Talawanda Board Of Education Race Attracts Four Candidates

BY BONNIE MEIBERS
Miami University journalism student

Two incumbents and two challengers are seeking to fill two seats on the five-person Talawanda Board of Education next month.

Mary Jane Roberts, who teaches at Miami University and Concordia University, and Lois Vollmer, who runs a local daycare out of her home, are incumbents running for the seats.

Patrick Meade, a teacher for Butler Technical and Career Development Schools, and Lori Parks, who teaches on Miami's Hamilton campus in the Humanities and Creative Arts Center, are also running.

All candidates who could be reached for comment are running on a “students first” platform.

“Our young people deserve a top-quality school system that works for them, all of them,” Meade said in a questionnaire submitted to Patch.com.

The candidates said they oppose excessive testing mandated by the state of Ohio and value the success of the students in the Talawanda school system.

"The bottom line is success for all students," Roberts said in her questionnaire.

The Talawanda School Board is responsible for making decisions about school programs, the budget and education legislation with students in mind.

Meet the candidates

Mary Jane Roberts

• Background: With a PhD in education, Roberts has served on the Talawanda School Board since 2009. Her three adult children are Miami graduates and four of her 10 grandchildren graduated from Talawanda High School. As an instructor at both Miami (where she teaches educational psychology on the Oxford campus) and Concordia (where she is an adjunct professor), Roberts said: “I have over 40 years of experience in education all over the country. That's something none of the other candidates have."
• Past success: “Looking at things we have been able to accomplish in the last eight years, such as being one of the first school districts in Butler County to be digitally (equipped) from K-12, build a new high school and a new Kramer Elementary, I hope to use my years of experience as a teacher ... as well as being an elementary principal and a curriculum specialist for Pearson."
• Most important issues facing voters: “Many issues face our district: Looking at how districts are funded and staying current with our legislators to try to make a difference in this area, working with our legislators to help them understand the impact that unfunded mandates have on each district and our ability to make sure each student is successful.”

Lois Vollmer

• Background: Vollmer has been on the school board since 2009. She and her husband of 49 years sent all three of her children through Talawanda schools. Their five grandchildren, two now at Miami, also attended Talawanda schools. “The current five board members work really well together,” Vollmer said. “We have a great track record and we all have what’s best for the students in mind.”
• Past success: “I am running again because we just completed the high school and Kramer, and we’re in the process of completing Marshall. We hope to replace the middle school and I’m excited to be a part of that.”
• Most important issues facing voters: “We have a bullying problem that begins in the elementary and continues in middle school." She also said local schools have a drug problem. "It starts with marijuana and cocaine and that leads to heroin. Then you get into drugs laced with other things. I lost my own grandson in March of 2017 to an overdose.”

Patrick Meade

• Background: Meade has bachelor's and master's degrees in education from Miami and teaches at-risk high school students on the Miami campus through Butler Tech. Meade and his wife of 40 years, Lois Wood Meade, have six children who went through the Talawanda schools and two of his 14 grandchildren are enrolled. "I would hope that anyone running would run the business for the students," Meade said. "Sometimes I think we forget that. The thing we're most proud of should be students' achievements, not the budget."

• Reason for running: “I am running because of the students that have been in my classes for the past 39 years. I have been privileged to be a part of so many young people's lives. I have seen them struggle and triumph and overcome so many things in their lives. Occasionally I have had to fight for them when their lives, and sometimes the education system, made success more difficult for them. Now I am ready to fight for them on the policy level.”
• Most important issues facing voters: “The school board’s own web page places finances ahead of improving teaching and learning. The order we put things says something about our priorities.” He noted that the district has outsourced the bus system and is now trying to do the same to classified staff such as custodians. "The custodians in our elementary schools should be part of the Talawanda team.”

Lori Parks

• Background: Visiting assistant professor of art history on Miami's Hamilton campus.

Parks could not be reached for additional information.

Top photo: The Talawanda Board of Education has four candidates for two open seats. -- Contributed photo