001e check check mike check hello GG can you hear me e good evening everyone and welcome to the candidates forum for the Milford school board the for forum is being hosted by the Milford Miami Chamber of Commerce and conducted by The Claremont County League of Women Voters Welcome to our Forum to begin our evening please join me in reciting the Pledge of Allegiance I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands one nation under God indivisible with liberty and justice for all thank you to begin the evening I'm Excuse me my name is Teresa Haron I'm a member of the uh League of Women Voters and I will be your moderator this evening each candidate has has received a set of ground rules for
002the evening and has agreed to abide by them to preserve a nonpartisan atmosphere during the Forum no campaign banners signs literature handouts or other campaign paraphernalia will be allowed in the meeting room each candidate will give a three-minute opening statement candidates will make their statements in alphabetical order after the opening statements are completed I will ask questions relevant to the office and local issues these questions have been written by members of The League of Women Voters and have not previously been shared with any candidate each question will be answered starting with a different candidate questions will be submitted from the audience on cards to a bipartisan screener for review to avoid repetition and inappropriateness the questions are meant to be Broad in nature questions also will be accepted V via Facebook live these questions will
003be reviewed by our screeners as well we have limited time so we will not be able to get to everyone's questions and we apologize for that now we uh will um work work through this in about an hour's time this evening that is what we are expecting candidates will have um one minute to respond to each question there will be no rebuttal time candidates please watch our timers who will hold up cards letting each candidate know how much time they have left for their opening and closing statements as well as their answers to questions the moderator will have the responsibility of enforcing the ground rules and format maintaining order and keeping the discussion focused on current election issues members of the audience will have an opportunity to meet with candidates at the conclusion of the
004Forum outside the meeting room candidates will be allowed to distribute literature at that time outside let's get started our first opening statement will be made by Emily Chestnut um we're doing this by alphabetical um M Mrs Chestnut can you get us started with your opening statement please certainly thank you thank you to the league and the Chamber for hosting tonight my name is Emily Chestnut I currently serve as vice president of the Milford school board and I'm running for re-election this November 7th as a working mom with four kids in Milford schools I believe it's important for school board to represent the families of the district I serve on the board during 2020 when the world upended itself and everyone had to adjust their lives hugely impacting both work and school for every family I
005was able to add personal perspective to the discussion around the impact for families when we are making decisions about Eagle online and returning fully in person I used my knowledge gained from my work at Cincinnati Children's to inform those decisions I'm proud of how Milford work worked through the year and the work they continue to do to close the gaps in learning loss I excel at organization ask anyone I've worked with in any capacity I probably have a spreadsheet for our work during my day job I'm a project manager at Cincinnati Children's hospital with 20 years of experience and that organization and commitment follows me to my extracurricular activities when I suggest a change or take on a project I work to ensure that it is completed in a timely fashion with Excellence one of
006the impacts I've had on Schoolboard was improvements to the review process for the superintendent and Treasurer I updated our feedback form and worked to set timelines to complete the re reviews in alignment with their contracts I'm an Engaged in the community you can find me at the soccer field scouting events church and Kroger I enjoy connecting with community members and helping them learn about how schools function and bringing it to their family level when you ask just about anyone why they chose to live in Milford quality schools is the top reason and even for families without students in the district it's important important to that we maintain that quality thriving schools lead to a thriving Community experience and commitment to the community matter that's why I'm running for re-election to the school board thank you
007Mrs Powers running I'm Myra powers and I'm running for Milford school board a former fourth grader from the '90s in for me today that orag Gat was the first female to ever serve on the Milford school board and also created The Claremont County League of Women Voters so I'd like to thank the chamber the league and orag Gat for this opportunity um I retired last year after teaching in the district for over 40 years I taught General gifted in special education in grades kindergarten through nine I love teaching and realized I could could continue my commitment to Milford schools by serving on the board I know my teaching experience Appalachian work ethic dedication to Milford schools and love of the Milford and Miami Township communities will allow me to be successful my parents moved here
008from Kentucky for job opportunity away from coal mining and black lung disease my dad worked at Ford for 43 years and was a Pentecostal Pastor I wanted to go to college and I had to go to work I worked in the evenings in an emergency room Waffle House on the weekends and at Ford in the summer with my dad I graduated from Morehead State University in January 1981 and three days later I was standing in my own classroom at Milford Junior High I knew I'd found my calling and didn't know I'd found my home I raised my children here and they're raising their children here I'm very active in our community I co-chair chair the citizens advisory commission and I serve on the Milford schools Foundation which Awards scholarships to Milford students and honors notable
