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Candidates emphasize teacher support, mental health and safety at Little Miami forum
Summary
In a Together for Little Miami candidate forum, Bobby Grice and David Whiting highlighted teacher morale actions, district mental-health staff, emergency planning and opposition to blanket book bans while outlining measures to improve community trust and student success beyond test scores.
At a candidate forum for Little Miami School District, board hopefuls Bobby Grice and David Whiting spent substantial time describing how they would support teachers, address student mental health and approach school safety.
Grice said the district has hired mental health associates and a safety coordinator who reviews emergency plans with staff. "We have hired mental health associates to help with our students," she said, adding the district conducts drills and provides a handbook for staff on emergency steps.
Both candidates stressed the importance of supporting teachers. Grice emphasized visibility and simple appreciation gestures—attending events, bringing donuts on Teacher Appreciation Day or noting successes on social media. "Being visible, being out there to all the things that are going on," she said. Whiting emphasized competitive pay and benefits, internships and targeted professional development as longer-term retention tools.
On school safety technologies, candidates said they would evaluate systems such as Raptor and other alert platforms. Whiting said college-style text-alert systems are a model for parent notification but cautioned that cell-based systems have limits; Grice said the district already uses panic buttons and lockdown protocols.
The candidates also addressed curriculum controversies. Both said they oppose blanket book bans: "I'm against banning books," Grice said, while Whiting agreed, noting the difficulty of making categorical judgments about library materials and stressing parental partnership.
Measuring student success
Both candidates said success should be measured beyond test scores, citing graduation outcomes, employment and readiness for college or trade careers. Grice cited the Panther Academy alternative program as an example of preparing students for workforce success.
Next steps
The forum ended with the panel inviting audience-submitted questions and both candidates agreeing to remain after the session for one-on-one follow-ups. No policy decisions were made at the event; candidates described priorities they would pursue if elected.
