By Ann Doss Helms
ahelms@charlotteobserver.com

School board candidate Ericka Ellis-Stewart, center, greets supporters at Kalu in uptown Charlotte Tuesday, November, 8, 2011. Todd Sumlin - tsumlin@charlotteobserver.com

In a close race that could change the direction of Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools, Ericka Ellis-Stewart, Mary McCray and Tim Morgan won at-large seats on the Charlotte-Mecklenburg school board, according to final but unofficial returns Tuesday.

Voters' choice of three candidates with sharply different perspectives - as well as the looming appointment of a new District 6 representative to replace Morgan - means a divided board will be forming new alliances on everything from the superintendent search to testing and budget issues.

"Certainly the board dynamics are going to change," said Morgan, who was elected to the south suburban district seat in 2009 and now assumes a countywide seat.

Three at-large seats were at stake. The six district seats won't be up until 2013.

Ellis-Stewart, a first-time candidate who emerged as a critic of last year's school closings, led the 14-person ballot with 35,000 votes, or 15.19 percent of the total. A CMS parent and former dropout prevention worker, she argued that the current leadership didn't treat minority children and low-income neighborhoods fairly.

"Voters are wanting a fresh perspective," Ellis-Stewart said. "They want to focus on student achievement and what we can do to build teacher morale."

McCray, a retired teacher who stepped down this summer as head of the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Association of Educators, said voters recognized her as "the lady that fights for the teachers," at a time when many of CMS' 8,900 teachers have felt battered by testing, layoffs, pay freezes and a rocky start to performance pay. She had 26,319 votes, or 11.42 percent.

She said Tuesday night it's too early to say what the results mean, but "I hope it is a different direction from where we were going."

Morgan said his move from winning in one district to winning countywide validates his positive campaign, focusing on the gains CMS has made. He campaigned on keeping CMS on the reform path charted by the current board and recently resigned Superintendent Peter Gorman. He had 24,822 votes, or 10.77 percent.

Morgan edged past Elyse Dashew, who led in campaign fundraising but landed fourth with 23,485 votes, or 10.19 percent.

Ellis-Stewart and McCray are Democrats who may have benefited from turnout driven by Charlotte Mayor Anthony Foxx's landslide victory. Parties are not listed on the school board ballot, but local Democrats and Republicans campaigned for candidates from their parties.

They are both African-American, strengthening the black presence in a district where the student body is 42 percent African-American, 32.5 percent white and 17 percent Hispanic. They join two black district representatives on the nine-member board.

Morgan is a Republican, whose victory came despite especially light turnout in areas outside Charlotte, which tend to be more heavily GOP. If the board follows tradition and chooses a Republican to replace him in District 6, the new board will have five Democrats, three Republicans and unaffiliated Chair Eric Davis.

Even before they're sworn in Dec. 13, the new members will be briefed and consulted on the search for a new superintendent. Current members plan to hold public forums the first week of December and hope to hire a new leader in early spring.

They'll also quickly plunge into early planning for the 2012-13 budget. The past three years have been marked by frozen salaries and massive layoffs, sometimes followed by rehiring if the final budget isn't as bleak as forecasts.

One of the biggest questions is what coalitions might form, based on long-term philosophy or views on specific issues. The old board often split 6-3 or 5-4 on difficult issues, such as performance pay and spending questions.

Party affiliation hasn't always guided CMS votes. Democrats Richard McElrath and Joyce Waddell often joined Republican Kaye McGarry in opposing majority decisions.

In 2007 and 2003, McGarry was the strong leader in countywide voting. But the two candidates she endorsed this year, Ken Nelson and Keith Hurley, landed in the middle of the pack, well short of winning.

Voter Robert Whitmeyer said he was looking for a candidate who wasn't afraid to go against the status quo. He said he voted for Dashew, Ellis-Stewart and Aaron Pomis, who placed fifth.

"They didn't seem like yes-people from what I read," he said. "And they all seemed well-versed."

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