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Candidate has not yet responded.
Candidate has not yet responded.
Candidate has not yet responded.
Candidate has not yet responded.
Age
58
Current occupation
American History Teacher at Chardon High School
Qualifications for office
I am a lifelong resident of Cleveland Heights and a K-12 product of our public schools. My wife and son are also Heights High graduates. Holding a Masters in Education, being a public school teacher and serving on our Board of Education for eight years has prepared me to serve another four years. In my eight years of service, we have navigated a pandemic, hired a new Superintendent and new Treasurer, opened two new Middle School buildings, adapted to four state budgets and are currently in the longest stretch between levies in 45 years.
Education
BA: John Carroll University
MA: Ursuline College
Campaign Phone
2162336675
Our students and staff are doing incredible work! I am running because I want to see this continue. Gabe and Phil have served two years. By serving another term, I will bring eight years of experience back to the Board. This experience matters.
I have had the honor of serving on our Board of Education beside Jim Posch, Beverly Wright, Jodi Sourini, Malia Lewis, Gabe Crenshaw and Phil Trimble. By focussing on the importance of the work, not ourselves, we have led the district with dignity and decorum. I want to help onboard new members so as to continue our caring, respectful professional culture.
The most important work the district does is prepare students for success after graduation. We have been doing a good job of this. The 370 members of the class of 2025 earned more than $20 million in scholarship offers.
We can do better for students who are not planning to attend college. For these students we must continue to expand our Career Tech options. I am particularly interested in adding Welding and HVAC programs.
State allocations for public schools are by no means fair. The state legislature has ignored it's constitutional requirement to create a "thorough and efficient" system of funding for our public schools for more than 30 years. The Fair School Funding Program as envisioned by Legislators Bob Cupp and John Patterson designed a system of funding which would have lived up to the constitutional mandate. Unfortunately, the legislature has kept the name, but changed the plan.
I am a statewide leader of the Vouchers Hurt Ohio lawsuit. Franklin County Judge Jaiza Page declared EdChoice vouchers to violate the state constitution in three ways, so funding them at all is unfair to Ohio's public school students, teachers and taxpayers.
Ohio's standardized tests have been shown to measure just one thing: the social capital of the students taking the test. As a majority minority and majority poverty district, our students have very little social capital. As a result, our test scores are low.
In other ways, our students are excelling! The College Board identified Heights High as one of only eleven High Schools of Distinction in Ohio.
The class of 2025 earned more than $20 million in scholarship offers.
When Governor Strickland left office in 2010, Ohio was ranked 4th in the USA for quality of K-12 public education. Today, after 15 years of GOP controlled government, we are ranked in the 30s. The problem isn't Ohio's schools.
Yes, we should continue our commitment to equity. We should never stop trying to identify and overcome the barriers which impede our students ability to learn and participate fully in our society. Our students need us and we need them.
Age
60
Current occupation
CEO
Qualifications for office
Kathi Howard-Primes is an award-winning educator, entrepreneur, author, and community leader with over three decades of service in Northeastern Ohio. She is the founder and CEO of Momentuum, LLC, a top-rated tutoring and educational program serving school districts across Ohio since 2006. Kathi is also the author of Walking in Ava’s Shoes, a children’s book about a girl with ADHD. She holds a bachelor’s degree from Ohio University, a master’s in education from Cleveland State University, and is a graduate of the Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses program. A proud resident of Cleveland Heights for 31 years, Kathi and her husband Marlon are parents to two adult children.
Education
Ohio University BBA and Cleveland State University M.Ed
Campaign Phone
(216)403-0120
My name is Kathi Howard-Primes, and I’m running for the Cleveland Heights–University Heights School Board because I believe every student deserves access to a high-quality, equitable education—one that prepares them not just for graduation, but for a thriving future. As a former president of Gearity Elementary School, I worked hand-in-hand with parents, teachers, and administrators to strengthen our school community. Together, we launched engaging academic and enrichment programs, built a new playground through grassroots fundraising, and fostered a culture of collaboration and support. Today, I continue that mission as the Founder and CEO of Momentuum, LLC. Momentuum provides tutoring and educational services to Ohio school districts.
I believe the most important issue the district should address is how to promote all the amazing academic opportunities, programs, educators and success stories. CH-UH schools offers a wide array of AP classes, accessibility for students to take college courses at nearby colleges, home of a world renowned music program, a partner with the career consortium with other nearby school districts that offer cosmetology, auto mechanics and culinary arts. Students gaining hands-on experience that prepares them for meaningful careers right after graduation. As parents, alumni, educators, and community members, we have to be our district’s biggest and boldest cheerleaders. Let's shift the narrative and promote all that makes our schools great!
