With storms hitting the western part of North Carolina on Friday, the Week 4 high school football schedule was retooled with games moving to Thursday and Saturday. Here are scores from across the state for each day.

Thursday, Sept. 12

• Ashbrook 50, East Gaston 7
• Bandys 35, South Caldwell 6
• Burns 28, Alexander Central 7
• Central Davidson 34, Lexington 25
• Clayton 27, Holly Springs 7
• Draughn 34, Chase 28
• East Surry 48, South Stokes 3
• East Wilkes 22, Wilkes Central 17
• Erwin 27, West Henderson 21
• Forest Hills 36, Community School of Davidson 7
• Havelock 54, West Craven 7
• Hickory 69, Cox Mill 28
• Highland Tech 70, Triangle Math & Science 0
• Landrum 43, Polk County 6
• Maiden 29, St. Stephens 6
• McDowell 49, Avery County 21
• Mitchell 35, Andrews 34
• Monroe 63, East Mecklenburg 0
• Mountain Heritage 42, Hendersonville 7
• Murphy 22, Smoky Mountain 14
• North Duplin 62, Lejeune 14
• North Lincoln 56, East Rutherford 55
• North Stanly 38, West Stanly 37
• Northwest Cabarrus 17, Mount Pleasant (NC) 14
• Oak Grove 41, North Forsyth 14
• Pisgah 30, Hayesville 0
• Porter Ridge 41, West Cabarrus 7
• Robbinsville 46, Copper Basin 0
• Salisbury 38, Person High 7
• South Point 30, Hibriten 14
• South Stanly 66, South Davidson 0
• Southwest Onslow 55, Goldsboro 12
• Surry Central 27, Elkin 3
• Union Academy 20, Bessemer City 10
• Wallace-Rose Hill 27, Pender 12
• West Stokes 24, North Surry 13
• West Wilkes 37, West Iredell 22
• Whiteville 42, Clinton 7

Friday, Sept. 13

• A.L. Brown 41, South Rowan 14
• Anson 41, Albemarle 0
• Apex Friendship 27, Athens Drive 6
• Arendell Parrott 64, Rocky Mount Academy 30
• Asheboro 17, Providence Grove 10
• Asheville School 48, Metrolina Christian 16
• Bear Grass Charter 53, Mattamuskeet 12
• Bertie 16, First Flight 6
• Bishop McGuinness 46, Wheatmore 12
• Brevard 56, North Buncombe 14
• Cape Fear 30, Laney 14
• Chambers 56, Hickory Ridge 7
• Chapel Hill 35, Carrboro 12
• Charlotte Christian 39, Ardrey Kell 7
• Charlotte Latin 58, Carolina Bearcats 6
• Cherokee 67, Rosman 7
• Chesnee 28, R-S Central 24
• Corvian 57, Garinger 0
• Crest 27, Charlotte Catholic 21
• Cummings 56, Bartlett Yancey 20
• East Duplin 40, Croatan 17
• East Henderson 3, Owen 0
• Eastern Wayne 20, Greene Central 14
• Farmville Central 28, Wilson Prep 14
• Gaffney 31, Freedom 0
• Gates County 26, Camden County 7
• Hebron Christian 49, Christ School 3
• Heide Trask 36, Dixon 35
• Hickory Grove Christian 38, Southlake Christian 10
• Hobbton 59, Spring Creek 28
• Hoggard 45, J.H. Rose 6
• Independence 40, South Mecklenburg 13
• Jack Britt 21, Scotland 20
• James Kenan 34, East Bladen 14
• John Paul II Catholic 15, East Chapel Hill 12
• Jordan 62, Smithfield-Selma 0
• Jordan Matthews 14, Chatham Central 6
• Kinston 12, Washington 6
• Lake Norman 22, Marvin Ridge 16
• Lake Norman Charter 27, Pine Lake Prep 7
• Ledford 51, East Davidson 42
• Lee County 27, Panther Creek 19
• Leesville Road 31, Heritage 0
• Louisburg 28, Wake Christian 0
• Martin County 47, Southside 8
• Midway 37, Lakewood 34
• Montgomery Central 46, Orange 6
• Mount Airy 42, Ashe County 0
• New Bern 37, Knightdale 0
• North Davidson 21, Walkertown 20
• North Mecklenburg 52, J.F. Webb 0
• North Pitt 52, Holmes 21
• North Rowan 55, T.W. Andrews 36
• Northampton County 26, Northwest Halifax 20
• Northeastern 27, Rocky Mount 7
• Northern Nash 55, D.H. Conley 17
• Northside-Pinetown 25, Perquimans 22
• Northwest Cabarrus 16, Mount Pleasant (NC) 14
• Palisades 14, Cuthbertson 6
• Parkland 14, Glenn 9
• Patrick County 42, North Stokes 13
• Pinecrest 28, New Hanover 27
• Princeton 48, Rosewood 7
• Providence Day 63, Charlotte Country Day 15
• Randleman 21, Union Pines 7
• Reidsville 45, Eastern Alamance 14
• Richlands 57, South Lenoir 0
• Richmond Senior 21, Myers Park 10
• Roanoke Rapids 31, American Leadership Academy- Johnston 0
• Robinson 49, Central Cabarrus 0
• Rocky River 13, Berry 0
• Rolesville 30, Cardinal Gibbons 27
• Sanderson 68, Cedar Ridge 0
• Seaforth 50, Graham 6
• Seventy-First 21, Hoke County 0
• Shelby 35, Olympic 24
• South Central 34, Currituck County 7
• South Columbus 70, Union 6
• South Iredell 41, Piedmont 17
• Southeast Alamance 41, Northwood 6
• Southern Durham 26, Wake Forest 24
• Southern Nash 22, Southern Alamance 20
• Southwestern Randolph 43, McMichael 21
• St. David’s 51, Berean Baptist 20
• Starmount 58, North Wilkes 0
• Thomasville 13, Smith 8
• Tuscola 42, Swain County 8
• Vance County 28, Northern Durham 0
• Wakefield 14, Franklinton 3
• Watauga 48, A.C. Reynolds 21
• Wayne Christian 28, Lawrence 14
• Weddington 27, Butler 19
• West Davidson 20, Trinity 19
• Western Alamance 17, Eastern Guilford 7
• White Oak 48, Northside-Jacksonville 6
• Williams 49, Morehead 7

