A new school year is here and with it comes a new Hayes student school board representative—Eric Gitson.
Gitson is a lifelong Delawarian and is involved in numerous programs at Hayes, most notably serving as this year’s Ohio Youth Governor in the Ohio YMCA Youth in Government program.
“I first became interested several years ago when I went to a few board meetings to see what it was like,” Gitson said. “I thought it would be a cool opportunity to get involved with my community and was very excited about it.”
Gitson isn’t the only person on the school board in a transitional period.
School board Representative Matt Weller said he has only met Gitson a handful of times and already has high praise for him.
“He seemed confident and able to articulate his thoughts and what was going on,” Weller said. “I think he’ll do well in the role.”
Another School Board Representative, Melissa Harris, said that she agreed with Weller’s remarks.
“It is great to get a student perspective of what they see every day at Hayes,” Harris said.
However, the School Board representative position is not always smooth sailing.
“Since Covid, things have changed dramatically,” Weller said. “The meetings just have a much different feeling. We have a certain group of folks that come to the meetings, and they’re there to push a certain agenda, quite frankly.”
Harris also reflected on the recent tumultuous school board meetings.
“When we had people from out of the state or district trying to get books removed,” Harris said. “I was like, ‘you or your family do not live in this district and you want things removed.’”
Gitson, however, said that he is ready to face the controversy head-on.
“The books that we have here in our library at Hayes are thoroughly reviewed by content experts with the publisher who advise on what content is appropriate,” Gitson said. “Our librarians also very carefully select the books to make sure we have a great selection and that everything is fine for whatever age is reading it whether that be elementary, middle or high school.”
Gitson also said that he takes a firm stance on standing up for LGBTQ+ students and amplifying their voices.
“It is really important that everyone is entitled to their own beliefs,” Gitson said, “however, I maintain that it is no one’s business to be able to tell people who they can and cannot identify as.”
Gitson said that he has experience conversing with people from all backgrounds.
“I have volunteered for political campaigns and I’ve learned how to communicate with voters,” Gitson said. “I know that you are not always going to agree on what you talk about but that it’s important to communicate respectfully and listen to every perspective.”
Weller said he shares a similar perspective with Gitson on interacting with his constituents.
“I tried to do what was best for all students, all parents, all taxpayers, and you have to balance their opinions,” Weller said. “I’ve always felt like I looked at things with that lens of what’s going to help the most folks.”
Representative Harris thought back on what prompted her to run originally.
“I’m there because I felt like for a long time there were so many people that weren’t getting their voices heard,” Harris said.
Having students’ voices heard is the main job of a student school board representative according to Weller.
“I think the student board representative is very important because it can give us a sense of what’s going on,” Weller said. “A good school representative is talking to everybody and getting a sense of not just the circle they run in but also a general sense of what students are doing.”
Gitson’s primary goal as school board representative is to actively represent the Delaware City Schools student body.
“I want to be available for the students to be able to share their perspectives with me so that I can best voice them to the board,” Gitson said.
Together Harris, Weller, and Gitson all want to convey a very clear message to the Hayes student body: speak up.
“Come and speak to those board meetings. If you continue to feel like you’re not being heard, keep coming and keep speaking,” Harris said.
