School board races often attract candidates with first hand experience in the classroom. But few can match the experience of 21-year old Brandon Simmons, who filed petitions this morning to run for Columbus City Schools' board.
Simmons, who works in business development, graduated from Columbus Alternative High School in 2020. He and was one of the students who testified at board meetings about building conditions at one of the districts most highly rated programs, calling on the board to do better.
"As a student, I sat in a crumbling building. I watched our teachers overworked and under-supported. and every year I see our district get more and more top-heavy. "
After graduation Simmons continued to speak out about poor use of district funds, including the 3.4 million spent to acquire the former ECOT building on the South Side, which he says remains underutilized.
While Simmons he may be the youngest candidate to run for the CCS board, he notes that former board member, Columbus City council president and current Mayor Andrew Ginther was 24 when he first ran for the board.
Terms expire at the end of this year for President Jennifer Adair and board members Carol Beckerle, Eric Brown and Tina Pierce.
