Lori Grady Spiece
Republican | North Carolina
Candidate Profile
Conservative
BIOGRAPHY
Name
Lori Grady Spiece
Party
Republican
Election Year
2024
Election
Primary
Race
Craven County Schools Board of Education, District 3
Incumbent
No
Links
EDUCATION
East Carolina University, Greenville, Master of Business Administration (MBA), 2004
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, BA-Industrial Relations; Minor-Spanish, 1999
New Bern High School, New Bern, High School Diploma, 1996
WORK & MILITARY
First Choice Appraisals, LLC, Owner/Operator, 2020 - 2024
Weyerhaeuser Company, Region Finance & Planning Manager, 2007-2020; 1999 - 2004
BSH Home Appliances, Factory Controller, 2004 - 2007
AFFILIATIONS
Craven County Republican Party, Executive Committee, MAL-Community Outreach (Current), Craven County Republican Women
Treasurer (2020-2024); Scholarship Committe Chair (2023-Present), Coastal Teenage Republicans (TARs), Club Co-Advisor (2023-Present)
Craven County Partners in Education, Board of Directors (2008 - Present); Past President (2010-2011 and 2013-2014), North Carolina Forestry Association
Board of Directors (2014 - Present): Education Committee Chair (2014-2019), New Bern Church of God, Member
North Carolina Appraisal Board, Certified Residential Appraiser (#A9052), North Carolina Real Estate Commission
POLITICAL OFFICES HELD
No prior elected offices held
POLITICAL OFFICES SOUGHT
No other political offices sought
Race
ENDORSEMENTS
CONSERVATIVE (1)
North Carolina Values Coalition
SELECTED CONTRIBUTIONS
CONSERVATIVE
GIVEN BY CANDIDATE (2)
Republican Women's Organizations (2023)
Mark Robinson (2020)
RECEIVED BY CANDIDATE (0)
OTHER INFORMATION
Partisan Primary Election Voting History for Lori Grady Spiece
- 2022 Primary - Republican
- 2020 Primary - Republican
- 2002 thru 2019 - Democratic
QUESTIONNAIRE
RIGHT TO LIFE
What role should the school serve in helping a student with an unwanted or crisis pregnancy?
The first responsibility that the school has in the case of a teen pregnancy is to make sure that the student’s parents or legal guardians are aware of the pregnancy. The decisions that will need to be made should be made by the student, with the counsel of their family. The school should not interfere.
Human life begins at conception and deserves legal protection at every stage until natural death.
Strongly Agree
I am pro-life. The issue of abortion has been returned to the states, and it is my hope and prayer that the State of North Carolina will protect our unborn children. In addition, I believe that every life is precious, and the right to life should never be taken without due process.
ECONOMY
Free enterprise and the right to private property are essential elements of a productive economic system.
Strongly Agree
The best way to organize any society is around the principles of capitalism, which has been proven time and time again. The economy is far too complex to centrally plan, and every attempt to do so in world history has ended in failure.
What is your position on government funding of public education from Pre-K through college?
I am an advocate for school choice; however, I know that for the foreseeable future, most students will be educated in state-funded public schools. I am extremely skeptical that Pre-K programs are effective in improving literacy, and I think that government-funded programs(PreK-12) should be required to show evidence of more than social skill development. I favor state funded universities, but adult students must assume financial responsibility for tuition and fees, including loan repayment.
RELIGIOUS LIBERTY
Teachers should be required to instruct students on mandated curriculum even if it would violate their moral and/or religious beliefs.
Strongly Agree
Teachers must teach the state-mandated curriculum. If they have a problem with the curriculum and feel it violates their conscience, they have the freedom to resign and take their services to a private school, or some other school that will allow them to teach according to their personal agenda. It is the job of conservative leadership at the state and local levels to make sure that the curriculum being taught in our public schools is appropriate.
EDUCATION
Abortion and gender transitioning providers, including Planned Parenthood, should be a resource for instruction or services in the school.
Strongly Disagree
Abortion and gender-transitioning providers have no place in our schools.
Consistent discipline creates a safe and orderly environment, which is essential for student learning.
Strongly Agree
Many students are not prepared at home for the rigor of the classroom experience. As a result, discipline has become a real problem in our schools and is a major contributor to low teacher morale. School administrators must feel empowered by our school board and central office staff to take back control of our schools, with support to enforce the rules and impose consequences when rules are broken. Students and their families must be held accountable when schoolhouse expectations are not met.
