By Bostyn Hillibush

According to its website, the Bellbrook-Sugarcreek Schools school board exists to “empower our learning community to ensure bold, diverse and innovative educational opportunities that maximize student growth, inspire learning and develop productive citizens.”

The current board is Heidi Anderson, David Carpenter, Audra Dorn, Mike Kinsey, and Kevin Price. There are two positions opening on the board as David Carpenter is not seeking re-election. The election on November 7 will include candidates Kassi Kipling, Brian Kronenberger, Kevin Price, and Anne Pryor. 

Kassi Kipling

Kassi Kipling is a Southwest Ohio native who is currently living in Sugarcreek Township. She and her family built their home in 2017. She is currently working as an Engineer at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base. Working there has given her experience in leading large groups.

“I know how to develop a strategic vision and work to execute that vision while staying within budgetary constraints,” Kipling said in the League of Women Voters (LWV) Voters Guide.  

 She believes that our district needs proactive, transparent, and accountable leaders. 

“I will respond to all emails from parents regardless of whether or not I agree with them,” Kipling said.

According to campaign materials, Kipling is confident that she can bring the concerns of the district that don’t get discussed often. She will make sure to write down all of the topics in the agenda and bring them up during board meetings so they can be resolved or at the very least talked about. Kipling thinks that the main issue the school board has is a lack of balance. She believes there is a lack of balance between key stakeholders: the board, superintendent, teacher union, and the community. 

“We need to rebalance our district by ensuring that our board members stay in their lanes of expertise,” Kipling said. 

She thinks there is also a lack of balance in ideological views. If the community’s voices are different from the board’s views, they are almost always ignored. 

“A more balanced and moderate board will help ensure that all voices are heard and will help rebuild trust within the district,” Kipling said.

Brian Kronenberger 

Brian Kronenberger has more than 13 years in logistics management and is currently working for the Defence Logistics Agency. They do contracting, purchasing, storing and distributing most of the consumable, expendable and repairable items for the Department of Defense.

“I have experience in physical inventories and financial reports to find cost saving measures,” Kronenberger said in the LWV Voters Guide.

He is also a part time coach for local college debate teams, and a father of three teenage boys. Kronenberger is confident that he can address all concerns as they come up. 

“When someone reaches out to the board either through email or speaking at the podium, we should address it then,” Kronenberger said.

This means the board will either have a quick discussion or it could be a topic that needs to be tabled till the next meeting so that board members can research it. Kronenberger believes that bullying in our schools and political ideology are invading our school board. 

“The school board’s duty is to protect all students from feeling unwanted, abused, or harassed,” Kronenberger said.

According to his campaign materials, Kronenberger believes when political ideology is removed it protects the board from expensive legal liability and it brings faith back into the community when the board holds our students and our school district higher than their personal convictions. For the future, it should be budgetary concerns. 

“I will bring to our board as someone who can be a voice to everyone,” Kronenberger said. 

Kevin Price 

Kevin Price is currently a school board member, and he is rerunning to be in it again. He is a retired Air Force pilot of 29 years of service, and is currently a computer scientist at the Air Force Research Lab. Price is a parent of six children who attended Bellbrook through middle school and high school. 

“I will ensure that not only parents’ concerns are heard, considered, and responsibly acted upon, but also the concerns of students, teachers, staff, administrators, and community members,” Price said in the LWV Voters Guide. 

According to his campaign materials, Price will continue to publicly explain his positions and voting rationale and he will remain accessible to everyone whether-in-person, via email, school/community events, or before and after school board meetings.

Price thinks that our board’s biggest issue is that the districts need to remain focused. Extraordinary districts must remain focused on education and oppose those that would introduce divisive, distracting social movements.

In the most recent Ohio State Report Card, Bellbrook-Sugarcreek Schools are in the top 4% of 608 school districts and in the just released US News and World Report rankings, Bellbrook High School ranks in the top 8% of 17,680 US public schools. Price thinks this is because of the students, parents, teachers, staff, administrators, community, and the school board. 

Anne Pryor 

Anne Pryor is a mother of three living in Bellbrook. She has been a dedicated volunteer in the community and school. She has a Ph.D. in biochemistry and she runs a business from home. She is someone who loves the school and wants to help. 

“I can help our schools navigate these issues with kindness,” Pryor said in the LWV Voters Guide.

Pryor said she will always listen respectfully to anyone’s concerns. If the problem is something that should be addressed by the school board, she will make sure that the board is aware of the problem. 

“I can’t address a problem that I don’t know about, so I am counting on parents to tell me what they are concerned about and what their children are experiencing,” Pryor said. 

According to her campaign materials, Anne Pryor believes that the Bellbrook-Sugarcreek Schools are doing fine at the moment. The school’s students are excelling in academics, sports and music, and the school has brand new security measures. The school board is also managing their budget very well. If there is one thing she thinks the issue might be, it’s that we need to stay unified and not let disagreements divide us and tear us down. 

“We need to work together as a community to keep the great things about Bellbrook and improve the areas that need it,” Pryor said.