009alumni I volunteer at Boy Smith where my grandchildren attend I chair the steam night there and work at Book Fairs field days and wathon and I deliver food for feed our flock when elected I will work to ensure that our schools are safe for all and as a new member of the fixed income Club I will make sure there's a wise use of taxpayer money and I will work tirelessly to keep National political divisive politics out of local Schoolboard governance we can disagree respectfully and be United for our schools great schools make great communities thank you all right let's get started with the questions Mrs Powers we'll start with you please describe the role of a Schoolboard member in your opinion and share why you are the best person to fill that role well the
010school board has uh an oversight function they oversee the superintendent and the treasurer and um are involved in the hiring of the superintendent and the treasure they also oversee policy and procedure and they're an important Community liaison liazon between the community and the district I believe my experience and teaching and over all these years and my relationships with parents teachers administrators and uh students allow me to Be an Effective person in that role I've had a lot of experience with a lot of superintendent and treasurers and um I think I'll be okay in that part too all right thank you um Mrs Chestnut your turn same question same question L like you were GNA pick something else so um as Mrs Powers mentioned the main role of us as one of five board members is
011to work collaborate collaboratively with um each other and the superintendent and the treasurer um to oversee and bring our perspective to um the day daily functions in the past few years um that has meant most recently a review of policy is it up to date and helping give impact um and feedback on what that means for parents and how it would be there um so I I think my perspective is helped by the fact that I am a parent in the district engaged in the schools I'm in the junior high and I'm in the pison um I know what it's like I know what communication is like from those um venues so that I can bring that perspective to the to the district all right thank you very much uh Miss Chestnut you are um
012up for the next question please what are the what do you think are the top three issues in mil for schools right now um so um I think the number one issue in Milford and all the schools in the local area is funding Ohio uh relies heavily on local taxpayers for our funding uh therefore we have to come back and say Hey give us again give us money again we do not once we pass a levy we do not get any increases on that so just like in a job you might get a um an inflation increase that not true so that puts us in the space of coming back to the voters every three to five years to do so and we have we have something right now uh on the ballot for November
013so please support our schools we need the funding and it's worth it the programming that we give uh I would say the second issue is Staffing um and teacher retention Milford does a great job we have great teachers they stay we don't have high turnover and we are able to fill um but that comes because we have strong leadership from the the um superintendent and teachers want to be here um and I can't say my third ran out Mrs Powers yes um I agree with Emily that the largest issue facing schools now are or is the unconstitutional funding of schools in Ohio uh but since no one seems to be able to do anything about that I would like the district to explore a personal income tax U where this would be fair for people
014on fixed incomes um young adults just starting out with a lesser income and would also require renters to pay their fair share so I think it's something the district should explore I also think school safety um is critical uh student well-being and security and I also believe as I said before in my opening statement is that we've got to take politics out of local Schoolboard governance um our bond issue was voted in by our own community so and and I hope the tax level also will be voted in by our community our last Levy was supposed to last five years and it lasted 10 sorry all right thank you Mrs pow uh you're beginning with this question as well I'm sorry if I'm too loud uh Ohio is a local control State what does local
015control mean to you well local control means that local citizens local in a school setting local school citizens local Administration is in charge of the decisions and they make those decisions by re knowing what the community needs and wants all right thank you Mrs Chesnut um I would say the most important thing with local control for us us is that we enable our superintendent and board to make decisions that impact our schools so we get to set the priorities when we are in a solid Financial State that's what happens if we were to slip into um fiscal warning or not pass levies that's when the school start the state starts coming in and taking over control and that's where they start cutting things and we have no say so I think it's really important that
016the community supports the schools with funding so that we can remain uh so that we can remain that local control and make our decisions ourselves thank you all right next question Miss Chestnut how would you support the district's teachers um so I would support the district's teachers by supporting the programming that um the Administration has done so our current Administration has done a really good job at um partnering with battel for kids to get a picture of what makes uh a good workplace for for for the teachers how do we support them in Wellness I know we hear a lot about mental health especially for children it's just as important for our staff it's a really hard job to be out there in front of all these parents and children um with all these demands
