Deena Hayes Retains Seat as Board of Education Chair
Bettye Jenkins takes leadership role as vice chair

Deena Hayes will once again serve as chairperson of the Guilford County Board of Education. The District 8 representative has served on the school board since 2002 and was first elected as the board chairperson in the summer of 2018.

Hayes is the managing director of the Racial Equity Institute. She was recently awarded the 2019 Benjamin Elijah Mays Lifetime Achievement Award from the National School Boards Association’s Council of Urban Boards of Education. The Benjamin Elijah Mays Lifetime Achievement Award is given to an individual who, through service as a local school board member, has demonstrated a long-standing commitment to representing the educational needs of urban schoolchildren.

Bettye Jenkins was elected as vice chairperson. Jenkins is a former teacher’s assistant, social worker, social work supervisor and community service coordinator who retired from Guilford County Schools in 2016. She served as second vice president for the Greensboro branch of the NAACP, committee co-chair for Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc., and a member of the League of Women Voters. Her two children graduated from Dudley High, and she has two grandchildren enrolled in GCS.

About Guilford County Schools 

Guilford County Schools, the third largest school district in North Carolina and the 50th largest of more than 14,000 in the United States, serves more than 69,000 PK-12 students at 126 schools. With approximately 9,800 employees, GCS works in partnership with parents, businesses, colleges and the community to deliver an education that connects student interests and skills with the careers and economy of our future here and around the world. For more information, visit the district’s website at www.gcsnc.com.