BELPRE — Four candidates are vying for three open seats for the Belpre City Schools Board of Education during the 2025 general election.

Candidates include incumbents Mike Miller, Hollie Haught, and Fred Meredith, along with first-time candidate Jordan Jewett.

Miller, who is 69 and retired, said he is excited about the district’s promising developments and sees the district and community on the rise.

“I think Belpre is experiencing a renaissance,” Miller said.

He said he describes it this way because the Belpre community has a new hospital and school being built, the mayor and Belpre City Council are making improvements to Civitan Park and the district is also looking to build family homes on the site of Belpre Elementary after demolition is completed.

“We’re hoping to get single family homes, as many as 40 homes, right here on the property where the current elementary school and administration building are located. So that’s an exciting thing too. I think a lot of things are going to happen in the community that are going to be of a positive nature,” he said.

Miller, who previously taught in the district for 33 years, also stressed the importance of balancing new infrastructure with educational quality, saying the district has to make sure to maintain that educational quality amid changes.

“We don’t want to focus so much on the building that we neglect instruction,” Miller said. “We still have to keep our eye on the ball and make sure that we’re still giving the proper instruction to our kids. Make sure the curriculum is proper, and that we’re doing the right things.”

Miller said he is committed to doing what’s best for the district and its students, and that he always tries to make the right decision for both.

“I’m not afraid of making tough decisions, if they have to be made, I’m willing to do it,” Miller said.

Haught, 83, a therapist at the Counseling and Wellness Center, is seeking her second term and said she wants to use what she’s learned in her first term to help the district grow.

“I’ve been on the board for four years, and I feel as though I have learned a great deal, and the reason why I’m running again is because I don’t want to waste that knowledge,” Haught said. “I want to see some things accomplished that we have begun, for example, the new school and some new programs that we’re working on.”

She said she’d like to see the current board stay the same to see through all of the projects they have started together.

“I think that with their experience, it would be wiser to keep them on the board to finish this project, because we’ve been a part of it so much already,” Haught said. “I want to see some things accomplished that we have begun.”

She said one of the key priorities for her next term would include improving the district’s state report card rating and implementing more comprehensive moral education.

“I believe we need more moral instruction in schools,” she said.

She said the optional LifeWise program, a Bible instruction initiative that operates outside of school hours, was a good source for those morals.

“We can teach morals without teaching religion,”she said, underlining her approach to ethical education.

With experience spanning multiple generations – having children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren – she said she remains committed to the district’s future.

“The more we educate our children, the better our country’s going to be,” Haught said.

Meridith, 68 and retired, is seeking his fifth term and said he has a passion for the community and a commitment to the district’s children.

“I’ve been on the board 16 years… it’s always been about the kids of Belpre, so it’s nothing personal for me,” Meredith said. “”I’m an alumnus of Belpre, I graduated 1976, and I’m a firm believer that you should put back in your community what you’ve gotten out of it.”

He said the recently passed levy to build a new school is a milestone that he credits to years of hard work by past and present administrators.

“We’ve had failed levies many, many times. And of course, we’ve got one passed now that we get to build a new facility for our kids in Belpre. I’m really personally excited for our kids, because it’s long overdue for them.”

He said he sees Belpre as a community on the rise, with new businesses, a hospital and a renewed focus on youth programs.

“It’s growing all the time with the new business, even the restaurants and with the hospital, and now we’re able to put this school in,” he said.

Looking ahead, Meredith said one of his top priorities is reconnecting the community with the schools.

“What I’m looking forward to is getting our community back together, and getting our community back in with our school. I feel like, over the years, unfortunately, the community has separated itself from the school,” he said.

Meredith said the best way for the community to be more invested in the school system is to come to the board meetings.

“We’ve got an open book policy,” Meredith said. “They can sit down with our treasurer at any time and look at the checkbooks and see where all the money’s going, where the money’s at. We’re very transparent on our finances, but the community thinks we’re hiding stuff, and I assure you we’re not.”

He said safety and modernization are also key concerns.

“Safety features are a big thing for me,” he said. “I want our kids safe. Putting all the kids under one roof, I think, is going to help us tremendously, because we can watch them better.”

Meredith said for him, it all comes back to the children in the district.

“It’s about the kids. That’s why I run,” he said. “I also try to be a good steward of the money, and I do my best for the community of Belpre… I hope the community elects me for another term.”

Jewett, 39, is a certified project manager and is running for an elected office for the first time. She said she is running on a platform based on the importance of community values and preparing students for the future.

“I am a parent of students in the Belpre City School System. I am an alumni myself of the Belpre City School System, and I’m an advocate for public education,” she said. “I believe our school should really reflect the values of our entire community, and that’s why I’m running.”

Jewett praised the board’s progress and expressed her desire to build on the progress they’ve made.

“I really appreciate all of the past and current work, the really good work that the board has done, and the progress that they have made, and I think that I can add value to that progress with my experience as a parent,” she said.

Jewett said a key part of her platform is expanding technology opportunities for students.

“I think, an opportunity not specific to our school system, but something that I would like to see us do is, grow in the opportunities for our students to explore technology. I think things like robotics and artificial intelligence, and those types of innovations, are more in demand,” Jewett said. “So I think we have an opportunity to offer more education and grow in that area.”

She said another area of growth she sees is expanding community activity in the district and continuing health care options for students.

“I would like to continue working with the community to get their input on important decisions. I think that that has been a great thing,” she said. “And I would like to continue to prioritize student well-being and foster the students’ potential with things like grants that pay for lunch for the students, and the on-site wellness clinic. I’m interested in that and making sure that every child has the opportunity to thrive in the school system.”

Jewett highlighted her experience as a certified project manager, which she hopes to apply to the district’s upcoming construction project.

“I serve as a certified project manager and so with the school construction project, I understand that this is going to shape our community for generations to come,” Jewett said. “I’ve led a lot of initiatives and I have experience managing budgets and timelines and stakeholder expectations. So, I would love to apply that experience to the upcoming project, because it’s such an investment in our community’s future.”

She said the district can only be strengthened by the unity of the community.

“If we can unify our families, our educators, our communities, then we can focus on excellent academics and prioritize each child’s well-being,” she said. “And if we can do that, we can retain talented teachers in these new, modern facilities, and students can graduate with direction and confidence, I think that’s something that we can only achieve together.”