District 4 Metro Nashville School Board Candidate Kelli Phillips Is a 20-Year Mom ‘Who Is Tired of Watching the Current State of Our School System’

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 District 4 School Board Candidate Kelli Phillips in-studio to discuss what makes her different from the other candidates.

Leahy: In-studio with us for the first time is Kelli Phillips, who’s a candidate for the Metro Nashville School Board District 4. Good morning, Kelly.

Phillips: Good morning. Thank you for having me. Early in the morning.

Leahy: So I hear you do have a little bit of experience broadcasting. When you were at University of Tennessee, you also had a 5:00 a.m. to. 8:00 a.m. shift there, right?

Phillips: (Chuckles) I did. When I was in college, my junior year, one of my classes required me to be on the air on Sunday mornings from 5:00 to 8:00. And I think occasionally I had a few people listening. Most of those were when my parents were in town visiting and listening.

Leahy: How did you like getting up at 3:30 in the morning, 4:00 in the morning to make that 5:00?

Phillips: Well, I’m going to say it’s a lot different in your 20s than it is in your 40s.

Leahy: Try it at 67. (Laughter) I do that Monday through Friday here. That’s quite a challenge. Now, why did you decide to run for the school board?

Phillips: Well, for me, after watching our children struggle over the past few years, COVID kind of brought to light things that were happening – or more importantly, not happening in our public school system.

I think that when we did virtual learning at home, a lot of parents started paying attention to what their kids were learning.

And for me, just watching my own children, especially the first thing for me was watching my son get his high school diploma through the window of his car.

Leahy: You’re kidding me? Drive-through diplomas?

Phillips: Correct. Drive-through, yes. I have pictures of it.

Leahy: You’re kidding me?… (Excerpt from the Tennessee Star)