Boone County Schools is Kentucky’s third-largest public school district, serving over 20,000 kindergarten through 12th-grade students.
The Boone County School Board is split into five different geographical divisions. As such, each division elects a single representative to serve on the school board.Â
There are two contested races for the Boone County School Board, with the board seats for Divisions 1 and 2 up for grabs. Jesse Parks, the incumbent candidate in Division 3, is running unopposed.
Boone County School Board Division 1
Boone County School’s Division 1 encompasses schools located in the northeastern portion of the county, like Hebron and the areas of Florence and Burlington surrounding the Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport.
Boone County School Board, Div. 1 (2 candidates, vote for 1)
Click on the candidate’s names to learn more about them:
Carolyn Hankins Wolfe
Carolyn Hankins Wolfe is the Boone County School Board Division 1’s incumbent candidate. She is a U.S. Army veteran, mother and community advocate with a background in the human resources sector.
First elected in 2022, Wolfe ran on a platform of advocating for teachers and students while striving to protect the public education system from an array of challenges like student safety and working conditions for teachers.Â
This election cycle, Wolfe is focusing on issues such as addressing staffing shortages, competitive teacher pay and student inequity within the district. Wolfe is also an opponent of Kentucky Constitutional Amendment 2, according to her campaign website.
In an email interview, Wolfe said she believes one of the most critical issues facing Boone County Schools is doing more to address the needs of the district’s growing population of non-English-speaking students while doing more to address their parents. She described Boone County Schools as a global community with students speaking over 65 languages within the district. In addition, Wolfe believes the district must continue to expand its early childhood education opportunities and alternative education programs.
Wolfe describes herself as a committed public servant who focuses on putting the needs of students, teachers, and the community first.
Jeffrey Whittaker
Jeffrey Whittaker is a former firefighter and emergency medical technician. He worked at the Dow Corning Corporation in Carrollton for 31 years, where he held various roles. He retired in 2016 to pursue an associate’s degree from Cincinnati State. After graduation, he returned to Dow. He currently works as a preventative and predictive maintenance coordinator for the company.
In an email interview with LINK nky, Whittaker said he was inspired to run because his granddaughter is beginning her education journey in the Boone County School District. Whittaker describes himself as the conservative candidate for Division 1 on his campaign Facebook account and touts the role of ‘traditional values’ in education.
If elected, Whittaker said his focus would be on ensuring the school district’s tax dollars are spent efficiently, maintaining facilities, improving reading at a 5th-grade level for students leaving elementary school, protecting students’ privacy and data, and providing career solutions for students who do not attend college after graduation.
Whittaker said he is an advocate for SMART goals – Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant and Time-based – and would instill this method into the decision-making process of the Boone County School Board.
Boone County School Board Division 2
Boone County School’s Division 2 encompasses schools located in the northwestern portion of the county, such as Burlington, Petersburg, Belleview and Bullittsville.
Boone County School Board, Div. 2 (3 candidates, vote for 1)
Click on the candidate’s names to learn more about them:
Maria Brown
Maria Brown is the incumbent candidate in the Boone County School Board’s Division 2 race. She was appointed in 2013 and subsequently won the election the following year. She’s served on the school board for 11 years and is currently its vice-chairperson.
Brown is a native of Boone County and graduated from Ryle High School in 1996. Professionally, she serves as an assistant professor of biology at Mt. St. Joseph University in Cincinnati. Brown is a mother of four students who are part of Boone County Schools. Brown describes herself as a committed mother and community volunteer, working with organizations like First Church of Christ, Go Pantry and People Working Cooperatively among others.
In an email interview with LINK nky, Brown stated that she feels the district’s most pressing challenges are teacher pay and retention and meeting the needs of non-English-speaking students, special needs students and students seeking alternative education options.
As an incumbent, Brown said she wanted to ensure that Boone County students have safe learning environments and access to high-quality instructional resources. She has experience collaborating with different board members, district administrators, teachers, and superintendents throughout her tenure.
Julie Maddox
Julie Maddox was a 4th grade reading, math and science teacher at Boone County’s Charles Kelly Elementary for 20 years. She served on the school’s the school’s Site Based
Decision Making Council for 15 of those years. Maddox retired after the 2022-2023 school year but continues to tutor students at-risk students as a volunteer for City Gospel Missions.
Maddox also has a background as a French teacher and has traveled across the French-speaking world, including Quebec and parts of Africa and the Caribbean.
In an email interview with LINK nky, Maddox said she decided to run for office because she is passionate about educating young people. As a former employee of Boone County Schools, Maddox said she is already acquainted with ongoing school board policies, procedures and initiatives.
Like Whittaker, Maddox describes herself as a conservative candidate and said she wanted to instill ‘traditional values’ into students of Boone County Schools.
If elected, Maddox said she wants to ensure the school board is fiscally responsible with taxpayers’ money. She is also focused on developing students’ verbal and written communication skills, developing students’ critical thinking skills for 21st-century jobs, and increasing parental input and involvement across the school system.
Antonie Smith-Rouse
Antoine Smith-Rouse is a professional with over five years of experience in higher education. He currently serves as the associate vice president of workforce solutions for Gateway Community & Technical College. He also serves on various community boards and committees, such as Longbranch Elementary’s Site-Based Decision-Making Council and Engage Boone County.
Outside of education, Smith-Rouse is the father of nine children – both foster, adopted, and biological – who he says inspire his commitment to public service.
In an email interview with LINK nky, Smith-Rouse said he decided to run for school board because he believes every child deserves access to quality education in a safe, supportive and inclusive environment. Smith-Rouse is also an opponent of Kentucky Constitutional Amendment 2, which threatens to widen inequalities and undermine the quality of education.
If elected, Smith-Rouse said he wants to ensure equitable access to educational resources for all students, address mental health concerns, and foster a safe and inclusive environment for students and teachers. Additionally, Smith-Rouse said he supports fully funding public education and providing teachers with the resources, training, and respect they need to succeed.
