What would Cyrus Keck bring to the Hamilton Southeastern School Board? In my latest LarryInFishers podcast, the District 2 candidate discusses why he is running, his priorities for school spending and how he would approach the board’s responsibilities.

Keck says friends who are teachers encouraged him to enter the race. With two sons in HSE schools, he also has a personal interest in the district’s future. He points to his experience chairing the board at Grace Church as preparation for setting budgets, reviewing policies and overseeing leadership while leaving daily operations to administrators.

Supporting teachers is a recurring theme throughout our conversation. Keck says compensation, benefits and a culture that values educators are important to retaining staff. If the district faces further budget reductions, he says protecting teaching positions would be his first priority.

Keck also expresses strong support for the operating referendum, encouraging listeners to vote for it even if they choose another school board candidate. He acknowledges that he would need a deeper understanding of the district’s expenses before making specific spending decisions.

We discuss financial accountability and how a board should evaluate its superintendent. Keck identifies budget performance, student outcomes and staff satisfaction as areas he would examine, along with clear annual goals and regular progress reviews.

On charter schools, Keck says he is not fundamentally opposed to the concept. But before supporting a proposal, he would want a clearly identified problem, evidence that a charter would offer a better solution and an understanding of the financial impact on other students.

The conversation also covers the Hamilton Southeastern Education Association’s endorsement of Keck. He says he made no promises of specific pay or benefit increases to secure that support and would exercise his own judgment if he disagreed with the association.

Other topics include college and career pathways, artificial intelligence in education, support for students with additional needs and civil discussion when families disagree about school policies.

Asked how voters should judge his performance if elected, Keck offers a straightforward wish: “I think we need to get back to the school board just being kind of boring.”

The LarryInFishers podcast series is sponsored by Citizens State Bank.

Listen at this link, or the link below to the full podcast.