CPS board candidate Horn making first run for public office

A former U.S. Border Patrol agent is one of the candidates for Columbia Public Schools board.

Chris Horn spent 2014 in south Texas between stints at Shelter Insurance. He has worked at Shelter for 13 years overall.

“You can’t judge anybody based off appearances or circumstances or anything like that. There’s a story to everything,” Horn says. “That was probably one of the biggest lessons I learned [with Border Patrol].”

Horn had never thought about being a school board member until a recent leadership conference in Columbia.

“I always had a heart for service but just never knew where to place it, and so I was trying to figure out how I can get plugged into this community and just kind of help and give back.”

Horn is running for public office for the first time. He says CPS needs to lean on local health officials, and get lots of feedback from the community, while deciding how to deal with the coronavirus pandemic. He also wants to focus on equity and inclusion while closing the achievement gap.

Horn is one of four candidates for three CPS Board of Education spots on the June 2 ballot. The others are David Seamon, and incumbents Helen Wade and Jonathan Sessions.