(Editor’s note: Any candidate for public office may have one commentary of 650 words or less telling voters why they want to be elected. The Tribune must receive all commentaries by the end of the day on Friday. They will be published first-come-first-served and none will be published after Nov. 3. The election is Nov. 5; early voting starts Thursday.)
Change. That’s what Covington voters have said they want for their public schools. That’s exactly what I’ve been fighting for these 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 deliver for our students, families, staff and our community.
If you send me back to the Covington Board of Education, I will be focused on these essentials – improving academic performance, giving teachers and staff the respect and resources they need to be successful and being a good steward of taxpayer dollars.
We must work together to create a culture of academic excellence and accountability based on data and facts. We need to decentralize the central office and put more resources – and accountability – at the school and classroom level. We must focus on ensuring our youngest learners are better prepared by partnering with community-based organizations and local efforts that focus on kindergarten readiness and grade level proficiency.
Every third grader in Covington should be reading on grade level and every eighth grader should be proficient in math. When Holmes High School seniors walk across the graduation stage, each of them should be enrolled in post-secondary education or training, enlisted in the military or employed in a living wage career – no excuses.
We are living in a competitive market for education. Our public school system is competing with private and parochial schools, as well as nearby public school districts for the trust of families. We must lead with innovation and keep more of our students in our public schools and ensure that taxpayers receive a better return on their investment.
We must focus on increasing engagement with all stakeholders. For far too long, there have been artificial barriers placed around our schools and I want to tear those down. I want to increase dialogue with teachers and staff to ensure we are a destination district 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 engage them to ensure those children have a home in our public school system. I want to see a comprehensive communications campaign so that everyone in our city has an ownership stake in our public school system because these are OUR schools and OUR kids.
I envision a future filled with robust collaborations and partnerships so that we can solve big problems together.
We must also remain focused on equity and ensuring that ALL students in our city have excellent educational opportunities – no matter which neighborhood they call home. I want to reduce achievement gaps and ensure that every student in our district has access to a rigorous and reliable curriculum. I want to ensure our workforce is as diverse as our student population by increasing recruitment efforts and growing our own teacher workforce. I want to make sure that more of our public dollars stay in our local community by prioritizing spending with Covington businesses and contractors.
Four years ago, you entrusted me to make hard choices and deliver change for our community and we’ve made progress. Since 2021, the Covington Board of Education has delivered a 19% pay increase for all district staff while lowering the property tax rate in our community. We’ve doubled the number of budgeted school resource officers in our schools to keep our students and staff safe. We worked hard to draft and adopt an Equity Policy – a first in Northern Kentucky – to ensure every student is receiving the support they need to be successful. I know that tough conversations and difficult decisions lie ahead and I will not shrink from them. We need change makers on the Covington Board of Education and not defenders of the status quo or how things used to be. And that’s what I promise to continue to fight for – for you, for our students, for our employees, for our Covington community and for our future.
Tom Haggard is the current Chairman of the Covington Board of Education and candidate for re-election.