Saturday, Sept. 14

• Mallard Creek 21, Moeller 14
• Millbrook 45, Broughton 14
• Tarboro 27, Southwest Edgecombe 14
• Warren County 48, North Edgecombe 0

In a presidential election year, it can be difficult for downballot candidates to get attention. But North Carolina’s candidates for Superintendent of Public Instruction, Republican Michele Morrow and Democrat Mo Green, have squared off in two events in the past week, hoping to distinguish themselves as the best person to run the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction (NCDPI) and administer approximately $11 billion in state and federal funding.

Saturday morning, both Morrow and Green met in person on the NC State campus in an hour-long forum hosted by Public Schools First North Carolina and the North Carolina Parent Teacher Association.

In her opening statement Morrow, a nurse who homeschooled her children, said she believes an outsider is needed to focus on students, not the system.

“There was a time when our students knew what it meant to respect authority and to honor their elders, and that they were proud and that they were appreciative for being citizens in the United States of America,” said Morrow. “But now, ladies and gentlemen, we are in crisis. We are not serving our students, our teachers, our parents, or our administrators well.”

Green, a former superintendent of Guilford County Schools and past executive director of the Z. Smith Reynolds Foundation, told the audience this position requires a true champion of public education, especially at a time that North Carolina ranks 48th in school funding.

Per-pupil spending nationally is about $16,000 per student, but in North Carolina that figure is a little more than $11,000 according to Green.

Instead, legislators are funding private school vouchers, that will drain hundreds of millions more from public education.

“And then you talk about the way that our public-school educators and our public schools are being disrespected by many, including my very own opponent who has called our public schools, cesspools of evil lies and deception, has called our educators groomers,” said Green. “I would submit to you that this election is about protecting the very soul of public education.”

Morrow, a conservative activist who has drawn national attention for her calls for political violence, acknowledged that too many teachers are leaving the public school system, and the next state superintendent must address that.

