and mental health.
In order to build a relationship with parents I would make sure I am accessible via in person meetings, emails, texts, phone calls, etc. Winston-Salem Forsyth County Schools has a Parent Involvement Coordinator. My desire is to work closely with her as a board member. I know the importance of parental involvement because of a program called Upward Bound that impacted my life. One of the programs essential requirements was for parents to get involved. My mother, a single parent without a high school diploma signed me up for the program. She was expected to get involved with education, in which she did. It made a major difference in my life. I was a young man raised in government housing and became man with a Masters in Education. If it wasn't for the Upward Bound program that emphasized parent involvement I wouldn't be here today.
Note: Ballotpedia reserves the right to edit Candidate Connection survey responses. Any edits made by Ballotpedia will be clearly marked with [brackets] for the public. If the candidate disagrees with an edit, he or she may request the full removal of the survey response from Ballotpedia.org. Ballotpedia does not edit or correct typographical errors unless the candidate's campaign requests it.
2014
Barr provided the following statement about his themes on his campaign website:
| “ | Strengthen Our Neighborhood Schools
Teacher Support
Student Support
Community Involvement
|
” |
| —Robert Barr's campaign website (2014)[4] | ||
See also
2022 Elections
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ Facebook, "Robert Barr - AT LARGE Candidate for WSFCS Board of Education," accessed April 30, 2014
- ↑ Information submitted to Ballotpedia through the Candidate Connection survey on October 10, 2022
- ↑ Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
- ↑ Robert Barr for Winston-Salem/Forsyth County School Board, "Home," accessed October 23, 2014
