Meet George!

Candidate for Re-election to the CHCCS Board of Education

I am a happily retired grandfather to three high energy grandchildren - ages one, three, and seven years. To them I’m known as Papa G. When I first ran for election to the school board (four years ago), the oldest was three at the time. He would call out “Vote for George” every time he saw a campaign sign – sometimes not even mine. With two additional grandchildren now on the scene, I decided to use “Vote for George” as my re-election campaign slogan.

I am married and we have lived in Chapel Hill since 1981 (44 years). Prior to that time, I lived in Durham. Moving to Chapel Hill was a condition of marriage, so here we are. Both of our children, (daughter Emmy now 39, and son Kyle 34 years old) attended CHCCS schools, K-12. Both attended Seawell, Emmy went to McDougle MS, and Kyle to Smith, and both graduated from CHHS.

I was an active PTSA member in the early 90’s and have fond memories of many activities at Seawell - building a playground, hand prints on the ramp wall, Folkmoot, Big Fall Play Day and pulling cable through the ceiling tiles to “wire” the school – yes, this was a thing. Great memories.

I grew up in Michigan and attended public schools K-12. My first experience with NC was as an undergrad at Duke in 1967. I obtained my B.A. (Sociology) in 1971, and my M.Ed. (Special Education) in 1975. In 1984 I received my Ph.D. (Special Education) at UNC-CH.

My education career began in 1973 as a Teacher Assistant, and by 1975 I was a full-fledged, licensed teacher at the Wright School in Durham, NC. My career path since then has included school administration (AP, Principal, Central Office), the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction (NCDPI) as a program director, the faculty at NCCU (Special Education, Educational Leadership), and almost a decade with Cognia (formerly known as AdvancED and also Southern Association of Colleges and Schools - K-12 Division).

On November 4, 2025, please “Vote for George!”