“They are leaving what they were called to do because they don’t feel like they are getting the resources, they’re not getting the support, and they are not able to do what they want to do, which is called to teach,” Morrow said. “They are having to push an agenda.  I’m going to advocate for families, for students, for staff, and I’m going to ensure that the laws are obeyed in every single one of our 115 districts.”

School safety a top concern

On the issue of school safety, Morrow said would push for at least two school resource officers (SROs) in every school.

“We need a code of conduct. We need for parents, teachers, and staff to understand what is going to be expected in conduct as well as academic performance,” Morrow said.

She faulted two group that received funding from the Z. Smith Reynolds Foundation that advocated for removing SROs.

“If you live here in Wake County, you have seen in the last week, we have had more than five schools on lockdown. That is absolutely irresponsible,” Morrow said.

Green said strategies he would employ to make schools safer include building effective relationships with law enforcement, increasing the mental health professionals working with students, and hardening some facilities.

“And then finally, character development. I think it’s important that our children understand how to comport themselves, how to be in a relationship with each other, even when they’re in disagreement with each other.”

Raising pay amid a rise in private school vouchers

On the issue of compensation, both candidates agreed that the starting salary for North Carolina’s teachers is not enough.

Morrow said she would like to see starting pay for teachers in the $50,000-$55,000 range, with certain educators earning more based on their skills.

Green suggested starting pay be set at $55,000 to $60,000, with no ceiling on what teachers earn.

Green also made clear his opposition the taxpayer-funded private school voucher program recently expanded by the Republican-controlled legislature.  The additional funding for vouchers approved just last week totals $5 billion over the next decade.

“This is deeply troubling when you think about now the wealthiest of the wealthy, those who can already afford to send their child to a private school already have their child in a private school can now get government assistance. What are we doing?”

Morrow said under her administration, NCDPI would do ‘a deep dive’ into how the money is spent, but “healthy competition creates the best product at the best price.”

Limiting smartphones in schools

With an increasing number of states implementing bans on cellphones in schools, both candidates agreed there should be limitations.

“I’m not at a place where I’m going to say there should be a total ban on cell phones in all of our schools at all times. But I do think that we’ve got to figure our ways to limit the access of cell phones in our schools because our students, I believe, are being inundated with all sorts of things that are distracting them from receiving the educational opportunities that they should be receiving in the classroom,” Green said.

Morrow took it a step further.

“I think it’s very dangerous to have our kids on a screen. When I talk about it as a nurse and the developmental issues that we’re seeing in our young people with the frontal lobe, with their ability to maintain impulse control, I think we absolutely need to remove at least the cell phones from the classroom. I’d also like to see a severe diminishment, if not removal from our elementary school of handheld devices,” she said.

Morrow said it’s more important for students to have face-to-face time with teachers.

Morrow sharpens her attack, Green questions her fitness to lead NC schools

The polite, hour-long conversation on education policy took an unexpected turn in the candidate’s closing remarks.

Morrow said the exodus of teachers and families from North Carolina public schools can be tied to a politicized system, with an agenda funded in part by Z. Smith Reynolds, the foundation Green once led.

“So he can talk a good game, but I want you to know what is at stake. He talks about grooming, well, let me tell you, Planned Parenthood, go look up, Amaze Jr. and Amaze. They are cartoons that are teaching our four to nine-year-olds how to masturbate.

“They’re telling them that it is fine as a four-year-old to poke and prod one another naked, go watch it. It is being funded, it is being promoted by Planned Parenthood who is one of his biggest supporters,” asserted Morrow.

Morrow said white teachers need not apologize for their whiteness.

“We should not be telling our teachers that our minority students cannot perform because you have inherent racism. It’s time for us to recognize that this social, this politically charged, this racially divisive, and this sexually inappropriate content is destroying our children, it’s destroying their future,” said Morrow in her pledge to make schools a place where children are protected and parental rights respected.

Green for his part reminded the audience that it was Morrow who took her children to the attempted insurrection on January 6th at the U.S. Capitol and even suggested then-President Donald Trump use the military to stay in power.

“This is a person who’s called for the executions of many, many folks, listing President Biden and Governor Cooper and President Barack Obama,” said Green in referencing Morrow’s prior social media posts. “Is this the kind of character we want next to our children?”

Voters won’t have to wait long to answer that question. Early in-person voting for the General Election begins on October 17th.