017that we put on teachers and so I think that the the mental health component that we can offer to our staff um will help them stay remain happy and Thrive we want them more than just staying one to thrive thank you Mrs Powers what was the question exactly sorry I have to go back a page how would you support the district's teachers well I have a lot of opinions about how to support the district's teachers I do feel like the district does a nice job uh of supporting their teachers that giving them professional development opportunities taking their input in things uh I know this year teachers did not have a complete work day before opening day and um and meet the teacher night was the night before so the teachers filled out a survey and
018said we need an actual workday where we can prepare our classrooms and they're changing that for next year I know the building principles and PTO and ptas are very supportive of the teachers I would like the district to address a way to get more time to the teachers we've had a lot of things added to teacher plates over the years but nothing gets taken off all right let's start with you again please how can Milford the Milford school dist excuse me how can Milford school district Community get more involved in helping the administration and Board of Education well I I think the community are given a lot of opportunities to do that uh you know we've had the citizens advisory team in the past and now the citizens advisory Commission um so I feel like
019that is a way to get involved I wish people would go to the meetings more um Mr espie the treasurer has done an amazing job of uh making Schoolboard Finance understandable but the bu the meetings are very poorly and sporadically attended uh I know everyone's busy I'm a busy grandma and my children are busy parenting but um I would love to see the community get more into the nitty-gritty of just the daily operations of a school all right thank you Miss Chesnut yes um I think one of the best ways for Community to get involved is through the Community Action act what's it called cic commission there we go so our superintendant a year ago almost a year and a half ago set out to engage with community members and that's what that group is
020made up of uh and they bring those ideas back I think that's really unique that he leads that um and then shares their input back to the board um if people are interested in the daily activities uh we do have um committee meetings every month that people are welcome to and I think if you want to see what's happening that's a really good place to start we have five committees come to any one of them um but you really get to hear a little bit more about what how the um how the decisions are made and just the discussions we have on any of the given topics all right thank you next question what is your perspective on parents rights in regards to education um I don't know I don't know if I would put
021it as strongly as parents rights but I do think when parents are engaged in education with their teachers and their students that it's a positive um output for everybody Milford does a very good job something that we've heard a lot of um from people in the past is what is my kid reading why do they have to read that and our curriculum director Mr Daniels is extremely engaged and involved with parents who want want to give that choice to their students so if you um at the high school level there's opportunities for students to kind of choose what they read and parents can get reading lists and and help their students decide what fits their family best um but I think parent engagement and just talking to the teachers I mean it doesn't have to
022be every every PTO meeting or every parent conference but if you keep those lines of communication open that really helps everybody all right thank you Miss Powers um I totally agree with Emily I think parent engagement is key to the Student Success and to parents understanding what's going on in the schools I know um that there are books being read in high school and there are always options if a parent decides that they aren't they don't want their child to read a certain book The District has gone out of their way to to make sure parents have those choices and um I think the more parents are involved in the schools the more um they just understand what's going on when I was on the citizens advisory team a couple of years ago many people
023said I just had no idea what running a school district was like and this has been a real eye eye opener for me and I just think that's knowledge is power all right thank you um you are one voice Miss Powers U but the school the school board makes decisions can you speak to your ility to build consensus when your opinion is in the minority yes the role of a school board member is to act in concert with the district and the community and the school board oversees the superintendent and treasure and policy they do not manage day-to-day operations of the schools but they see that the system is managed well by the by the administrate administrators as a school board member I'll will treat all board members respectfully and civil I think that's what's
024been missing uh lately in in Schoolboard governance and uh serving on a school board is an act of community service and I have a history of positive relationships in the district with administrators prin with administrators teachers students parents and I can continue that in the role of a school board member thank you Miss chessnut um I think it it's important to recognize that as a board that I am 20% of Any Given of Any Given vote but once a vote happens I'm 100% of that vote so I have to go with whatever is there and there's been times on my four years that I've been in the my majority and in the minority um and and once we decide as a board that's the decision we go forward with I do think um a a
025board is or any group of people working a team is best built with diversity of thought and experience and I have found in all four years and all of the board members I have served with um I learn the most from people who ask questions different than what I ask and I learn from that perspective and it helps me think in new and different ways um I hope that we're all lifelong Learners um and that's very true on the board too so the diversity of thought makes us better um and so I don't know that my job is to uh build consensus and always get my point as the top point thank you all right next question education has become the target of Hot Topic issues what skills do you have for constructive responses to
