By JAN LARSON McLAUGHLIN
BG Independent News
Bowling Green area voters had diverse choices for school board – and they ended up returning the two incumbents to the board.
The unofficial vote tallies were:
- Norm Geer, 2,922 votes (27%)
- Ryan Myers, 3,092 votes (28%)
- Jessica Swaisgood, 2,583 (24%)
- Peggy Thompson, 2,280 (21%)
The campaigns emphasized the division in the community on issues such as school facilities, finances and the handling of COVID-19. But the vote showed support for the incumbents Geer and Myers.
Though Myers has served on the school board for less than a year, he believed the public appreciated the way he conducts himself.
“Even when I disagreed with other board members, I did so in a respectful way,” Myers said.
Myers also believed his 22 years of experience in education served him well.
“I’m elated to be on the board. I’m committed for another four years,” he said. “I’m excited to get going and get working with people.”
By time the votes were counted Tuesday night, Geer had the answer to the question posed to him frequently during the last couple months – why would he put himself through running for another term on the school board.
“It’s humbling that the voters trust us with this very important job,” he said. “I think we both feel honored to be elected.”
Both Geer and Myers complimented their opponents, Swaisgood and Thompson.
“I tip my hat to Peggy and Jessica,” Myers said. “They were very civil.”
“We should commend all the candidates,” Geer said. “This is the great American experiment. It’s not easy to run for elected office. You put yourself out there in the public eye.”
Myers currently serves as a board representative on the committee looking at school building deficiencies and possibilities. The group is made up of a diverse cross-section of the community, he said. To a great extent, his role is listening and learning.
“I want the direction to be made by them,” he said. “We’re kind of trying to heal the divide.”
“We have made strides. We all know something needs to be done with the older buildings,” he said.
The school board has taken steps to replace aging boilers and install air conditioning in the three schools without cooling systems.
“We are trying,” Myers said. “But we know they are Band-aids.”
Myers is also very concerned about the drop in test scores after students spent almost a year learning online.
He has also talked about the number of kindergartners starting in the Bowling Green district, who come to school unprepared. More than half of those students start kindergarten below the expected learning levels.
That means a lot of catching up for elementary teachers.
And COVID has created even bigger learning gaps.
“Those gaps are so hard to close,” he said.
Myers’ priorities are to close the gap on the learning loss during COVID, work on school facilities, and improve communication between the board and community.
“I want the community to know what we’re doing,” he said.
Geer, who serves as board president, said the school board’s role is to ensure that each child receives a quality education.
“That’s the star we have to follow,” Geer said. “When the school system is good, then everybody profits from it.”
Geer would like to see if voters would support a new high school.
“That should be our flagship,” he said. “It needs to be drastically improved or replaced. I think people in Bowling Green would like a new high school.”
As for solutions for the district’s aging elementary buildings, Geer initially favored the concept of one elementary school to even out class sizes and provide more equity in resources. However, he supports the current visioning effort underway to find out what voters want.
“I would like to see an elementary solution that gets the support of two-thirds of the people,” Geer said.
Geer supports the creation of a city-wide early childhood education program, involving children in private, church, public and BGSU preschools.
“So when they get to the first day of kindergarten they can all do the same things,” he said.
Geer would also like to see greater support for teachers.
“Their job is really hard,” and expensive, he said, noting his wife used to buy materials for her classes. “I know how much money she would have to spend to have resources.”
