Delaware City Schools board members thankful for community support

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Two incumbents and one newcomer were elected to the Delaware City Schools Board of Education Tuesday.

Incumbent board members Jayna McDaniel-Browning and Frances O’Flaherty were both re-elected along. Michael J. Wiener will be the newest member of the board.

The Delaware County Board of Elections reports O’Flaherty had 4,172 votes, McDaniel-Browning had 3,774 votes, and Wiener had 3,368 votes, defeating board hopeful Deborah Kruse Guebert by 248 votes. Write-in candidate Mark H. Butler received 282 votes.

“Being elected to the Delaware City school board makes me feel excited and honored that the community has entrusted me, along with the other members of the board, to be a good steward for our schools,” Wiener said.

Wiener is a Delaware resident and is an assistant prosecutor with the Crawford County Prosecutor’s Office. He served as a member of the 2016 Delaware City Schools levy committee and was part of the 2017 levy committee. His children attend Schultz Elementary School.

“I am excited to be a part of such a growing and dynamic school district and to have the opportunity to work more closely with so many wonderful administrators, teachers, staff, parents, and community partners as we focus on providing the best education possible for our children,” Wiener said.

Wiener said his goals are to attempt to find a solution to the state funding issue and build relationships in the community.

“One of my goals for my first term as a DCS board member would be to foster stronger relationships with our elected and appointed state officials as we work towards establishing a more equitable school funding formula that addresses the needs of growing school districts like ours,” Wiener said. “A second goal for my first term as a board member is to continue to build strong community partnerships through outreach, community service, and open communication.”

McDaniel-Browning has been on the board since 2013 and works part-time as a social media/marketing consultant in addition to serving as an in-classroom volunteer at Woodward Elementary on a weekly-basis for more than seven years.

McDaniel-Browning said she is thankful to the community for re-electing her.

“I am both humbled and grateful to have been re-elected,” McDaniel-Browning said. “Having the support of so many wonderful people really means the world. I’ll continue to work diligently to be deserving of the support of our wonderful community!”

McDaniel-Browning also thanked the community for supporting the 5-year, 8.35-mills levy on Tuesday after it passed with 61 percent of the vote.

“We are all so thankful to our community for their overwhelming support of the levy, from our volunteers to our voters,” McDaniel-Browning said. “That money will enable us to continue to function at current levels. But, we have to keep thinking about the future. Continued growth is nearly a certainty, we’re still going to be spending well below state average, and it doesn’t seem likely that our funding cap will be removed anytime soon. So that’s the really big question we’re going to have to figure out. “

O’Flaherty has served on the board since 2003 and said she was “absolutely thrilled” that the levy passed.

“So proud of our community and everyone being willing to step up to the plate for our students,” O’Flaherty said. “… I am pleased to have been re-elected and humbled by the number of people who supported my re-election. I will continue to do my best to be a good liaison between our community and administration and to bring the teacher’s point of view to the board table.”

Their terms will begin Jan. 1, 2018.

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By Glenn Battishill

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Contact Glenn Battishill at 740-413-0903 or on Twitter @BattishillDG.

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