026controversy um I think the the way that I like to learn the most is starting with tell me more I in my work I've done a lot of creative problem solving and I think we all if we come to a situation with curiosity and learning that we're in the best POS position so even though the opinion might be different than mine um understanding where they're coming from and re really what the outcome they're looking for I think we can all agree a lot more than just you know having to choose one issue or one thing but learning from everybody thank you Mrs Powers I think when dealing with uh hot topics and controversial issues I think the first thing you have to do is research both sides of the position look where the uh people
027with different views are coming from and try to find the places where you can find consensus I also think then a school board member should research um not research but gather information from the community for their feelings and thoughts on the topic because school boards are local school boards and the thoughts and feelings of the community are important all right thank you Mrs Powers again Boards of Education represent the the public and are accountable to the public what makes a good school board member how should school board members work with each other and with the public well I think Emily made a really good point when she said she makes she's 20% of the decision but then 100% behind the decision once it's made I think the school board uh members can disagree and they
028can disagree respectfully but then they have to unite as the board when when decisions have been made and I have practiced that in my career my teaching career and how I deal with others and that's how I would do all right thank you Miss Chestnut um so I think one of the biggest things that I have grown my knowledge of and still have room to grow is school funding and financing and why it's so important um I served on the Claremont County Board of development disabilities for eight years and learn spend a lot of time learning about their funding and their waiver systems and schools are just as complex and so um our accountability to the public is to be fiscally responsible to be transparent um and to help them understand how all of those
029pieces come together because it right as soon as you go okay I got that nugget then something else comes in and there's different ways of financing and there's different components that go in so as long as we can continually talk to to the community about the big issues funding being one of them um it'll help them be more uh engaged in understanding thank you next question what suggestions do you have to change Ohio's unconstitutional school funding laws I.E the derol case I go first right yes um I will say that I have not gone into house bill 920 to exact knowledge to know what's there but I do know that we need to reevaluate funding for Schools Columbus is sitting on a big rainy day fund they're keeping it all um even with the new
030changes to taxes and home cards that we all just got in the mail the schools actually get very little of that money not enough to impact anything um and so I think as a community schools are a public service I want good roads I want good schools I want Senior Services um and we need to be talking to our local representative so Jean Schmidt Terry Johnson and reminding them that we're here we're important here in in Miami Township and we deserve funding to keep um up the services that we have thank you Mrs Powers um as I mentioned earlier the funding the unconstitutional funding we have in Ohio is a severe problem and I think that people of all parties and nonp nonpartisan people should be able to unite in demanding action that our state
031legislators and our state supreme court do something about it all right thank you are there unmet educational needs that you feel need to be addressed and what are they Mrs Powers I think there are always unmet needs particularly for individual students U the eagle online year was a dramatic Year and have impacted the learning of of a lot of students the MILF the Milford school district has done a great job brought in some great programs to help alleviate the problem um I know in Reading we added a program called really great reading and some of you might be excited to know it's all about phonics and um I got to teach that a year ago for the year and I was blown away about this by the success of the program and the most amazing
032thing of all about it was kids did not um skip a word they always looked at it and sounded it out they they didn't guess it and they didn't skip it because they actually had phonic skills to decode it so I'd like to see programs like that continue thank you Miss Chestnut um so M po mentioned really great reading I think uh we have a learning loss that comes after Co that we're still we're going to spend some time working through Reading was especially impacted so we have um as a district done really great reading the other thing our district has done um is that we have mtss coaches and as a parent last year I got the best individualized information about my children and their test scores that I've ever seen I got not
033only like here's your Ohio test scores but here's the progress that your child has made and here's areas that they can help so those were as a parent at an individual student level really impactful and um I know that Milford as a district has invested in our MTS coaches and we will continue to um go down to that level and help the teacher teach understand how they can help their students best all right thank you how will you assure that our school district meets the unique diverse needs of all students Miss Chesnut you're up again um I mean I uh I think sort of related to the mtss coaching and the individual scores and progress we have looked as a district now more at um progress that students are making as opposed to individual test
