Seven vie for three seats in packed Xenia school board race

Many of the candidates interviewed said improving student academic achievement were among their top priorities.

The Dayton Daily News asked the seven candidates about this and other issues.

Joshua Day

Incumbent Joshua Day said he is running for his second term on the school board in part because he has three of his four children in Xenia schools, and because of a desire to build upon the progress made in his first term.

“We got the new middle school. We have done a bunch of improvements around the high school and some of the other buildings ... and so now I would really like to focus my next term on some major steps in academic improvements,” he said.

One of these is greatly reducing the number of screens that especially young children are around, Day said.

“There’s been a lot of studies that have come out, especially since (the pandemic), that has shown that the use of technology has actually been detrimental to our kids. They’re not getting the fine motor functions that they would normally get,” Day said.

Day is also working with incoming Xenia mayor Ethan Reynolds on a “First Grade Future Fund.” The city, school district, and/or community partners would contribute $100 in seed money into a 529 college savings account owned by parents, which could go towards a four-year, two-year, or tech certification.

“It’s very restrictive for some people in our community to say, oh, yeah, I can definitely go to college when college costs $20,000 a year,” Day said. “It’ll help with our kids staying in school, staying active in school, and just trying that extra bit to to reach those levels for when they graduate.”

Regarding the teachers’ social media controversy, Day said he ultimately chose to accept the superintendent’s revised determination in part because of Erika Kirk’s decision to forgive her husband’s killer, he said.

“I had to really think and do some personal reflection of: Are we any better than these people, that we deserve a pound of flesh more than they do?” he said.

Mary Grech

Incumbent Mary Grech said she was influenced to run for a second term in part because of her daughters, as well as her granddaughter who is starting school in Xenia next year.

“‘You have to finish what you started.’ That’s a huge mantra in my family,” she said. “This is not a stepping stone for me ... I do have some things I’d like to finish up.”

Grech’s top priorities are school finance and funding, improving absenteeism rates, and combating learning loss from COVID.

Grech said she is concerned about the movement to abolish property taxes. The school board’s responsibility is to focus on Columbus, and to continue to advocate for fair public school funding at the state level, Grech said.

“I do believe that over the next four years, I need to be, hopefully, a voice of reason, a voice of education, and get parents to really start really focusing on what’s happening in Columbus and use their voice, because that’s the only way we’re going to change things,” she said.

Improving student achievement involves not only making adjustments to curriculum based on what teachers are struggling with, but also reducing screens in younger classrooms, she said.

“Technology has absolutely a place,” Grech said. “Kids need to be experiencing and writing and using their hands because motor memory is a thing.”

Regarding the recent teacher social media controversy, Grech said she was in favor of a “measured response” from the superintendent as the situation unfolded, adding that it is the responsibility of the administration to handle discipline, not the board. She also criticized outside forces and online accounts amplifying the controversy in an attempt to influence the school board race.

“There has been a lot of a lot of fear and division, I’ve noticed has really crept into Xenia, just like outside of Xenia,” she said. “I can’t do a thing about it nationally, but I can impact, hopefully, to the better, to the positive, in my own community, where my kids live, where my grandkids live.”

George Leightenheimer

Incumbent and current board president George Leightenheimer says he is running for reelection to improve the district’s academic achievement and graduation rates, improve academic offerings, and foster a supportive and engaging culture within the schools themselves.

“I think in the last four years, we’ve really improved the district, and I’d like to see us continue to improve,” he said.

Improving Xenia’s graduation rate and academic performance means better engaging with parents and families, Leightenheimer said, adding that he is interested in the idea of a mentorship program for older kids.

Leightenheimer said he would like to see the district do more for children who are struggling both physically and mentally, adding that in his work, some of his students are less concerned about reading and math, and more concerned about where they’re going to get their next meal.

“They don’t have time to be kids,” he said. “If we can help alleviate some of that stuff, that would go a long way for giving them stability so they can worry about school.”

Xenia currently has a handful of manufacturing pathways as part of its work with the Greene County Career Center. Leightenheimer is interested in expanding those pathways and better engaging career center students with their home school.

“The welding program out of the Career Center every year has turned students away. They’re too small,” he said. “So, how can we use Xenia schools? How can we bring a welding lab to us?”

Regarding the recent social media controversy, Leightenheimer said his rationale for accepting the superintendent’s disciplinary recommendation was influenced by his faith and in reading dozens of emails from parents that spoke positively of the teachers involved.

