All 10 candidates running for three seats on the Columbus City Schools' Board of Education spoke at a forum put on by the League of Women Voters of Metropolitan Columbus Thursday evening.
The candidates took questions for two hours on book bans, LGBTQ+ students, busing and how to address teacher shortages. Each candidate has to stand out to make the cut in the May 6 primary. Only six will advance to the general election in November.
The forum took place at Clair United Methodist Church on Columbus' south side. The moderators mixed in questions from the audience but only allowed about half of the candidates to answer each question to conserve time.
The candidates were asked early on about the current board's "perceived dysfunction" by the moderators. Three incumbent board members are not seeking re-election after a tumultuous few years since the pandemic.
Janeece Keyes-Shanklin, a program manager with the Ohio Bureau of Workers Compensation, said she thinks school board members need to "leave our egos at the door" and focus on the students.
Patrick Katzenmeyer, a project manager at The Pizzuti Companies, said he thinks there are some good members still left on the board who he thinks they can work with. He said the new members can immediately create a "common sense majority" once they take office.
"I don't wanna sit up here and trash the board, but we did go through this problem, through the closure process," Katzenmeyer said. "So I have seen it up front and it involves respect for the school employees, involves respect from the parents and really some respect for your fellow board members."
Jermaine Kennedy, a program officer at the Boys & Girls Club of Central Ohio, said his goal is trying to collaborate when there is difference on the board.
"If we focus our interests on how we can ensure that this district is moving forward, our kids are thriving, our teachers have the resources they need. That's the focus. Anything other than that is just ego," Kennedy said.
Keyes-Shanklin spoke twice about realigning pay and funding towards lower income positions in the district rather than administrative positions. Keyes-Shanklin said doing so could help benefit children by putting more money towards things like better busing.
"We need to make sure that we are not top heavy and that we're actually thinking about the advancement of our children," Keyes-Shanklin said.
Mounir Lynch, a health educator and community activist, called the topic "complex." He said he'd like to work with the superintendent to prioritize positions that impact the students the most everyday.
"We also need to make sure that we're not paying tens of thousands of dollars for people from out of state to come and make a PowerPoint about what the problems are in our community that we clearly understand," Lynch said. "That, to me, is a huge issue on top of the administrative bloat that we experience."
Kimberley Mason, a high education project manager with the Ohio Bankers League, said different areas of the city may require different resources than others. Giving the west side and North Linden as examples, she said some schools may need more administrators while other buildings do not.
"I feel like my grandmother would say, too many chiefs, not enough Indians," Mason said.
On teacher shortages, five candidates gave their take on the best way to solve the growing issue in many school districts.
Julie Trabold, a nurse and educator, put her solution to the topic bluntly.
"Teachers need to be paid more. Our economy is faltering right now and prices are going up with everything. Their compensation needs to be raised," Trabold said.
Trabold said she would like to establish universal childcare for the district, which can also help teachers and staff as well.
Karrie Lumpkin, a claims specialist with the Ohio Attorney General's Office, said she thinks teacher's need to be supported. She said she talked to a former teacher who didn't feel that way in the district.
"It was so hard to get the needs met for the kids. It was hard for her to even...a lot of times, she had to buy the supplies," Lumpkin said. "A lot of times the parents, they were supportive, but not enough for her to be successful. So she ended up leaving."
The candidates were also asked about how to ensure a safe, inclusive and supportive learning environment for LGBTQ+ students given state law recently passed by the Ohio legislature.
Antoinette Miranda, a former Ohio Board of Education member and current Ohio State University education professor, criticized the district for "jumping ahead of the law" by changing the names of students in the district's system to match the names on their birth certificates without notifying parents.
District Superintendent Angela Chapman apologized at a board meeting on April 1 for the administrative decision to change students' names to their legal names and their genders to match their biological sex in district systems.
"With all of this stuff, many times, we are jumping ahead to try to comply with the law when there are things not in the law that we are doing. It is important to be inclusive," Miranda said.
Liz Caslin-Turner, a program manager with the Ohio Department of Higher Education, said the district needs to protect students who are part of communities that are "under attack."
"I believe in equipping our teachers with the knowledge and the skills to be able to speak up for the students and also support their voices not being heard," Caslin-Turner said.
Teresa Hannah, founder of STEPP Forward LLC, said she had to educate herself on the issue and she wants the school district to do the same so they can best help children in the transgender community.
"I want to make sure that all of our kids are safe when they go to school, not just feel safe, but to be safe," Hannah said.
One question that drew some difference between the candidates was on how they would respond to requests to ban certain books.
Katzenmeyer said he would be against banning any books.
"I think there would have to be a very strong reason why we would ban any book," he said.
Kennedy agreed, saying he wants to expose students to the world through culture and real-world, relevant literature.
"I believe the diversity of the district. Culturally relevant materials, literature, experiences is what our students need, is what our students want," Kennedy said.
Keyes-Shanklin said she doesn't believe in banning books, but she does believe a child's age should determine what books they can access.
"I would not ban a book based on certain criteria. But I do feel, again, that books should be made available to children based off of specific ages," Keyes-Shanklin said.
Voters have already been weighing in on the race since Tuesday.
Early voting is available during weekdays at the Franklin County Board of Elections leading up to the May 6 primary.
The full video of the forum can be viewed on YouTube.
