Four school-board members seek new terms; two challengers file

All four incumbents on the Darlington County school board whose terms are expiring have filed for re-election, and two challengers are joining the fight.

Filing for four seats on the board opened Aug. 3 and closed Monday at noon.

In District 2, covering the Society Hill area, incumbent board member Connell Delaine has filed for another term. Opposing him is Lucas W. Reed, a Mechanicsville resident and truck driver.

“I’ve been involved in the community a good little while,” Reed said. He has a daughter who will enter third grade this fall in the school district’s Virtual Academy; Reed said he worries that the district is moving too fast to reopen its schools, and said there is a tendency toward “last-minute decisions.”

In District 4, the Lamar area, incumbent board member Warren Jeffords is seeking another term. Jeffords, the board’s chairman, has no opposition.

In District 6, south Hartsville, incumbent Charles Govan is running again. He is being opposed by Adell “Coffee” McManus-McCoy, who works at Northeastern Technical College in Cheraw.

“I just see the need (to run),” she said. “I love kids.” She said she has a daughter who has already graduated from the Darlington County School District and has a son, a rising junior, who will be attending school via the district’s Virtual Academy this fall. “I do like the fact that they’re giving options to parents” on whether students attend in-person classes or take online classes.

In District 8, north Hartsville, incumbent Jamie Morphis is seeking another term, and he has no opposition.