“I thought about it. I prayed about it. I sought counsel from other people about it, and I listened to the probably a hundred emails that I got,” he said. “I kind of realized that, (in) maybe treating them with a little mercy, a little love, little compassion, that way we can show our students how to do the same thing.”

Jennifer Marietta

Attorney Jennifer Marietta previously served on the Xenia School Board from 2017 to 2021. A lifelong Xenia resident, both she and her children attended Xenia schools, and says she is running in part to refocus the board’s attention on students, rather than the latest culture war topics.

“I think at this point the board is kind of an echo chamber,” she said. “When I was on the board before ... we were from different parties and affiliations, but none of that mattered, because we were continuously focused on what was best for the kids in our district.”

Marietta’s top issue is student achievement, which she proposes to address by implementing student-specific supports, emphasizing the growth individual students have made in the last year.

“Targeted intervention is really, really critical, and we should be focusing on things like that,” she said.

Property taxes and school funding are Marietta’s second issue, which involves the board advocating for a better funding plan at the state level. Marietta added that the proposal to eliminate funding entirely amounts to “pulling the funding rug right out” from Ohio’s school districts.

“The state legislature hasn’t really been able to make a plan to fix that problem,” she said. “And so without a plan in place, that’s going to create a huge problem for schools.”

Lastly, Marietta stressed the need for supports for children with special needs, and addressing the mental health problems still plaguing young people.

Regarding the teacher social media controversy, Marietta said the teachers’ posts were protected under the First Amendment; and while teachers have to abide by the district’s social media policy, they have a right to due process unimpeded by politics, including those of the board.

“It’s very unusual for board members to submit to public pressure and sort of political motivations to get involved in a teacher disciplinary matter that would be normally handled by the superintendent,” she said. “I’m ready to do the work, so I am not interested in having partisan politics discussions.”

Tyler Scott

Tyler Scott is a real estate appraiser and former Army National Guardsman, and said he is running out of concern for academic performance, enrollment decline, and high spending.

“The last thing people want to hear is more money and less results. And so I’m here to say less taxes, less spending, more progress. And I think it can be done,” he said.

Scott cited a decrease in enrollment as his most pressing concern, even as the city’s population has grown. Working in real estate, he says he has talked to many people who live in Xenia but don’t want to send their kids to its schools.

“They’re going to go to one of the surrounding schools with open enrollment, because they’re getting a better education there, or they’re just homeschooled,” he said. “The biggest issue we have (with) driving business into Xenia is our school district ... they don’t feel like their employees are going to want to move here.”

Scott cited the district’s state report card, noting that 59.5% of Xenia’s graduating seniors are prepared for the workforce while the graduation rate is increasing.

Xenia’s report card has increased from 2.5 to 3 overall in the last year.

“If we have a increased graduation rate, but a decline in academic proficiency from those graduates, I can only infer one thing, and that’s that we’ve lowered our standards, or we forgave some of those standards, so we can increase some rates,” he said.

Scott proposes merit-based bonuses for teachers (not tied to their base pay) as well as auditing the school district’s spending. Scott also wants to implement a survey system for students as a means of tracking and addressing bullying concerns.

Regarding the recent social media controversy, Scott said if he had been on the board, he would have pushed for termination of the teachers involved.

“I don’t believe hate speech has any room in our in our school system at all, whether one side or the other,” he said.

Cedric Tolbert

Longtime Xenia coach Cedric Tolbert did not respond to requests for an interview. The following was taken from his responses to the Dayton Daily News Voter Guide.

A resident of Xenia for 40 years, Tolbert said he is running for school board as a positive place to give back to the community where he raised his children.

“I have had the pleasure of coaching football, boys and girls basketball and boys and girls track to the youth here and have coached all ages, elementary through high school,” he said. “I am invested in my community and love to give back which leads me to why I decided to run for the Xenia Community Schools Board of Education.”

If elected, Tolbert said his top three priorities include addressing graduation and absenteeism rates, equipping teachers with training and supplies to “close the gaps academically,” and keeping the district in good financial standing.

The problems with graduation rates and absenteeism go hand-in-hand, Tolbert said.

“There are a lot of outside factors that can affect both situations and once those factors are identified, we can help provide solutions that help keep our students working towards graduation and keep them in school,” he said.

Tolbert also proposes providing teachers with additional training and professional development as needed to address academic achievement, and working closely with the district treasurer and keeping an eye on state and federal funding to ensure the district’s good financial standing.

Deborah Williams