The Columbus City Schools' Board of Education has had three different board presidents in three years and is set to have a fourth once Board President Michael Cole leaves office at the end of the year.
Jennifer Adair currently serves as the board's vice president, but she served as president for four years during the COVID-19 pandemic and the 2022-2023 teachers' strike. As an election approaches where three new board members will be elected, Adair speaks on why the board has seen so much fluctuation in leadership.
This interview was edited for clarity and length.
George Shillcock: Vice President Adair, you were school board president from 2020 until the end of 2023. What made you want to step down as president of the school board?
Jennifer Adair: You know what, being president of the school board, it's hard. And it's an additional full-time job, really, that you don't get paid for. It's a lot of being out there, the public spokesperson. It's a lot of, you know, obviously working with all of the members and your direct reports. It's a lot. And four years is a long time, especially in a lot of the crisis that we were going through. And so I just needed a break.
George Shillcock: Since you stepped down, of course, we've had two more people step into the role as president. Michael Cole is the president right now, and Christina Vera was president before him. Once Michael Cole leaves the board, we'll have had four unique chairs in three years. Why do you believe that there has been so much change over within this time period?
Jennifer Adair: I mean, again, I don't want to make it something that it's not. I mean it's a hard role to be in and it's a hard role just in general. But now we look at what's just going on with the attacks on public education and it becomes even more challenging. So I think the truth is the school board is seven people in our district and we have to govern as seven people. The work of the board stays the same. We're working on reading. We're working on math. We're working on graduation. We have our guardrails. That doesn't change. And I think people don't understand what the role of a school board is. And so that doesn't matter who the president is. And so the work and the focus on students should not change, will not change.
George Shillcock: I know you said that, of course, it depends on an individual, unique basis. But I want to ask, did the stress of some of these tough situations and decisions over the last few years play a role in the changeover, such as, like you said, the attacks on public education, choosing a new superintendent, the school closures, that leaked document controversy, and then also the teacher strike as well from 22 to 23?
Jennifer Adair: Yeah. I mean, and part of it is the impact on the individual sitting in the seat. I will tell you right now, going through that teacher strike was one of the most difficult things I've personally done. And leading through that was something that was very difficult personally. We're seven elected people, not chosen by one another. Let me make that clear, right? So we each come in with our own personality, talents, our own skills, but also sometimes our own agenda, which is not always the same as the other people. And so it can be difficult and it can change the way that the kind of trust dynamic goes. And I've been public in saying that. We do have trust issues. We're maybe trying to work on those. But the truth is we have to govern as seven. And we have to work on that as adults, right? Until adult behavior changes, our student outcomes don't change.
George Shillcock: I know you said that a bit ago that who is president doesn't matter as much, but how can a stable board leadership help the district? And really what's it going to take to get back there and have someone who is in the role long term?
Jennifer Adair: Well, it does matter. I don't want to say it doesn't. It doesn't matter to the underlying work, I guess, is what I was trying to say. Like the underlying work remains consistent, right? And even in this transition with getting three new board members, the underlying work of the board is to make sure the superintendent is getting those goals and guardrails accomplished, right? And so it is important who the president is to just the functioning of the board and the communication to the community.
George Shillcock: I don't wanna ask about re-election. That's a ways off, of course, in 2027. But I do wanna ask, would you be open in the future to becoming board president again?
Jennifer Adair: I mean, I did have...I was nominated this time too.
George Shillcock: Yes, I believe Sarah Ingles nominated you, right?
Jennifer Adair: Yeah, and this is what I said the four years that I was president. If my colleagues believe I have the right skills, talents and abilities to do it at the time, I will do it. I'm not an attention seeking (person), the title doesn't matter to me. What matters to me is that we do the work our community has asked us to do.
Next week, WOSU will interview former CCS Board of Education President Christina Vera about her views on the board's leadership.
