Meet the Candidates: Who is running for Port Huron Schools Board of Education

A central theme emerged for the five people running in the Port Huron Board of Education election Nov. 8: Advocating for students education and preparing them for life outside the classroom.

The five candidates are running for two open seats, each carrying six-year terms.

Board trustee Denise Brooks in not running for re-election. The candidates include one incumbent and four newcomers.

Some candidates mentioned they wanted to shift the focus of academics away from diversity, equity and inclusion. Port Huron Area Schools did not clarify if this is taught in the district's classrooms.

Josh Chapman

Chapman said he has a vested interest in the Port Huron school district. He has worked with children in the school district through his experience as the president of the Blue Water Area YMCA. He said he wants to advocate for students’ future outside of the classroom.

He said his role would lie within strategic planning for the district.

“My hope is to provide perspective on unique opportunities, whether it be with partner organizations, enhancing services in the district and advocating for teachers and students,” Chapman said.

He said he would use his position on the board to strategize opportunities for the district and get every member of Port Huron Area Schools on the same page. He said this would ensure that students reach their potential.

“Those kids are going to be our future employers, customers and entrepreneurs,” he said. “There is nothing more valuable than investing in them and making sure they’re successful.”

Chapman said the community deserves to have Port Huron Area Schools to be the best district it can be. He said he will put in the hard work to bring that success to the district.

Patrick Loftus

Loftus said he wants to join the Port Huron school board because he is concerned about students and the declining enrollment of school districts. He wants to direct high school students into learning the trades and challenging college-tracked students with advanced placement classes.

“I want this to be a district kids would choose to go to because it offers a high challenge and is focused on their future careers,” Loftus said.

Loftus said he wants to focus the elementary and middle school curriculums on the five core areas of study: language arts, reading, math, science and history. He said he thinks the district is too focused on gender studies and diversity.

“Kids don’t benefit by focusing on diversity and not learning about things that will help them in the future,” Loftus said.

Loftus said he wants to get parents more involved in their children’s education. He wants to create a district where parents are enthusiastic about what is being taught. He said parents should want to ask questions and volunteer for their children’s education.

“I want to attract students to the district without hesitation,” he said.

Loftus said he wants to represent the parents, students, teacher and administration of the district.

Jeremiah May

May taught special education in the district for 17 years, coached football and conducted for the Port Huron High School band. He wants to join the board is to be an advocate for teachers. Additionally, he wants to create programs that will engage students in modern career fields, such as multi-media marketing and entrepreneurship.

“We need an environment where children can and want to learn,” May said.

May said the district should implement an innovation committee for the school board. This committee would work on modernizing programs and expanding what is offered. May said the world is bigger than people realize, and programs should be focused on teaching students how to live beyond the classroom.

“We have to move outside of the box to move our kids forward,” he said.

May said creating solutions is not a one person job, instead it’s entirely a team effort. He said it is hard work being a teacher and he still believes in public education. He said joining the board would be his way of creating great opportunities for education in the district.

May also has a campaign website at www.jeremiahmay.com.

Timothy McCulloch

McCulloch is the sole incumbent of the five candidates and is completing his second term. He has over a decade of experience working on the Port Huron school board and is currently its treasurer. He said he feels that he has more to give to the district.

“I feel like my background and my experience would be an asset to the district,” McCulloch said.

He said a part of a position on the board is to provide students an atmosphere where they can be successful. McCulloch wants to help students achieve their goals beyond the classroom. He said the biggest obstacle is funding.

“What continues to be a big issue is figuring out how to afford to educate students,” he said. “However, it always goes back to making sure the students are able to achieve.”

McCulloch said the district consistently reviews and revises its curriculum to benefit the student body.

McCulloch said he wants people to know that he values the opinions of others. He takes comments, questions and concerns about the Port Huron Area Schools district to heart.

“Education is not a cookie cutter thing, instead it’s about the individual that’s in the system,” he said.

He said that no matter what the issue is, he will treat it professionally and with respect.

Prescott Palm

Palm was born and raised in Port Huron and went through its school system. He said the district that he sees today is not the same one he grew up with. He wants to give his children and the children of Port Huron the same education he received.

“I want to preserve that for them instead of letting it go astray,” Palm said.

Palm said academics should be shifted away from diversity, equity and inclusion and critical race theory. He said he does not think it belongs in any level of curriculum. He said it is more of a collegiate topic. He said he think's the topic would lead to family division and that students should be focused on academics.

Palm said that if he elected, he would make fiscal conservatism for the district budget his top priority. He wants to review money spent from the American Rescue Act funding the district received. For issues like building repairs, Palm thinks the district should contact local businesses rather than outsource to corporations.

“It would mean reinvesting in (Port Huron’s) economy,” he said.

He said he is a grassroots candidate in the sense that he would put the community’s interests first. Additionally, he believes in bringing up and reinvesting in teachers. He said he wants to take the money being spent on diversity, equity and inclusion and reinvest it into teachers.

“I fully believe in putting the workers first,” Palm said.

Palm said he wants to be a voice for parents if he is elected to the board in November.

Contact McKenna Golat at mgolat@gannett.com or (810) 292-0122.