Newcomer David Coates wins District 3 Guilford County school board seat

The Guilford County Board of Education District 3 seat has been at the center of an ongoing controversy that began nearly two years ago when it became vacant.

The county GOP pushed for one individual to fill it, while the school board pushed for another. But on Election Day, voters didn’t pick either of them.  

The District 3 seat opened up in December of 2022. 

The county GOP nominated Michael Logan, a former Guilford County Schools teacher, to fill the vacancy. But the school board rejected him multiple times, citing concerns about racial prejudice and bigotry. 

Instead, they voted to swear in a different Republican, Bill Goebel, in April of 2023.

The move did not go over well with Logan’s supporters, or with the conservative school board members who filed a lawsuit against the rest of the board. Republican state lawmakers got involved too, and passed legislation aimed at removing Goebel and forcing Logan into the seat.

Goebel ended up resigning after just a few months, and Logan took his place in September of last year.  

They both ran for the seat in this election, but lost to a newcomer — Democrat David Coates, a lawyer who served as counsel for a school board in New Jersey for nearly 40 years.

He says his constituents didn’t seem to care about the Logan-Goebel feud all that much.

“Nobody was talking to me about the musical chairs of last year. They were concerned about teacher pay. They were concerned about disruptive students," Coates said. "They were concerned about, you know, keeping the quality that we have and improving it.”

Coates says his priorities include the emotional and physical safety of students, valuing teachers, academic achievement and improving communications between the district and community. 

Coates received 45% of the vote, compared to Logan’s 43% and Goebel’s 11%.

Amy Diaz covers education for WFDD in partnership with Report For America. You can follow her on Twitter at @amydiaze.