Do you believe print and digital material available or presented to students should be easily accessible for public review, including those without children enrolled in school?
Yes
Every single person in our community is a stakeholder in our local school system. Any information that is presented to students should be accessible for parental and public review, on demand, and in a location or medium that is reasonably accessible to anyone.
Educators should give students a thorough education in America's founding documents and cultivate American patriotism.
Strongly Agree
Some of the basic goals of a good public education should be to understand our nation’s history, to understand why America is exceptional, and to give our students a sense of pride in their country. I want our students in Craven County to graduate knowing that they live in the greatest country on Earth.
I support Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI).
Strongly Disagree
I support public education and the methods that bring the greatest good to the greatest number of students. By design, contemporary definitions of diversity, equity, and inclusion create divisiveness, alienation, and discrimination – we are generations into healing from these toxic outcomes and should make every effort to never go back to them.
I support eliminating the U.S. Department of Education and giving control back to states and communities.
Strongly Agree
The 10th Amendment reserves all powers, not enumerated for the federal government, to the states. Our state and local government have a constitutional right to govern our educational system, free of federal interference. By intentional design, our Founding Fathers did not establish the U.S. Department of Education, and it should be abolished.
If a member of the public flags (challenges) a book as inappropriate and the school board disagrees, should the board impose a moratorium on when the book can be challenged again? If yes, for how long?
The school board is given the responsibility to govern our local school system. If a member of the public believes that literature provided to students is inappropriate, they should bring that literature to the attention of the board so that a decision can be made. I believe it is appropriate for the public to challenge a book as often as they like, but what matters is to have the right people in place for the review and appeal process.
Please list in order the following priorities in relation to the role of a K-12 public school (omitting any that do not apply): American History, Art & Music, Civics, Critical Race Theory, Foreign Language, Gender Identity, Information Technology, Language Arts, Mathematics, Personal Finances, Physical Fitness, Political Activism, Science, Sexuality, Social Emotional Learning, Vocational Learning
The following are priorities for K-12 public schools: 1. Language Arts (Reading) 2. Mathematics 3. American History 4. Civics 5. Physical Fitness 6. Personal Finances 7. Science 8. Information Technology 9. Art & Music 10. Vocational Learning 11. Foreign Language The following topics DO NOT belong in the scope of K-12 education: 1. Political Activism 2. Critical Race Theory 3. Gender Identity 4. Sexuality 5. Social Emotional Learning
The state should fund education by allowing dollars to follow the child instead of the bureaucracy, through a program which allows parents the freedom to choose their child's school – public, private, or homeschool.
Strongly Agree
Parents’ choice for educating their children should be a fundamental right. I am an advocate for public schools and school choice. I believe that competition always produces the best result. Our public schools need to be challenged, so that we develop and improve. In the absence of competition, really bad ideas, such as social and emotional learning, thrive. When competition is welcomed and people find themselves in a marketplace for ideas, good ideas rise to the top and bad ideas are defunded.
Which should students have: equity of outcomes or equality of opportunities?
To be direct, equity of outcomes is a spectacularly stupid idea, since outcomes cannot ever be guaranteed. America is the land of opportunity, and I believe that every student should be given an equal opportunity to be successful; it is up to the student to make it happen. I believe in giving students as many resources as is reasonable to help them be successful, but the student has to do the work. Schools are responsible for providing opportunity, but outcome is up to each student.
Which type of written parental consent should be obtained before students are taught courses such as Comprehensive Sex Education (CSE)? (A) Opt-In. (B) Opt-Out. (C) None.
Opt-In; Opt-Out policies are dangerous, because they promote curriculum to be unchecked by parents.
Who should make decisions about whether or not a book is appropriate for children? A) the elected school board members; B) an outsourced community committee
The elected school board; Elected school board members are charged with the responsibility of governing our local school system; therefore, the decision on whether or not literature is school- or age-appropriate belongs to the school board. This issue highlights the importance of electing Christian conservatives to our local school board.
VALUES
Briefly describe your spiritual beliefs and values.
I am a Bible-believing Christian and a member of the New Bern Church of God. I believe that Jesus Christ came to earth to die for my sins, and that through His sacrifice, and by faith, I am born again and that everyone has access to the same. My spiritual beliefs and values are used to inform my decisions personally, professionally, and politically.
