Joshua Millwood is running for Rutherford County Board of Education, and he got there by doing something unusual: when the commissioners and the school board produced two irreconcilable numbers for the same budget two years ago, he read the audits instead of picking a side.

In this episode, Josh walks through what he found. The $6.1 million deficit that drove the closure of Mt. Vernon-Ruth Elementary and the Rutherford Opportunity Center — and why, after digging through meeting minutes, ACFRs, and an unqualified audit opinion, he won't call it fraud. He explains the proposed "two-feeder system" from zero: consolidating three high schools into two means redrawing district lines, not absorbing one school into another; nothing has been voted on; a feasibility study is underway; and a realistic timeline is years, not months. He lays out the $65 million state capital grant the county could use to renovate East or Chase, and why Iredell County's $130 million new build — now $40 million short — is a cautionary tale.

The second half turns to money the county isn't collecting. Rutherford County's exceptional-children population is about 19 percent; the state funds 13. Senate Bill 960 would raise that cap to 16 percent, worth an estimated $900,000 to $1.2 million a year locally. It's a Democrat-sponsored bill that no Republican has signed onto — and Josh, a registered Republican, says he'll work across the aisle to move it. Andrew makes the case for a county grant writer, and both discuss repairing the relationship between the Board of Education and the incoming county commission.

Also: Josh's family's path from Cone Mills to the school system, 13 years as a foster parent in a county with 200-plus kids in care and roughly 15 foster families, and why his platform is transparency without accusations.

Election Day is November 3, 2026. Early voting is open. Questions and story ideas: thefloorisyoursradio@gmail.com.