Teen elected to school board said he won by gaining voters' trust

BATH, Ohio – Mike Kahoe was eager to discuss his recent election to the Revere Board of Education and his plans for the position, from increasing transparency between the board and the community to improving school safety.

But first, the 18-year-old high school senior had to finish up his classes for the day.

Kahoe was elected to the school board with the most votes of any of the seven candidates.

"Because of my age, there were a lot of people who counted me out, at first at least," Kahoe said. "And then, once I spoke to them, they understood what I was talking about, and they realized that I had some good ideas and good viewpoints, and they grew to like me."

Ohio law states that those who want to run for school board must be a U.S. citizen and at least 18. They must also be a resident of the state, the school district and registered to vote in the school district, all for at least 30 days preceding the election.

Even though he's a student, Kahoe met all those qualifications — albeit barely. He turned 18 on Oct. 10.

Kahoe said his perspective as a student attending the district since kindergarten gave him unique insight into the board's actions over the years.

The idea to run for school board had been in the back of his mind for a while as he learned about local government in social studies classes and realized it could be a possibility.

He decided to run this summer, spurred to action by his concern over what he saw as a lack of transparency between the board and community, including the handling of the dismissal of the district's entire football coaching staff after they admitted to drinking alcohol at an offseason camp.

"The thing that upset me most about that situation is the lack of communication with the parents, because that's really a big issue for parents; making sure their kids are safe," said Kahoe, a football captain who's played the sport since second grade.

Kahoe's three years of experience with the Lantern, the school's student newspaper, also showed him the importance of transparency.

"We always talk about how government is supposed to be out in the light … It's newspapers' job to report on that, and so that kind of brought the issue of transparency to the forefront for me," said Kahoe, the paper's associate editor.

Once he takes office in January, Kahoe plans to implement a three-step plan to improve transparency: filming a 3-5-minute recap video of all board meetings, filming board meetings in their entirety and posting them on the district website, and hosting "Meet Your Board Members" meetings.

Kahoe also plans to focus on school safety, pledging to donate his $3,000 annual salary to the Revere Schools Foundation to be used for safety and security measures.

After graduation next spring, Kahoe plans to attend college locally, since he was elected to a four-year term at Revere. "I had a lot of fun campaigning," he said.