034scores if you're only looking at which students do we need to get over the third grade reading guarantee you're only helping a very you're only focusing on a very small group of students to get them over the line and I think every student deserves to get the attention they need and the unique skills they have um so through our tier one tier two uh tier three interventions at the younger schools um I think will be able to address that need thank you Mrs powers um I agree um that the tier one tier 2 tier three remediations have been very successful ensuring uh that meeting the needs of diverse students has U not changed that's one of the few things that hasn't changed over my 40 Years of teaching you always have a diverse group of
035students with different strengths and different weaknesses I think the number one way the district can um address those needs is to allow administrators and teachers be the professionals that they are and let them meet the needs of their children all right thank you um comment on programs for gifted and talented Learners and how do you believe students should be qualified to access these Mrs powers in full disclosure I Was A Gifted teacher um I think gifted education is critical to stud student achievement there's a lot of research that shows that gifted kids start the school year knowing more than 80% of what they will learn that year in class it's very easy to check out or sneak and read a book under your desk if that if that is is the situation that a child
036is in so I believe in gift education I would I would not I would like to see it expanded thank you Miss chesna um well she's clearly the gifted teacher expert here I'm glad she went first but um I think back to the diversity student needs so of my four children who are in the district I have kids who are on IEPs and 504s and in the gifted program and so I see that the needs um that Milford reaches students at all level and I think that's what's most important so whether it's the form of a gifted program or I think they're calling enrichment now I got corrected by a student the other day um or the IEP and the inclusion when we go out when our students go out into the real world they
037don't get to choose a job with just gifted people or a CH job with just you know IEP students they all have to learn to work together so I think inclusion and bringing all of the diverse um abilities together makes them all better students to be prepared for life all right thank you um bear with me while I read this one how will you keep education to math reading writing sciences and out of the non-educational topics such as social and mental health and the like not social engineering like CRT and other programs under other titles I think I'm first yes you are okay um I'm not sure if I if I'm interpreting it the right way but I do think that a whole student um you have to learn the basics the math reading science
038those are core classes and they all have to take but I think a a well-rounded student exposed to all of those arts and currently in Milford we have a really good um variety of those classes and um to help students at the high school level really start to learn what they're interested in and where they kind of want to go um from there social emotional learning is an important part of that um mental health was really stretched during coid for everybody and we're seeing that Milford was an early adopter of um the mental health interventionist which was Will kage and is now MJ has taken over that program we are using the money given from Governor dwine to its fullest to make sure that we have supports for students um that they deserve thank you
039Mrs Powers I also agree with Emily that a well-rounded student is in the best interests of of everyone we want well-rounded citizens uh but I do uh think that social emotional learning is maybe a Hot Topic that's misinterpreted uh you might have called it citizenship when you were younger or conflict resolution you know fig figuring out how to deal with a neighbor and the problem you two are having together I know teachers in the room know we do that every day on playground Duty and our curricular Milford schools curriculum follows the Ohio State guidelines curriculum so there's nothing in we don't deliver curriculum that's not in um our state's guidelines okay all right thank you next question is um what is the role of distance remote remote learning in our school district in 2023 um
040we don't really have remote learning it's my turn Emily just kidding okay sorry I I'm sorry I should have popped in Mrs powers in full disclosure I taught remotely and online for the entire Eagle online year it was exhausting and not the best way to do to deliver uh education but we did a a great job and we gave parents the opportunity to choose that if that's what they decided to do for their family I'm not aware of any uh remote learning at all now in the district since that eagil online year thank you Miss Chestnut sorry about that um yes so uh as Mrs power mentioned we don't currently have a need for remote learning because we aren't in a global pandemic thank goodness um I do think that the district looked very carefully
041at what our options going to be when it was 2020 and we were trying to come back to school my family actually chose Eagle online for the first semester because we needed to have with two working parents a schedule that would work but I in January I was excited to send my children back to school because that um social social connection with with um peers and teachers really could not be replaced online so if there is a student now that needs um remote learning there are opportunities and we will certainly work with them as a home District if there was some need but it's not a um broad offering that we have for now thank you on the topic of coid Co might be making a comeback how should the district deal with such a
042reoccurrence and um Mrs just it is my turn it is your turn uh so we partner during Co we part partner closely with the Claremont County um health department and I assume we would continue to do that we know a whole heck of a lot more about that specific Global pandemic and coid um and what those impacts are like I actually work at Cincinnati Children's Hospital and we have just brought implemented um masking again during respiratory season and so it's cold and flu season kids get gunk and that's um we will follow that as school schols I don't see that it's very likely that we will ever have to do massive shutdowns like we did or um I don't even foresee masking as a need again um but who knows what Co 2 looks like
