From a pool of three write-in candidates vying for one seat to a husband-and-wife duo running for two others, voters in Lucas and Wood counties have no shortage of options in front of them for school board races come Nov. 7.
But of all the races that will appear on ballots this fall, it’s Anthony Wayne that has drawn the most candidates, with 12 of them vying for four available seats. They include engineers, business owners, educators, a former Navy submariner, and a Toledo police officer all contending for votes in southwestern Lucas County, as well as a few in Wood and Fulton counties.
Other races appearing on ballots in region
Oregon City School District Board of Education (voters choose 2)
Jeffrey Ziviski, incumbent and Mercy Health chief financial officer
Bethany Ziviski (write-in), an attorney and Mr. Ziviski's wife
Jerry A. Eversman (write-in), a law enforcement officer and area baseball coach
Washington Local School District Board of Education (voters choose 2)
Irshad Bannister, incumbent, financial adviser, and founder of Stealth Financial Advisors
Brady Hall, a 2023 Whitmer High School graduate and current University of Toledo student
Lauren Moore, a sales manager of a local software development company
Rebecca J. Bundy, an attorney
Maumee City School District Board of Education (voters choose 2)
Andrea Ankenbrandt, a graphic designer
Allison Fiscus, a public librarian
Ruth Uhl, former lead veterinary technician
Ottawa Hills Local School District Board of Education (voters choose 2)
Jennifer Kielczewski, an investment adviser
Adrianne Shreve, director of fiscal oversight for charter school sponsor, the Ohio Council of Community Schools
Adam Smidi, incumbent and chief executive/principal owner of Joe's Autos
Katie Timmers, a certified public accountant and Ottawa Hills Parent Association board member
Sylvania City School District Board of Education (voters choose 2)
John Ross, a retired Bellefontaine Municipal Court judge in Logan County, Ohio
Kimberly A. Conklin, an incumbent and attorney
Greg Feller, incumbent and a civil engineer
Wood County
Perrysburg Schools Board of Education (voters choose 2)
Kelly A Davis, registered nurse
Kelly Ewbank, incumbent, substitute teacher and nurse's aide
Laura Meinke, a former Genoa school board member who ran unsuccessfully for a Perrysburg school board seat in 2021
Susan Miller, finance associate and mortgage lead at Maumee Valley Habitat for Humanity
Ashley Sackett, former accountant and member of the district's strategic planning committee.
Voters will choose one of the three candidates to fill the remaining term for the school board seat.
For the other Anthony Wayne school board race, voters will be asked to choose three candidates from a list of nine candidates. Three of those candidates are incumbents: Current school board president Pam Brint, owner of Anthony Wayne Tire & Auto Repair; Jeff Baden, an engineer at Dana Inc.; and Jayna Gwin, a licensed counselor.
Those running to unseat them are Amy Barrett, a grant writer; Sarah Bellner, a business owner; Frank Dudas, a former submariner for the Navy; Lindsay Hoipkemier, an interior designer; Shellie McKnight, a former high school and college educator; and Jim Schlievert, a Toledo Police Officer.
During an Oct. 10 candidate meet-and-greet at the Monclova Community Center, all of those running spoke of their pride in the Anthony Wayne schools that their children attend or have attended, advocated for their ability to oversee the district, and promised open public communication.
Others such as Ms. Bellner, Mr. Dudas, and Mr. Schlievert — who joined forces to run for the three open seats — have also made parental rights, bullying in schools, and opposition to district’s previous policy of allowing transgender students to use the bathroom of their choice central to their campaigns.
The latter issue is one that Ms. Gwin suspects inspired so many candidates to run for a school board seat this November. District officials reversed course in July, announcing a policy change requiring everyone must use a restroom “that is aligned with their biological sex assigned at birth,” or could opt for or a single-use restroom or locker room.
“I think what brought out the vast majority of the candidates that decided to run were some of the polarizing topics through this past year, most specifically the bathroom policy,” Ms. Gwin said. “But there’s also passion about where kids go to school here, where we live, and where our money goes, and so I’ll pat anybody on the back that wants to do that.”
Toledo Public Schools contest
TPS board vice president Randall Parker III is the only name that will be listed on ballots where voters will be asked to select two candidates for two open seats. But there are in fact three candidates vying for that second seat who will rely on voters to know them well enough to take the extra step in marking the proper section of the ballot and write in their name.
In August, TPS board president Sheena Barnes missed the deadline to file for re-election and instead later filed to run as a write-in candidate.
That mistake brought out two other challengers who likewise filed as write-in candidates: Zach Mercer, who runs a West Toledo maintenance shop, and Jason Sobb, a St. Francis de Sales graduate and now semi-retired entrepreneur who unsuccessfully ran for a Toledo Public Schools board seat in 2021.
“I didn't plan on running this time around. [Then] I saw that one of my opponents, who is the president of the TPS school board, didn't turn in her signatures on time,” Mr. Sobb wrote in an email. “She then turned into a write-in candidate [and this] opened up a window for me that the possibility of winning was real.”
Mr. Mercer’s campaign goals center on increasing awareness of skilled trades and providing students more career opportunities through STEM education and early college opportunities.
Mr. Sobb, who previously campaigned strongly against critical race theory in schools, has centered his campaign on parental rights and involvement, enhancing school security, and improving student academic achievement.
Ms. Barnes didn’t respond to a request for comment about her campaign.
Early voting in Lucas County is at 3737 W. Sylvania Ave., in West Toledo.
First Published October 28, 2023, 1:30 p.m.
