District 5 candidates for the Howard County Board of Education joined a speed-dating-turned-roundtable event last week, outlining top priorities in safety, budget, special education and hiring — with goals of helping the county remain a top school system.

Andrea Chamblee and Trent Kittleman participated in a discussion at the Miller Branch of the Howard County Library System Oct. 5, while members of the Howard County League of Women Voters helped members of the public with voter registration.

The event was intended to include District 1 candidates with members of the public having five minutes to speak with each candidate in a speed-dating format. Due to low attendance and the absence of District 1, the event turned into a roundtable discussion during which candidates answered questions and discussed ideas to address issues plaguing the school system.

After a debate sparked by Chamblee calling out an idea Kittleman posed to have the county assume the budget for school health resources, such as nurses and psychologists, Chamblee discussed Kittleman’s career as a state delegate.

Chamblee said that Kittleman, a Republican, voted against the school budget every year, voted against a background check bill Chamblee had advocated for and failed to receive an endorsement from state lawmakers in the school board race.

“We have to work with them, we have to get them to cough up some money, we have to help them explain to their constituents why the money needs to be raised for our kids,” Chamblee said. “But those people have endorsed me to work with them on this issue.”

Kittleman explained that she voted against the whole budget and noted that she didn’t receive an endorsement because the state lawmakers are Democrats.

“And if you’re a Republican in the state legislature, your vote doesn’t even count, which is one of the reasons why I really like the fact that the school board is nonpartisan because that means that you can listen to everybody, and you don’t have preconceived notions of who anyone is,” Kittleman said.

Despite opposing viewpoints, both Chamblee and Kittleman shared optimism and confidence in Howard County Public School System Superintendent Bill Barnes and State Superintendent of Education Carey Wright. They also agreed on certain areas of need, like sorting out budget concerns and continuing to work on transportation after issues last school year left students without transportation on the first day of school.

Some of the candidates’ proposed ideas differed, including ways to tackle the issues of improving special education, and a lack of funding to build new schools.

For Chamblee, who became a safety activist after her husband died in the Capital Gazette shooting in 2018 and called herself “the safety candidate,” school safety is the top priority. Students can’t learn if they don’t feel safe in school, she said. According to Chamblee, there are deferred maintenance projects that have yet to be fixed, such as doors that don’t lock all the way, schools without vestibules and portable classrooms where anyone could get in.

“My priority is that when students come to school, they know we have their back, they know we have their door, they know the roof isn’t going to fall on their head, they know a shooter’s not going to come through, they can listen to their teachers,” Chamblee said.

In addition to safety measures, Chamblee said the school system needs more training and more teachers to improve the county’s special education program. But safety measures and hiring pose a cost as the school board struggles with limited funding, so the operating budget is another focus for Chamblee.

Kittleman shared the same priorities in improving special education and sorting out the budget and funding needs, which she called “absolutely critical.” While she said safety is important, her other priority included academics, since “that is what you go to school for.”

According to Kittleman, the county needs to continue focusing on academics to raise state test scores, which have dropped in recent years.