Candidates running for the Milford Exempted Village School Board of Education answered questions from the community at a Clermont County League of Women Voters forum on Sept. 29, 2021. Pictured from left are candidates Jara Bonner, Christopher Hamm (incumbent), Joe Krimmer, Emily Mason and James Rhodes. Photo provided.
A slew of candidates are running for Milford Exempted Village School Board of Education in the upcoming Nov. 2 election.
Candidates certified on the ballot are: Jara Bonner, Jerry Combs, Melissa Nolan, Joe Krimmer, Emily Mason, Bea Norris, James Rhodes, and incumbent board president, Christopher Hamm.
David Yockey and Andrea Brady, who currently sit on the Board and have for a number of years, are not running for re-election.
The Clermont County League of Women Voters, a nonprofit and nonpartisan education group, held a candidate forum on Sept. 29.
Bonner, Mason, Rhodes, Krimmer and Hamm were the only candidates to participate in the forum. Combs, Nolan and Norris, who have branded themselves the “conservative candidates,” did not participate in the forum. Combs and Norris have specifically campaigned on “pro-American education” and “taking back our schools.”
Bonner has been involved in public education for 24 years working with Cincinnati Public Schools. She currently works as the human resources manager.
Hamm is seeking re-election after nearly completing his first term after being elected in 2017. He has three children who are going through the District now. His background is in business.
Krimmer also has a background in business and running his own businesses. He moved to Milford 10 years ago with his wife. He said his aim was to ensure the “exceptionalism” at Milford continues.
Mason is a parent of two children who attend Seipelt Elementary. She joined the PTA as soon as she could and has served for more than six years now, including running yearbook, the scholarship committee and she also started a running program. Her background is in branding and graphic design.
Rhodes is a 10-year resident of the area, who came to the community because of the schools. He has two children at Mulberry Elementary. He ran for school board previously in the 2019 General Election. His background is in applied administration.
The first question to the candidates was about how they would interact with other Board members, staff members and the community.
Hamm said he views the Board as a “customer service organization.” The Board should also expand opportunities with efficient tools to get there.
Krimmer said he echoes Hamm’s thoughts and added that the role of the Board is to act in concert with each other and the community.
Mason said the number one thing is to keep the students as the focus and advise the superintendent on community attitudes.
Rhodes said the biggest role is for the Board to provide oversight and be a liaison between the community and the staff.
Bonner said the role of the Board is to provide oversight on policy and procedure and most importantly, to keep the students, staff members and employees safe and healthy in the ability to learn.
The election for candidates to the Board comes at a time when the District is also trying to pass a bond measure on the ballot. The bond is for 2.47-mill to demolish the existing Junior High School building and to build a new grades six through eight Middle School.
Candidates were asked what they’ve done to ensure the bond passes or specify work they’ve done on any previous bonds, including the failed 2019 bond measure.
Krimmer said he can’t say he has taken a specific, active role in the current or prior bond issues. He voted “yes” on the 2019 bond, however.
Mason said she’s made sure to get as knowledgeable on the bond issue as she can; Bonner said similarly and that she has encouraged her neighbors to vote for the 2019 and the current bond issues.
Rhodes said he’s talked to his neighbors about the bond issue; he voted “no” on the 2019 bond.
And of course, Hamm was on the Board itself for both the 2019 bond and putting the 2021 bond on the ballot. He said he’s proud of how much they lowered the dollar figure for the 2021 bond.
One of the big issues driving a lot of school board discussions around the country, and at times here in Clermont County, has been the handling or “mishandling” of the pandemic. The candidates were asked whether the District approached the pandemic correctly and the successes and failures therein.
Bonner said she wasn’t sure there was a correct or incorrect way to approach the pandemic. She thought it was good that the District kept children in school.
“People are doing the best they can,” she said.
Hamm said they gave a lot of responsibility to the administration and students, parents and teachers made it work.
“We made last year work and it was a success and we’re trying to make sure this year works as well,” he said.
Krimmer said the District’s response was “very appropriate.”
“What I think what worked, the successes, we had protocols put into place; there was personal protection provided for our kids and for our teachers and everybody took it seriously,” he said.
Mason said the most important thing everyone can agree on is that the kids need to be in school and in-person.
“Milford has done a good job of this because they have been following the advice of the experts,” she said.
Rhodes said Milford was flexible in the early days of the pandemic and did a fantastic job.
“I could look back six months and say, that decision was wrong; well at that moment, it was the best that everybody could come up with,” he said.
One of the salient topics of conversation in the District throughout the years has been whether to change the start times for students.
Late in 2018 and early 2019, the previous superintendent, Nancy House, presented a school start time study to the Board that showed how numerous studies indicated early school start times have a negative impact on students.
At the time, the junior and high schools both started at 7:15 a.m., with a recommendation that 8:30 a.m. is the earliest start time it should be.
In early 2020, the times were changed:
– Milford High School and Junior High School starts at 7:45 a.m., and ends at 2:30 p.m.
– Meadowview and McCormick Elementary Schools begins at 8:25 a.m. and ends at 3:10 p.m.
– Pattison Elementary School begins at 8:30 a.m. and ends at 3:15 p.m.
– Seipelt, Smith and Mulberry Elementary Schools begins at 9:15 a.m. and ends at 4 p.m.
Among the reasons for not going all the way to 8:30 a.m. included the cost, school days ending later in the day affecting extracurriculars, impact on parents’ schedules and unknown impact on the traffic patterns.
Mason and Bonner said start times are something that should be looked into; Rhodes said it’s a balancing act between funds and doing what’s best for students; Hamm said they tried to get to an 8:30 a.m. start time, but doing so would require going from a three-tier bus structure to a fourth-tier, which is costly ($1.2 million, he said); and Krimmer said he doesn’t see the start times as a problem.
Another question from the community asked about the current state of teacher salaries in Milford.
Rhodes said they are paid fairly; Bonner said the salaries are in line, but lower for incoming teachers.
Hamm said they have had three-years of labor stability with its teachers union. He said their pay is “somewhere in the middle,” with added perks of professional development.
Krimmer added that the salaries are competitive, but “not overly competitive.” He said rather than looking at a broad-scale change is to look at redundancy in roles.
Mason said they could pay teachers more because of how much are asked of them. She added that mental health supports could be useful for teachers as well.
For those who missed the forum or would like to watch it in full, the video is available on the Clermont County League of Women Voters’ Facebook page or through the ICRCTV website here: https://www.icrctv.com/community/milford-schools.