Public commenters urge protection of school nutrition funding; local Moms for Liberty chapter introduces legislative priorities

During the public comment period at the Catawba County Board of Education meeting, two members of the public spoke about school funding and parental-rights priorities.

Matt Sin, who identified himself as a Catawba County native and product of local public schools, urged the board to oppose cuts to child nutrition services and to protect federal and state funding for teacher grants. Sin said elected officials in Washington and Raleigh appear to be pursuing broad cuts and said the district should hold its representatives accountable. He said, in part: "We need to make sure that granted, there are cuts. We're all in favor of some cuts, but we gotta make sure that they're offset by protections for our children. Okay? Teachers, so they don't have to buy their own school supplies."

Sandy Jarvis introduced herself as chair of the newly formed Catawba County chapter of Moms for Liberty, a national grassroots organization. Jarvis outlined the group’s legislative priorities she plans to present to state lawmakers on March 19, including items related to school health clinics, changes to a Parental Bill of Rights, protections for students and staff, a return-to-basics approach to elementary-school technology use, and a proposed requirement that a high-school diploma include passing a U.S. citizenship test. Jarvis said she brought a one-page handout summarizing the priorities and offered to share it by email with board members.

The board chair noted that no one had signed up to speak at the public hearing for the 2025–26 budget, so public comments followed instead. The speakers’ remarks were part of the public-comment segment; the board did not take formal action on the items raised during the comments.