Live from Music Row Tuesday morning on The Tennessee Star Report with Michael Patrick Leahy – broadcast on Nashville’s Talk Radio 98.3 and 1510 WLAC weekdays from 5:00 a.m. to 8:00 a.m. – host Leahy welcomed Metro Nashville Public School Board Republican candidate, Kelli Phillips to the newsmaker line to announce that she will be the only Republican on the ballot for the Metro Nashville School Board District 4 election in August.
Leahy: If something is really good, it’s worth waiting for. And evidence of that on our newsmaker line right now is Kelli Phillips, candidate for the 4th district in the Metro Nashville Public School Board election coming up, both the primary and general. Good morning, Kelli.
Phillips: Good morning. How are you?
Leahy: I have first, thank you for your patience. We kind of got our wires crossed on our end.
Phillips: That’s okay. I had an extra cup of coffee. We’re good to go.
Leahy: Very good. You have some news to tell us. You are running in the 4th district Republican primary in Davidson County for the Metro Nashville Public School Board. The primary is scheduled to be in May.
The general election is in August. You were with us in January, and you told us here on-air that you thought there might be one candidate who would be challenging you in the primary. You’ve got an update on that? Tell us about it.
Phillips: I do. I found out that as of this week, I am the only Republican running in district four. There was someone else that had pulled papers, but those papers never got turned back in. So this means for me that I now go straight to the August ballot since I don’t have an opponent in the primary.
Leahy: So Kelli Phillips officially will be the Republican nominee for the 4th district for the Metro Nashville Public School Board. That’s an accomplishment.
Phillips: Yes. I’m quite excited and I’m very honored to have the opportunity to represent this district. It’s something that I’ve really wanted and worked for, and I’m really excited. I’ve had a lot of people supporting me, and that just means the world to me. And it’s awfully humbling.
Leahy: There is a Democrat primary, and I assume there will be a Democrat candidate facing you in the August 4th general election to select somebody to represent the 4th district in Metro Nashville Public Schools. Is that correct?
Phillips: That is correct. There are two people running, and they will have the primary. So after the May 3rd election, I’ll find out whether I’m going to be running against John Little or Ms. Brethina. I’m not sure. I’m following both of them, and I think it will be a pretty interesting race between the two of them to watch.
Leahy: This is an open seat, correct? It’s not an incumbent running?
Phillips: No. John Little is currently in the seat.
Leahy: John Little is currently … okay, thank you.
Phillips: Yes. He won the election a few years ago when they had to have a special election after the board member passed away. That was an unfortunate event. That was sad for everyone. He won the election during that process.
Leahy: What would distinguish your candidacy from John Little’s incumbency? He’s voted for all the craziness there, I think, hasn’t he?
Phillips: Yes. Well, he either has voted or really hasn’t given a stance one way or the other. So what sets me apart is the fact that I’ve not been involved in this. I’m a mother of three. I’ve had one graduate.
I have one in it, and I have one that turns 3 in a few weeks. So he’s not in it. I’ve been doing this for 20 years with the school system, and I am passionate about it. I want to fight not just for my children but for all these kids.
I’ve been very vocal about making sure these kids stay in school, that they have the option of wearing a mask or not. I just think there’s a lot that these past two years have done for our children. That’s what sets me apart is I’m a parent just like everybody else. I’m not involved in the system but I’m passionate about it. And I will fight fiercely for our children.
Leahy: What has the past two years been like for your high-schooler?
Phillips: It’s been difficult adjusting to not being able to socialize with friends at school. That first year when they went completely online, that was very isolating for her. Not only academically, not being in the school building, but she didn’t get to do any of her marching band, which was, that was her world. Her freshman year, they won the Champion of Champions. That’s the state competition.
And to go from that to no social interaction, it’s been really devastating on our children. And the younger ones aren’t old enough to vocalize the same way as our older ones, so their issues might come out in different ways that they can’t necessarily express vocally. It’s been really hard on them.
Leahy: This whole mask mandate thing, the board voted to take the mask mandate and make it optional starting March 11th. But then apparently they also said if there’s an uptick in the numbers, then the Director of Schools Adrienne Battle, would have the right to reinstate the mask mandate. That doesn’t strike me as a very good plan. What are your thoughts on that?
Phillips: First of all, last week at the meeting, it was a week ago today, there’s no reason that that should have been pushed back till after spring break. COVID doesn’t all of a sudden stop and become okay to contend with, but it should have stopped then.
The one person that stood up for having it end immediately was Fran Bush, and she has been vocal this entire time about the mask option and keeping these kids in school.
I think that what parents are going to closely be watching is whether or not we get a call that last day of spring break saying, okay, look, here are the numbers that we see, according to us, are making us think we need to go back to the masks. The parents are not going to have that.
We need to learn to live with COVID instead of shutting down and putting these kids through this. They’re carrying the weight of COVID. It’s not okay.
Leahy: That’s a very good way to phrase it, Kelli. The kids are carrying the weight of COVID, and because of the policies of the school boards and various administrations around the country.
Phillips: I totally agree. I think that for the most part as an adult right now, all of us go about our days in most settings mask-free. We can go about our life. We’re living like COVID was a thing of the past that we dealt with.
However, our children every single morning when they walk through the door of that school they are living like it’s March 2020 and COVID has just come on the scene. They have to live with masks every day.
And again, I’m not an anti-mask person. If those make you feel better then I think you should be able to wear it. However, what parents have a problem with is our voice being taken away and not having the option to say, look for me and my family we don’t feel that we need that.
Leahy: Kelli Phillips, the Republican candidate for the 4th District Metro Nashville Public School board, thanks for that, and come back again, would you please?
Phillips: Oh, absolutely. Thank you so much.
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Tune in weekdays from 5:00 – 8:00 a.m. to The Tennessee Star Report with Michael Patrick Leahy on Talk Radio 98.3 FM WLAC 1510. Listen online at iHeart Radio.
Photo “Kelli Phillips” by Kelli Phillips.Â