I don’t believe that school vouchers are fair. From my perspective, the State of Ohio funding progress has been moderate to say the least. However, it has not achieved a fair constitutional system of school funding. The State of Ohio allocation for school funding has continuously dropped from 1999 where it was at 47% to most recently 32%. Furthermore, ED choice(vouchers for private schools) becoming a universal program in 2023 and making these vouchers available to any family regardless of income is taking additional funds from public school districts.
A recent court ruling in July 2025 found the program unconstitutional, but as of late August 2025, the expanded eligibility guidelines were still in effect.
I believe state assessments should not be the only measurement of the quality of our school system. As an educator and business owner that provides educational support services to school districts and a past committee member for the State of Ohio performance standards committee, I believe state testing is over used. Historically, critics argue that standardized tests are inherently biased, perpetuating systemic racism and hindering educational equity for black and brown students. I believe several factors should be considered when measuring the quality of a school system. State testing has its place, but currently being overused. I'm committed to advocating for policies that reflect the full picture of student of success.
Cleveland Heights/ University Heights School district is known for its diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives that I support and would continue. In the CH-UH strategic plan, one of the goals is to support equity empowerment and opportunities for all students by providing an excellent education for ALL students. CH-UH was the first district in Cuyahoga County to adopt a formal Educational Equity Policy in 2016, setting the tone for systemic change. Every school now has designated staff leading equity initiatives, helping integrate culturally responsive practices and social justice learning into daily instruction. Staff participate in ongoing equity training, including sessions on race, systemic bias, and differentiated instruction.
Age
39
Current occupation
Realtor/Attorney
Qualifications for office
Lifelong resident, attended CHUH schools, 4 children currently in the schools
Education
Heights High '04, Denison University '08 - B.A. Economics/Philosophy, Cleveland-Marshall College of Law '11, J.D
Campaign Phone
2162351047
I am running for school board because I believe every child deserves a high-quality and equitable education that prepares them for a successful future for themselves and the community. I think I can help the district navigate difficult decisions. I have four children in the district now (four ears to the ground, so to speak), and I have an extended perspective being a lifelong resident and alumnus.
I am also cognizant of the debt I owe to those who put in the work before me so that I could have a top-quality education in CHUH public schools. As such, I view it as a civic responsibility, to use my time and energy for the betterment of the children who are going through the schools now and in the near future.
I am a believer in the schools and I think that, by and large, the teachers and staff of CHUH do an excellent job empowering our students. We can always improve, and I would like to think the board tries, every year. I don't think I could point to one single item that I know addressing would lead to vastly better outcomes, but I could point to one I would like to examine to see if we could do better: I would like to consider our reliance on screens. Research worldwide has been building for years that our kids are too distracted to learn well. The cellphone bags initiative was an excellent step, but I would like to make sure that the screens we actually give to kids are more productive than distracting.
The State made some progress toward a constitutional system of school funding with the Fair School Funding Plan, passed in 2021. It was not fully funded at the time, but it seemed a better plan than our previously 4-times-ruled unconstitutional system. However, it was never fully implemented, and we are now stuck with underfunded schools. Funding vouchers is one of the reasons, and I do not believe the way we fund vouchers is constitutional. Vouchers divert state funds to private schools, often to religious and/or for-profit organizations, leaving our public schools underfunded. I support the continued participation in the EdChoice lawsuit, and advocacy at the state level, which are some of our only avenues at this point.
As a Realtor, those rating systems have been present in my mind since the beginning of my career and before. I sit at the metaphorical gates of the community and see, hear, and discuss the perception and preconceptions of our schools by young families who are considering moving here. These test scores measure something extremely well - the size of the houses around the schools. The real correlation of these scores is just socio-economics, and having a majority-poverty district, our scores will never tell the whole story of the teachers who do a great job support and empowering our students. A longitudinal value-add rating would be a better idea, but even then, anytime you simplify a whole organization to a single number, you lose context.
Absolutely. Equity is a foundational tenet of liberalism- the belief that we are born equal, and that cultural decisions and allocation of resources prevent people from reaching their potential. We should be raising the least fortunate among us, and spending our collective resources to do so. At the very least, we should be making sure we are not creating or propagating any obstacles to minority, disabled, or economically-disadvantaged students succeeding. So, we should be evaluating data to see where we are coming up short, use that data to inform our equity initiatives, and ensure our policies at the district level support our equity goals.