043so um I'd really look to our County Health System for for our lead guidance there thank you Mrs pow um I would agree just wholeheartedly with Emily we did follow what the board what the Claremont County Board of Health recommended and I was comfortable that with that I was glad that parents and teachers had options for home uh remote learning and I took advantage that of that during that year um I also don't foresee another pandemic but Co is back full disclosure I just had a nday bout with it uh so uh I you know but I think now it's just moved into the normal flu uh respiratory virus you know sickness is that we deal with on a regular basis thank you all right Mrs Powers again what operation issues if any would you
044prioritize in the district I I think the district has their priorities in just the right place I I I uh fully support the bond the tax levy we're going for I feel like they are taking into account inflation and everything that we're dealing with I think Mr espie is doing a remarkable job and um I would not rep prioritize anything all right thank you Mrs chesna um I think our biggest operational priority right now is building of the Middle School um and ensuring that that stays um on track as best we can but who knows what you know random technical part is going to put us behind um I do think the district has been very good at keeping of Coast control on that so we were only allowed to ask for a certain amount
045of money based on the number of students um from the Ohio uh facilities commission and so we have to work within their guidelines um we just last month were able to receive $2 million towards the project from them because their quotes to start were way low we knew they were low but you got to work with what they tell you to work with um and so that's our biggest building project in years since the last two elementary schools once this is done we won't have another Endeavor this massive for a while so operational keeping the buildings going thank you what policy Mrs Chesnut again what policies will you support or oppose to protect our schools from violence so I think the most important um safety thing we can do for our Milford schools if we're
046talking about avoiding uh uh something like youve all day is close relationships with our police departments and we have very very good relationships with both Miami Township and Milford City who covers patteron um we do a great job working with both Chief Mills and chief Mills um if that's not confusing enough but um really keeping that resource close um we've partnered with them to get school officers um and we will continue to do so um to keep those relationships good but I think that's the number one thing that can keep our children physically safe um thank you Mrs Powers I agree that we are doing a an excellent job in this area I remember when we started um practicing lockdown drills and children you know would be crying and and and scared and that evolved
047over time I I I guess it's sad to say but at least that we're more prepared is that children now are pretty matter of fact about it they just go through the drills and practice and the Dr Drills are changing uh to as we learn more about things that could happen so I appreciate the district's proactive approach and I appreciate the support of the of Milford and Miami Township Police Department thank you um Mrs Powers again what specific actions or policies do you support or oppose regarding diversity equity and inclusion in education I would I support uh students and staff in our schools being safe feeling safe and respected and I support programs that H that help in that area I do I believe uh in equity and diversity it's a fact of life it's
048in our it's in our changing world today and I think uh our schools should be a safe place for everyone thank you M Chestnut um I think when I think about Dei in the school setting I think welcoming and Community I have uh two Junior High kids if anyone remembers seventh grade you probably don't want to go back and so just really making them making sure that they feel welcome and safe and I've already seen it from teachers who have reached out I saw your daughter you know was was looking upset today I wanted to check in and make sure she's there so I think that welcome environment um as far as diversity and no one here is going to be surprised to know that Milford is not a culturally diverse area um I would
049love to welcome more and make students feel more welcome um that's just not who lives here right now um I would I would um encourage whatever the the staff want to do to help us open our arms and welcome that Knowledge from other um students teachers organizations thank you Mr Chestnut again what role if any should our schools play in supporting social emotional learning for our students so I think we talked about this a little bit so I think social emotional learning that's really the that they feel safe that they feel they have somebody they can talk to um I think that that is very important um for all students to feel connection um this is a their their 13 years in school with us is the time they will be around the most number
050of peers who are similar to them and they need to learn how to um relate and work in a community like that once they go off Beyond high school they start getting into a variety of areas and I want them to be well prepared um to engage with with people all right thank you Mrs Powers I think social emotional learning includes a lot of things that I referenced earlier like conflict resolution just good citizenship getting long well with others um feeling safe and welcome and respected but I I substitute taught at the preschool a couple weeks ago and I part of my and that's scary let me tell you but part of part of my morning is I sat on the rug and would say let me see your sad face and you know everybody
