CINCINNATI — Four candidates have been elected to the Cincinnati Public Schools (CPS) Board of Education.
Incumbents Brandon Craig, Jim Crosset and Kareem Moffett clinched a seat along with newcomer Kari Armbruster, according to unofficial election results.
The winners will join currently sitting BOE members Kendra Mapp, Ben Lindy and Eve Bolton; those three seats aren't up for election until 2027.
Incumbent Mary Wineberg announced in May she would not seek re-election to her BOE spot this fall.
On this year's state report card, Cincinnati Public Schools saw slight improvements in some areas, but slipped in others to stay at the same 2.5 rating out of 5 that it received last year. Specifically, graduation rates rose but chronic absenteeism among students also rose.
The State of Ohio defines chronic absence as a student missing 10% or more of the school year or any reason, including excused, medically excused, unexcused and suspensions.
Cincinnati Public Schools is Ohio's second largest public school district, after Columbus City Schools.
Here's a look at the four winners
Brandon Craig
Craig is a Cincinnati native and a graduate of Cincinnati Public Schools. According to his current BOE bio page, he graduated from Walnut Hills High School and later graduated from the University of Cincinnati with a bachelor of arts in economics degree. He then earned a law degree from UC's College of Law.
He's been a BOE member since 2022. He currently serves on CPS' budget, finance and growth committee.
Before becoming a Board of Education member, Craig worked as a compliance manager at Housing Opportunities Made Equal, a nonprofit offering renters free assistance and advocating for equal housing rights.
He has been endorsed by the Hamilton County Democratic Party, the Equality Cincinnati PAC, Everytown Gun Safety, the Collective Political Action Committee and Vote Pro-Choice.
Craig told our news partners at WVXU he believes that, while the BOE is working hard, there's more to be done.
"Expanding our relationships with the local community organizations, businesses and unions will allow us to create more opportunities for our students through internships, career technical education and revenue generation," Craig said. "Additionally, using our larger corporations to expand access to resources for our teachers would propel us further into the 22nd century. Although engagement is important and something we must expand, we need to create a better marketing package for each of our schools so that we can both grow our image in the community and grow the relationships with our community partners."
On chronic absenteeism that CPS faces, Craig told WVXU educating parents and others on what it means to be chronically absent is important, because the allotted absences per child does not provide exceptions for medical days or excused absences.
"Additionally, we have to continue the efforts we made in the past to provide our multi-language learner families with guidance in their native language," Craig said. "Doing so in the past caused our numbers to substantially decrease in MLL households."
Jim Crosset
Crosset was appointed by unanimous vote to replace Mike Moroski in 2024, following Moroski's resignation from the Board of Education. This is his first time seeking election to a Board of Education spot, following that appointment.
Crosset is a Walnut Hills High School graduate who previously served as chief financial officer for Mesa Industries and UC's College of Law.
He also serves on the board for the Art Academy of Cincinnati and the Ohio Board of the Nature Conservancy. He is also a current member of the CPS Board of Education's budget, finance and growth committee.
He has been endorsed by the Hamilton County Democratic Party, the American Federation of State, county and Municipal Employees Ohio Council 8, the Cincinnati AFL-CIO Labor Council and the Equality PAC.
Crosset told WVXU he thinks CPS can engage in more individualized teaching.
"Every student comes from a unique place," Crosset said. "The more teaching resources we can put in a school, the better. For teachers, we can always do more professional development. The better teachers are prepared, the more effective they can be in the classroom."
On addressing chronic absenteeism, Crosset told WVXU that CPS is working to make the final years of high school more meaningful and attractive, so students will want to attend and will see a pathway to the future.
"Another thing we are doing is working hard to improve third-grade reading," Crosset said. "This is the year where students learn how to read to learn, rather than learning to read. By getting students on their trajectory early in the third grade, their successful outcome of graduation is much higher, resulting in less absenteeism."
Dr. Kareem Moffett
Moffett has been on the Board of Education since 2022. She has a background in education, including a PhD in educating urban African American students, according to her bio page on CPS' website.
She also has several other degrees, including a master's in remedial education in higher education and a bachelor's in natural science.
She currently serves on the BOE's budget, finance and growth committee. She's also a member of the Hamilton County Addiction Response Coalition.
She has been endorsed by the Hamilton County Democratic Party, the Cincinnati Women's Political Caucus and the Collective Political Action Committee.
Moffett told WVXU she believes CPS can improve in areas of engagement and collaborative partnership, citing that often only high-achieving students are heard from most often.
"Their voices are important, but we also need to intentionally seek out those who are less often heard: ESL learners, homeless youth, marginalized students and even those who struggle with attendance," Moffett said. "Their perspectives can tell us where the system is falling short and how we can better met their needs. In addition, we must do more to educate and engage families and the broader community on the issues that directly affect them."
On the issue of chronic absenteeism at CPS, Moffett told WVXU that education must be reimagined, as high absenteeism rates are a challenge nationwide.
"The students and families we serve today are not the same as those pre-pandemic — they are navigating new realities like NIL opportunities, gaming and esports in higher education and AI as a daily learning tool," Moffett said. "If school feels irrelevant to their world, attendance will remain a struggle. Districts need to adapt programming to reflect these new norms — making school a place where students see value, opportunity and connection to their future."
Kari Armbruster
Armbruster would be a first-time member to the BOE if elected.
According to her campaign website, she has three children in the Cincinnati Public School system and has been a CPS parent for six years.
She worked for Kroger for nearly a decade and helped launch and implement Kroger's Zero Hunger, Zero Waste campaign in the corporate office, her campaign site says.
She has been endorsed by the Hamilton County Democratic Party and the Matriots PAC.
Armbruster told WVXU she wouldn't be running for BOE if she didn't think they could do better, but she recognized the district has "pockets of success."
"The district can offer more than our suburban counterparts because of our size, location and diversity," Armbruster said. "We need to tap into the corporate interest, labor organizations, social service agencies and the amazing people who live and work in our district to get them to invest in our schools. Invest their time, money and thoughts. We need strong leadership, engaging curriculum and an inspiring vision."
On the issue of how to address chronic absenteeism, Armbruster told WVXU she feels it starts with reaching out to students and their caregivers to understand the root cause of their absences.
"Second, we must build support systems that address the main drivers of absenteeism: transportation, health and student engagement," Armbruster said. "We need to ensure our students are able to safely arrive at school on time every day. We need to provide access to primary health care for our students so they can stay healthy and attend class. We need to provide a classroom environment that engages our students and keeps them wanting to learn."
