Board President Michael Cole is not seeking re-election. And once he leaves, the Columbus City Schools' Board of Education will have had four different chairs in only three years.
Board member Christina Vera was the last president before Cole from January 2024 to January 2025. Before her, CCS board Vice President Jennifer Adair held the title for four years.
As an election approaches where three new board members will be elected and eventually a new president will be chosen, Cole, like his two predecessors, doesn't think the board's leadership is unstable. He suggests they could make this pattern permanent and elect a new board president every year on a rotating basis like the Franklin County Commissioners.
This interview was edited for clarity and length.
George Shillcock: Board President Michael Cole, first can you tell me a bit about why you're choosing not to seek re-election this year?
Michael Cole: I've decided very painstakingly to not continue to serve on the Columbus City Schools' Board of Education because it's about the season. It's just about my personal timing. I've given a considerable amount of energy, passion, emotional content to this work in a way that has improved public education in any number of ways for Columbus City Schools.
George Shillcock: So, a fourth new president in four years will take the helm of the school board come next year. I want to ask you, during the past few years, why do you think there's been so much change in this position?
Michael Cole: There is no permanence, so to speak, in democracy other than the systems by which we are responsible for as elected officials. So the key here is not so much about who's president. The key is about how much the board itself is dedicated to its governance model called "student outcomes focused governance." (It's) very self-explanatory, but even more counterintuitive when we say our model is "student outcomes don't change until adult behaviors change." This is about being committed to that, not so much being committed to who's in leadership, because who's in leadership is even more responsible and accountable for how the board is directed in terms of our focus on our outcomes for kids. So...our five-year strategic plan and goals and guardrails are also tied to that. So each president that has served has been a part of making sure that we were consistent and accountable in our space of governance. Whoever becomes president in the future, it's incumbent for that individual and those two individuals and vice president and president to do the same thing.
George Shillcock: Do you think that it is unimportant how much change is happening in this position as long as the job is still getting done?
Michael Cole: I think the important factor is how folks choose to lead. What is the style of leadership? Is the style of leadership one where the focus is on how do we present our best selves as a board and how do we hold ourselves accountable to that? And I think any one of us at any point in time has had the opportunity to demonstrate that. This is a marathon race, and we need a leader, we need leadership to understand how to guide us through this marathon race, if I'm making sense.
George Shillcock: You put the work of the school board, a moment ago, into the context or metaphor of like a marathon, but it does seem like over the last three to four years it has been more of a relay race, being that the baton is being passed off to the next person. Does it hurt the work of the school board to have a different person at the helm just so often?
Michael Cole: You know, it's interesting because I believe the county commission. I think every year or every other year or something like that, they kind of switch. We're no different. I think the only difference is mindset and what we're practicing and what we're continuing to work in efforts at is continuing to cultivate and continuously improve on a mindset. That is about how do we focus on the outcomes for children, for students, in a way that is impactful? How do we understand the work of what a school district is responsible for? That (work) fundamentally being improving student outcomes. That's what we're here, that's what we exist for. I get you on where there's this concern about transition, but if you're playing the game the way it's supposed to be played, if we're working together as a team, president and vice president are critical, but at the same time, it makes the work a lot more productive and impactful when everybody is singing from the same hymnal in their respective tone and intonation.
George Shillcock: Thanks for joining us. That was Board President Michael Cole of the Columbus City Schools' Board of Education and I'm George Shillcock with WOSU News.
This is the third and final interview with current and former school board presidents for Columbus City Schools.
WOSU interviewed former board President Christina Vera on Feb. 28 and current board Vice President Jennifer Adair on Feb. 21 about their views on the board's leadership.
