Public Comment – LEDE Program & Leadership Accountability

My comments to the Columbus Board of Education – November 18, 2025

Good evening. My name is Ronda Watson Barber, publisher of OhioMBE.

I’m calling tonight because we are witnessing a profound lack of leadership from both the administration and this elected board regarding the LEDE program and equitable contracting in Columbus City Schools.

For more than a year, this district operated without an active Office of Outreach and Engagement. During that period, millions of taxpayer dollars were spent, yet no one ensured that LEDE vendors were notified of contracting opportunities. Some vendors report they haven’t been contacted in over a year and a half. That is not outreach. That is neglect.

And to allow non–supplier diversity experts to make decisions about a legally mandated supplier diversity program is malpractice — and the consequences are reflected in your own contracting data.

Now, to host an outreach event a year and a half after effectively closing the office, and 11 months after hiring a new Outreach Coordinator and after millions in spending, is telling. You were prodded to do so.
To proclaim that CCS is “building a foundation” for a program that has existed for two decades is disingenuous. These are talking points used to cover inaction — not evidence of leadership.

And how long will this so-called foundational build take? The website is still outdated. The materials posted there contain conflicting information. After two decades of this program — and more than a year without staffing — basic errors, outdated forms, and contradictory guidance should not still exist.
That is not foundation-building. That is administrative neglect.

At the last board meeting, the district reported spending over $80 million this summer. Of that, Black vendors received less than $5 million, while white vendors received more than $17 million — in a majority Black school district. Not one board member questioned that disparity.
Silence is acceptance.

This is especially troubling because this elected board is overwhelmingly made up of Black and Brown members — leaders who should understand why supplier diversity programs exist, how proper implementation benefits district taxpayers and underutilized businesses, and who, as people of our color, KNOW the biases, barriers, institutional and systemic racism we face. Yet you appear not to be combating it within this district.

Since September 3, I have requested documentation of the district’s good-faith outreach efforts related to the summer spend. I still have not received a response.

I must also address the COO’s statement that Policy 6400 is “aspirational.”
That is simply false.

Policy 6400 is not aspirational — it is operational, mandatory, and enforceable.
It requires at least 20% LEDE participation, good-faith efforts, adequate staffing, data collection, monitoring, semi-annual reports, a budget and implementation plan, and a Workforce Participation Program. None of that is optional.

You cannot pick and choose which parts of Policy 6400 — or any district policy — you will enforce or support.

The district must also make intentional efforts to purchase from the businesses that are footing the tax bill. Only businesses within CCS boundaries are paying higher property taxes and higher rents because of the levy. They deserve inclusion in CCS purchasing.

Right now, the district is practicing taxation without participation — taking money from this community and spending it elsewhere. That is not equity. That is exclusion.

And I will close with this: You cannot build a culture of belonging for students when your purchasing practices exclude their parents’ businesses.

Thank you.