Opinion – Tom Haggard: I am asking for your support for re-election to the Covington Board of Education.

(Editor’s note: Any candidate for public office may have one comment of 650 words or less telling voters why they want to be elected. The Tribune must receive all comments by the end of the day Friday. They will be published on a first-come, first-served basis. and none will be released after November 3rd. The election is November 5th, with early voting beginning Thursday.)

Change. This is what Covington voters say they want for their public schools. This is exactly what I have fought for the past four years as your elected representative on the Covington Board of Education. I want you to know that I have heard your concerns, your stories, and your aspirations, and I am working hard to make a difference for our students, families, staff, and our community.

If you send me back to the Covington Board of Education, I will focus on these core objectives: improving academic achievement, giving teachers and staff the respect and resources they need to succeed, and being good stewards of taxpayer dollars.

We must work together to create a culture of academic excellence and accountability based on data and evidence. We need to decentralize central office and direct more resources—and accountability—to the school and classroom level. We must focus on ensuring our youngest students are better prepared by partnering with community organizations and local efforts that focus on kindergarten readiness and grade level.

Every third grader in Covington should be reading at grade level, and every eighth grader should be proficient in math. When Holmes High School graduates graduate, each of them must be enrolled in postsecondary education or training, enlisted in the military, or employed at a living wage—no excuses.

We live in a competitive education market. Our public school system competes for the trust of families with private and parochial schools, as well as with surrounding school districts. We must lead the way in innovation and keep more of our students in our public schools, and ensure taxpayers get a better return on their investment.

We must focus on increasing engagement with all stakeholders. For too long, artificial barriers have been erected around our schools, and I want to tear them down. I want to expand the dialogue with teachers and staff to ensure we are a destination for employees with industry-leading salaries, benefits and culture. Hundreds of families in our city do not send their children to our public schools, and I want to encourage them to ensure that these children have a home in our public school system. I want to see a comprehensive outreach campaign so that every person in our city has a stake in our public school system, because these are OUR schools and OUR children.

I see a future filled with strong collaborations and partnerships so that we can solve big problems together.

We must also focus on equity and ensuring that ALL students in our city have excellent educational opportunities—no matter what neighborhood they call home. I want to close the achievement gap and ensure every student in our district has access to a rigorous and robust curriculum. I want our workforce to be as diverse as our student population by increasing our recruiting efforts and increasing our own faculty. I want to make sure that the majority of our public funds stay in our local community, prioritizing spending with Covington businesses and contractors.

Four years ago, you trusted me to make difficult choices and make changes in our community, and we have made progress. Beginning in 2021, the Covington Board of Education increased the salaries of all district employees by 19% while reducing the property tax rate in our community. We have doubled the number of budget specialists in our schools to ensure the safety of our students and staff. We worked diligently to develop and pass an Equity Policy—a first for Northern Kentucky—to ensure that every student receives the support they need to succeed. I know we have difficult conversations and difficult decisions ahead, and I will not back down from them. We need changemakers on the Covington Board of Education, not defenders of the status quo or the way things used to be. And that is what I promise to continue to fight for—for you, for our students, for our staff, for our Covington community, and for our future.

Tom Haggard is the current chairman of the Covington Board of Education and a candidate for re-election.