Kent City Schools are a great place to learn.  But not all of our students find the same success that my children were able to find in Kent Schools.  It is essential that we provide the widest range of opportunities for all students at every level to engage with their education.  Our students deserve the broad foundational support they need to succeed, not just at the high school level where it is often most visible, but starting in elementary school and continuing all the way through graduation day.   Creative thinking, wise investment, and partnering better with our community can get us closer to this goal.

Our schools should be the safest place in the Kent community. Working and learning conditions directly impact the ability of our staff to feel and do their best, as well as our students' ability to learn and grow. That's why we need to make sure that, in every way possible, our schools are the safest they can be for our students, our staff, and all those who come in to partner with us.

In my role as a labor representative with the Ohio Education Association, I have seen schools all over Ohio and how they work to keep their students safe.  We can be thankful that we have not experienced a major tragedy in our schools, and I pray that remains true.  But prayers are not enough.  We can make reasonable changes in our schools' safety profile and procedures that will allow us to better protect our most precious gift: our students, as well as families, staff, and the visiting community.

I also believe that, as a public agency, it is imperative that the school district communicates clearly, frequently, and effectively with students, their families, and with the community at large.  The long history of support from the local taxpayers shows the trust of our community.  That community deserves a high level of transparency and accountability for the resources we’ve entrusted to our schools.  We need to ensure that Kent remains a community that always supports its schools.  One of the best ways to achieve that is to make sure that we provide the best education possible to our students, and that we transparently communicate district decisions and financial impacts to demonstrate the positive impact on our students. 

Parents send us their best—their kids—and should be our strongest partners in the education of their children. In addition, we have to value the voices of the people who spend the most time in our schools: the students we're supporting and school staff who make our public schools possible.  Taking the time to listen, with open minds, to a broad range of stakeholders as to what they want from their schools, what we do well, and where we need to improve, is essential to a supportive, positive, productive school environment.

We also need to seek out the creative partners within our community who can help us provide an even broader range of opportunities for our students at all ages than we already do.  We have a strong sense of volunteerism in our community and an incredibly wide range of skill sets.  If we take the time to ask, seek, and engage, the sky is the limit for our possibilities for our students and growing our community!