For school board: Reyes Paretti and Upchurch

Three bring leadership, experience, passion

The Columbus City School District is at a pivot point with the departure of its excellent superintendent and, more than ever, requires strong leadership with experience and passion. The Dispatch strongly urges voters to re-elect Dominic Paretti and Ramona R. Reyes and send impressive newcomer Erin Upchurch to the Columbus Board of Education.

All are Democrats, though only Paretti and Reyes are endorsed by the Franklin County Democratic Party; Upchurch is part of the “Yes We Can” insurgent faction challenging established Democrats for school-board and Columbus City Council seats. The other Yes We Can candidates are appealing, but Upchurch is simply a standout. She also is a current district parent.

Paretti, 36, is a legislative aide to Democrats in the Ohio House of Representatives. Elected to the board four years ago, he immediately went to work righting a district recovering from a criminal data-rigging scandal and years of scant administrative oversight by the school board. He worked to reinstate standing committees for finances and for curriculum, both of which had been disbanded as part of the laissezfaire “policy governance” approach. While this policy was a well-intentioned effort to discourage micromanagement by previous boards, it delegated too much authority to the superintendent and led to a lack of transparency. Board members were approving billion-dollar-plus budgets based on a single-page outline.

Paretti chairs an ad-hoc school-board committee on facilities, which he hopes will become permanent to keep on top of the district’s evolving facility needs. He has made the search for a replacement for retiring Superintendent Dan Good his top priority, and his astute guidance will be key to help the new executive get off to a good start next year.

Reyes, 48, is running for her third term. In 2015, she left her 23-year career in human resources at Nationwide to become director of the Our Lady of Guadalupe Center, operated by Catholic Social Services. This puts her in a strong position to see the needs of district students and families and help children from immigrant families thrive in Columbus schools. Her compassion, community contacts and business background help the district address some bedrock challenges.

Upchurch, 40, served on Columbus Mayor Michael B. Coleman’s Community Relations Commission, holds a master’s degree in social administration from Case Western Reserve University and has an extensive background as a social worker, helping children and families with addiction, mental-health and trauma issues. As a PTA member with two children in the district, she knows the obstacles parents can face, especially when advocating for a child with educational differences. She wants to make it easier for parents to navigate the district’s cumbersome bureaucracy and wishes to see wider use of “trauma-informed education,” which helps schools and teachers better serve children affected by abuse, neglect and violence.

Incumbent Michael D. Cole’s term on the board has been marked by disputes about his use of taxpayer-funded travel and his insistence on squandering $63,000 to stage a districtwide “listening tour” in 2015, disregarding recommendations by thenMayor Coleman’s volunteer, expert Education Commission. This, and the fact that Upchurch would be a far stronger addition to the board, disqualifies him from our endorsement.

For Columbus Board of Education, The Dispatch endorses Dominic Paretti, Ramona R. Reyes and Erin Upchurch.