051made their sad face and then they and then I would say so what can you do when you're feeling sad and they said you know tell my mom or you know or go sit by myself they just said you know a few things and we went through those emotion you know just typical daily emotions so then when that happens in real life they have the skill skills to react in that moment that's a way that's positive all right thank you Mrs um Paris again what policies would you will you support or oppose to protect students from bullying uh I do believe bullying is a problem um in schools and everywhere really um but I do think Milford needs a systematic program that goes through from school to school uh and bus to playground where the
052teachers and the adults in charge are all doing reacting and working together in the same way so that there's a consistent delivery system for for when these incidents arise thank you Mrs Chesnut so I think the uh bullying is here it will always be here unfortunately it was here when each of you were in school um I think one of the biggest impacts today is social media and how might we prepare our students to be responsible ingestor of social media what does it mean when you see those things onl what is okay to say to somebody online or in person and how do you react to that much like the if you have a sad face what can you do if you're feeling left out or hurt or whatever it is so easy to be
053a keyboard Warrior and to go on and to say things that you can't take back um whether you mean to or not uh and so I think addressing um good social media citizenship is really important for for all our students thank you there's a lot of questions when there's only two candidates just gonna say I'm we're wrapping up here okay what about your school district do you want to be different by the end of your term is it me I me okay thank you I'm confused um what is different by the end of my term um I don't know if I have something different but four years from now the middle school will be done and so that will be an exciting change um there's also some major changes to the athletic facilities uh one
054of the programs that I work with is I coach Special Olympics track and we go out to New Richmond for those meets in the spring and I'm envious they have a great track and they have bathrooms like with flush toilets um and so I've already mentioned to Mr spiser when our when our track is done could we host Claremont County Special Olympics and he's definitely willing to to to interact and and consider what that means for us um so I think Milford can be more welcoming to the community um and really show off these facilities that we're we're building for our students thank you Mrs Powers what I would like to see changed at the end of my term is um Equitable school funding and civil respectful board meetings all right that leads to another
055question leads us right into that is there a place for politics in the Milford school board she gets that one first I've already said it uh no I don't think so I I think people have politics personal politics I have personal politics that have varied greatly over the time in my adult years uh but I don't think that should be a consideration when you're making you're over you're over you're overviewing the policy and procedure of the district all right thank you Miss Chestnut um we are elected as nonpartisan um seats and I think it should remain that um I do think diversity of thought is good we have we will always have a diverse uh a politically diverse community and that's a good thing because um I don't want us to be cookie cutter Truman
056Show or whatever that is I want us to be able to grow and and learn together but um the politics at the local level should be focused on funding and how we can talk to Columbus about things um I think everybody should be engaged in politics I hope everybody votes I hope you do your research which is you know this is this is one place to do that um and so I I do hope that our Civic engagement is getting more um as we go forward because voting is a good thing all right thank you I think this is going to be the last question of the evening what recommendations will you make to address the bus driver and substitute teacher shortages Mrs uh Chestnut can I go first um so actually uh Milford does
057a pretty good job at filling uh bus and sub spots um but it's a pay thing I think with all um so I've been engaged with the uh Claremont County developmental disabilities they have direct service providers nursing homes all of those entry level positions are fighting for the same people and it's a pay it's a pay thing so um I mean I guess that would be the the best thing is if we could pay them more uh I don't want to get too far out of balance we can't suck all the the subs and bus drivers into our space but in the past few years we have raised our sub rate I think that helps fill the position thank you Mrs Powers I agree the pay rate did go up substantially um a couple years
058ago and many substitutes that taught in my building uh did say they hadn't subbed at Milford before they would go to other districts because it was a difference of $25 a day bus bus drivers it's that's a rough one because it is um you know a funny day they'll work in the morning and then they're not paid for breaks in the afternoon and and then work in the the afternoon and every now and then they have to worry about busing being cut so um I think maybe a a pay increase would be helpful although I don't think that's really possible right now all right thank you candidates thank you for a lot of questions it's been a long evening but thank you for an excellent forum and that concludes our Forum this evening uh before
059we close tonight I would like to make a little plug and that is for vote for 411 I urge everyone to take a look at vote 411 for additional election information the League of Women Voters nationally and locally uh this is a way that we help educate residents about uh issues and candidates so please take a look at vote 411 The Claremont County League of Women Voters and the Milford uh Miami Township Chamber of Commerce also thank everyone for attending our forum both in person and online we we are proud to be able to present these forums uh like this to help residents learn more about local candidates and issues please have a good rest of your evening I'm good