Children have a right to reach maturity without chemical or surgical castration, which would damage their healthy bodies through surgeries and may cause a life-long dependence on cross-sex hormones.
Strongly Agree
We should not attempt to manipulate the biological makeup of a child, believing that every person is fearfully and wonderfully made by God in His perfect design. The fact that I even have to address this is evidence that the left in our country has lost their minds. No, children should not be subject to chemical or surgical castration and should have the right to reach maturity by natural design.
If sexual education is taught in schools, what is the appropriate age when it should be taught?
Scientific and medically accurate teaching of sexual reproduction, abstinence, and diseases should be the extent of sexual education taught in public schools. Currently, sex education is taught in 7th grade, and that seems reasonable to me.
Marriage is a God-ordained, sacred and legal union of one man and one woman essential to the formation and sustaining of a civil and prosperous society.
Strongly Agree
I believe in the institution of marriage, between one man and one woman, and its place as a cornerstone for a civil and prosperous society.
Parents have the fundamental right to raise their child in accordance with their beliefs and values, including the right to make decisions about the child's education and healthcare.
Strongly Agree
Our Founding Fathers included the 9th Amendment of The Constitution to address such rights. The right to raise one’s child as they see fit is fundamental to maintaining the autonomy of the individual; however, some standards must be set. Child abuse and truancy are examples of setting protective boundaries for parents’ rights. Notwithstanding these examples, yes, parents have the right to make decisions about their child’s education and healthcare, largely free from government control.
Parents should have full and timely access to any and all records, including school and medical records, associated with their minor children.
Strongly Agree
Absolutely; I can not think of a legitimate argument against this position.
School children have the right to be protected from sexual grooming including drag shows and explicit materials with pictures of sex acts and graphic language.
Strongly Agree
Schools have no right or business exposing children to such mature, filthy topics. Anyone guilty of exposing children to sexual grooming, or explicit materials, should be prosecuted.
Should schools be giving instruction on how to engage in sexual acts, the pleasures of sex, sexual orientation, and gender identity or should they instead focus on educating students about the science of reproduction?
Scientific teaching of sexual reproduction should be the extent that sexual education is taught or presented in K-12 schools.
ELECTIONS AND VOTING
People should be able to vote without photo identification.
Strongly Disagree
No other privilege or benefit is issued in this country without photo identification, including, but not limited to, driving, government assistance, employment, housing, banking, and basic financial services – voting should be no exception.
EQUALITY
Biological males should not be allowed to participate in women's sports or occupy biological women's spaces whether it be bathrooms, locker rooms, sorority houses, women's shelters, or prison.
Strongly Agree
Males and females should stay in their own bathrooms, locker rooms, and certainly their own athletic teams. It is ridiculous that this issue even has to be addressed.
ABOUT YOU
Have you ever been convicted of a felony? If so, please explain.
No
Have you ever been penalized for sexual misconduct in either civil or criminal court? If so, please explain.
No
When you consider your views on a wide range of issues from economic and social matters to foreign policy and religious liberty, which of the following best describes you overall?
Very Conservative
I am a Christian first, a conservative second, and a Republican third. My opinions are always informed by the values that I live by as a Christian conservative, and I would consider myself to be a fundamental Christian and a staunch conservative.
2ND AMENDMENT
The right to bear arms is fundamental and must be protected.
Strongly Agree
I am a gun owner, and a card-carrying member of the NRA. The 2nd Amendment is clear, and any attempt to eliminate our right to bear arms is an egregious affront to our liberties. Historically speaking, governments that disarm their citizens have done so by design in order to render them defenseless against the elimination of all other rights.
OTHER IMPORTANT ISSUES
In the event of a pandemic, school districts can mandate whatever health precautions they deem necessary (including masks and vaccines) to protect students and staff.
Strongly Disagree
During the COVID-19 pandemic, I was never in favor of school shutdowns, masking students, or a vaccine that was rushed to the market with no evidence of effectiveness. In retrospect, I was correct on all counts. As the data has shown, school shutdowns clearly hurt our students more than protected them, masking never protected our population, and the vaccine was ineffective (even harmful for many). We need leaders who are going to get it right and are capable of exercising good, sound judgment.
