6 seek school board seat
7/17/2003DELTA - A manager at an automotive parts supply plant, a dairy farmer, two college students, and two bookkeepers applied for a seat on the Pike-Delta-York school board that is to be vacated by Cheryl Kovar in September. Three of the six applicants are Delta High School graduates.
Mrs. Kovar has said she is leaving the board to start studies for a doctoral degree in nursing at Ohio State University that is required for her to remain on the faculty of the Medical College of Ohio School of Nursing.
Her replacement will be appointed by the school board. The board plans to interview applicants next month and make an appointment in the fall.
The school district faces numerous challenges.
The board is asking voters on the Aug. 5 ballot to approve a 4.5-mill operating levy for five years that would raise $632,000 a year.
Voters defeated a similar measure in November and Superintendent Russ Griggs has said he is not optimistic of the measure's likelihood of passing next month. In part that's because the district's teachers contract appears unlikely to be settled before the election.
The applicants for the school board term, which expires at the end of 2005, are:
w Sandi Arredondo of State Rt. 109 is an order processor at Sauder Woodworking Co. where she was previously a boring machine operator and she is studying marketing and retailing at Northwest State Community College.
She has been a day-care provider at Kids, Inc., in Delta and a manager of the former Bobbie Gee store in Toledo and graduated from Bowsher High School in Toledo.
w Daniel Baldwin of County Road N is employed at Northwest State's library circulation desk and is studying business administration through the Internet at Franklin University.
He graduated from Delta High School in 1993 and wrote to school board president Alice Simon that serving on the board would, “be a way of thanking the district which I graduated from.”
He went on to say that he felt he got “the very best education” in the district and wants to help such opportunities for students.
w Gary Brehm of County Road 5 is an owner of Sandland Farms Inc. dairy and grain farm and a graduate of Ohio State University where he studied dairy science and agricultural economics. He has been president of Delta Jaycees and a director of Delta Farmers Elevator.
“I have lived in the Pike-Delta-York school district (even before it was named this) my whole life,” he wrote to the school board.
“I graduated from Delta High School. More than likely, I will live here the rest of my life. I have a vested interest in Delta schools and I want Delta schools to be something the community can take pride in.”
w Jim Friess, of Rainbow Drive, Delta, has been employed in automotive manufacturing management for more than 20 years, is the parent of two children enrolled in the district schools, and has a brother and nephew employed by the schools.
“The public school system is one of the gems of our nation's heritage and I want to do what I can to continue it,” he wrote. He added: “I am a strong believer in establishing and enforcing the appropriate organizational structure and lines of authority. I don't have to agree with every decision to be able to support it. The important thing is that a proper decision making process is followed.”
w Tammy Moss, of Main Street, Delta, is the mother of five children who have attended the district schools.
She has recently been employed as an office manager and bookkeeper and previously was a foster mother and forklift driver. She has been involved in her church's youth program and as a Cub Scout den leader.
She went to high school and junior college in California.
w James Savage of County Road L has been a bookkeeper for Falor Farm Center since retiring from U.S. Farm Service Agency, distributing government aid to farmers in Fulton and Lucas counties. He is a lifelong resident of the school district, graduating from Delta High School in 1967 and the University of Toledo, where he majored in business.
“My experiences in managing my own farm, working with government regulations for 26 years, bookkeeping for a local business, and dealing with the public for 30 years should be of great help to me as a school board member,” he wrote.