All four candidates answered a series of questions in their own words for the Dayton Daily News Voter Guide. The details below come from those answers. The full text they provided is available at www.daytondailynews.com/voter-guide.
Candidates’ top issues
** Kassi Kipling said her top three priorities are building trust with the community and district employees, continuing academic and extracurricular excellence, and finding balance among the district’s stakeholders — the school board, superintendent, staff, and community.
Kipling says on issues of trust, she will include educators in major decisions and trust them in their areas of expertise, and for the community, she will be committed to transparency, providing details and explanations before votes. On balance of power, she said she would work to ensure board members “stay in their own lane.” About excellence, she talked about creating an environment that will recruit and retain top teachers through a culture of respect.
** Brian Kronenberger’s top three priorities are transparency through greater discussions by board members at meetings, “reigning in the hot button topics that have no bearing on our district,” and being a voice for everyone.
He says he would push for fewer executive session meetings and more back-and-forth discussions between citizens and the school board. But he said “fear-based or politically charged policies should not be on the agenda.” Kronenberger said the most important thing to him was “making sure that the majorities and the minorities all feel included, welcomed, and heard in our great school district.”
** Kevin Price, a school board member since 2020, said his top three priorities are keeping the focus on education, keeping staff and students physically safe, and keeping up the financial responsibility. He says he will accomplish this by ensuring that the strategic plan of the district and its policies are focused on education first.
Price said he will oppose efforts to introduce policies and practices that are not required by law that would distract the district from the fundamental responsibility of educating children. He says his military career gives him an eye for safety as he currently serves on the district’s Safety Committee and Active Shooter Response Implementation Committee. He also plans to work with the treasurer and superintendent on fiscal responsibility.
** Anne Pryor said her top three priorities are to learn from teachers, staff, and administration about the obstacles facing the school system; to unify the school community; and to protect schools from “infiltrating political agendas.”
To do this, she says she will listen and learn as much as possible, make decisions based on facts and logic and make sure the school is transparent. Pryor said she would listen respectfully to everyone on all sides of an issue and carefully consider their input. She also said she would “work to protect our schools from infiltrating political agendas. I will be the brick wall standing between our school libraries and pornographic books.”
Candidate facts, quotes
** Kassi Kipling said she is Air Force Life Cycle Management Center Branch Chief Engineer. She is involved in the Ohio Fusion Soccer Club as a youth team manager, and with the Greene County Democratic Party as a precinct captain.
“I want to repair the strained relationship with teachers and staff,” she said. “I want to restore faith in the school board’s ability to listen to the community’s input and react in a way that focuses on education. I will work to ensure all students feel included and their needs are met.”
** Brian Kronenberger is a contractor for Defense Logistics Agency and is involved with Bellbrook Band Boosters.
“As a person built upon logic and reason, I have witnessed the board taking some very illogical steps,” Kronenberger said. “I want someone on the board to be that voice of reason, to listen to local citizens, and to have a dialogue with them. We need a member on the board to guide it towards more unifying goals and make sure that the board stays within their lane.”
** Kevin Price works at the Air Force Research Laboratory at Wright Patterson Air Force Base. He has been a member of the Bellbrook Sugarcreek school board since 2020 and is a high school student mentor with Dayton Foundation College Promise Program.
“I want to continue as part of the team to maintain the excellence of our marvelous school district,” Price said. “I believe ours is the greatest nation on earth and I want our district’s children to know that and to be well-prepared to become informed citizens, voters, and leaders in the future.”
** Anne Pryor said she runs two businesses from home, Mommy Genius, LLC and Dr. Annie’s Experiments (she cited a Ph.D. in biochemistry). She said she served as food pantry manager of the Bellbrook-Sugarcreek Community Support Center during the pandemic.
“I am the best choice for the school board because I am able to have a civil conversation with anyone about any topic,” Pryor said. “... I believe school bathrooms and locker rooms should be separated by biological sex. I would want to have a separate bathroom available for anyone who is not comfortable using the bathroom corresponding to their biological sex.”
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