Opinion: Two candidates say election goal is leaders who set egos aside and collaborate for youth

By Tom Haggard and Bradie Bowman
Special to NKyTribune

This election’s goal? Leaders who will set egos aside and collaborate to help our youth.

With Election Day just weeks away, it’s important to remember a vital group of Covingtonians who won’t get to cast a ballot but will be dramatically affected by the ballots that are cast – our youth.

As two candidates for local office who have spent their entire careers advocating for the needs of young people, especially those in Covington, we are merging our voices to talk about how leaders can – and must – set egos aside, roll up their sleeves, and work together to solve complex issues affecting our youth.

Many students in Covington face barriers to learning, including food and housing insecurity, substandard and overcrowded living conditions, and limited access to recreation and enrichment activities.

Every day, Covington Independent Public Schools and its incredible cadre of partners attempt to reduce these barriers with programs that, for example, provide students:

• Free meals (including dinner) through our after-school programs.

• Housing support through the Project Home program.

• Basic needs through our Family Resource & Youth Services Centers.

• School-based mental health services (through a partnership with local providers).

• And on-campus medical and dental care at Holmes High School in partnership with
Healthpoint.

But those are just some of the needs and challenges, and our schools alone cannot solve them all. It will take our entire community to help Covington become the inclusive and thriving City that we all want it to be.

We believe this collaboration can work because it’s working now. Here’s a success story focusing on another significant barrier to learning brought to light by the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020: access to reliable high-speed internet connectivity, aka the “digital divide.”

As schools were forced to turn to virtual learning during this frightening time, many Covington youth were at a disadvantage compared to those in surrounding communities because their families lacked access to the high-speed internet connections necessary to engage in virtual learning.

Enter “Covington Connect.” In an unprecedented collaborative project spearheaded by the City of Covington, City leaders came together with the school district, the Housing Authority of Covington, altafiber, and others to address the disparity in internet connectivity by providing access to free Wi-Fi for residents throughout the City. The multi-million-dollar initiative included the installation of more than 120 Wi-Fi “hotspots” in areas where schoolchildren lived, running fiber to public housing complexes, and the distribution of 1,000 free, refurbished computers to families who most needed them.

As of spring 2024, there have been almost 78,000 registrations, with over 1.8 million on-line sessions, with nearly 400,000 of those sessions known to be by students. Those student sessions averaged 65 minutes long, and more than half of those originated in three neighborhoods: Eastside, Westside, and Austinburg.

This collective effort continues to make significant positive impact on our community and is evidence of what we can accomplish when we work together to embrace and support our youth, families, and neighbors. We enthusiastically supported this effort from the beginning as members of the Board of Commissioners for the Housing Authority of Covington, a board on which we both continue to serve. Through our work with HAC, and through our positions with Covington schools, we proudly continue our support.

Imagine how much we could accomplish if we approached all barriers to learning with this same collaborative problem-solving approach.

• What if we started a joint City-school district recreation commission that could manage our recreational facilities — including parks, fields and courts — and provided enhanced
recreation programs for youth and adults?

• What if the City, the schools, and the private sector collaborated on affordable and incoming-aligned housing solutions for families?

• What if the City, the schools, and our nonprofit partners came together to ensure that every day next summer there was a free or low-cost activity for youth to participate in –
from the first day of summer break to the last day before school starts?

These ideas are possible – but only if the community elects leaders who are willing to roll up our sleeves, set egos side, and work together on behalf of our youth. We as candidates are eager to bring our long history of working together in our public school system and on the board of the Housing Authority to bridge the divide between the City and the schools and develop real, workable solutions to improve outcomes for our students, our families, and our community.

We are two candidates who believe in this cause with every fiber of our being, but there are others. Be sure to ask candidates for the City’s Board of Commissioners and the Board of Education how they plan to work together to solve big complex issues that impact youth. Ask them how they plan to collaborate and ensure we see results.

For too long there has been too much finger-pointing, defensiveness, turf-protecting, and blame from many people. That needs to end. Ultimately, the growth and success of Covington is intertwined with Covington Independent Public Schools. If the school system does not perform well, it is difficult to attract and retain families. At the same time, if the City does not make a substantial effort to create policy and programs that support our families, our youth will continue to struggle.

We CAN solve big problems, but only if we work together.

Bradie Bowen is a candidate for the Covington Board of Commissioners. Tom Haggard is the current Chairman of the Covington Board of Education and a candidate for re-election.

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