What I Believe

I have three essential beliefs about children. To live their best lives they require unconditional love, a strong value system, and a good education. My interest in the Board of Education is rooted in the latter of these beliefs-a good education. Rocky River City Schools has enjoyed high marks in academics and strong support from parents and the community for many years. Graduates of the Rocky River schools are known as community leaders, career professionals or exceptional members of any field of endeavor they choose. They leave the school system well-prepared to assume their adult roles in society. It is indeed a proud legacy.

I think “good” can become great with effective strategic planning including a focus on future advancements in the field of education, an educated, dedicated cadre of teachers that are supported and highly regarded, an active and engaged parent population, and, most importantly, close alignment between the Board and the school administration.

There are challenges to be faced undoubtedly. But the task of the Board is to inspire support and position the institution for the long term. It is critical that the Board and the Superintendent (and his team) work together to bring the vision and big picture thinking to fruition. I think that commitment will propel Rocky River Schools to even higher levels of achievement.

My personal goals are to be an active listener to all constituents and to offer my voice in advocacy for those issues that will advance the schools, the students, the faculty, the parents, and the community at large. I believe truth develops trust and advocacy ensures a focus on quality and performance. There are many challenges ahead for schools across the nation, particularly cultural, social, and/or financial issues. There may be difficult decisions to be made, but with the guiding principles of truth, quality and teamwork, we will overcome all hurdles yet to come.

Ohio’s Proposed Property Tax Reduction

Many people have asked me for information on the state’s proposals for property tax reductions. Property tax and home/land appraisals have steadily gone up in recent years and have, in turn, created increasing angst among homeowners.

This is a brief summary of the relevant actions to date and is intended as educational, not a legal or political commentary.

The 26-27 budget was signed by Gov DeWine on 7/1/25 with 67 line item vetoes. The issues the Governor vetoed that most affect RR schools are:

1. Proposed prohibition of supplemental benefits for employees on STRS or SERS

2. School Board elections should be declared partisan affiliation and go through the primary and then election processes

3. Unilateral reduction of millage*by County tax authorities

4. Elimination of current sales tax exemptions

5. Schools with a carryover of levy or tax support dollars greater than 40% of previous year allocation must return those dollars to the state

6. All emergency or substitute levies must be included in the total levy within the 20millage floor

7. Must be a fixed sum for emergency or substitute

levies

The Governor vetoed all the above and they are not in consideration for legislative override at this time. The Governor has realized there must be “a reasonable property tax” proposal. So he created a special Work Group to make recommendations for change. Pat Tiberi and Bill Seitz co- chair the group. The only representative from NEO is someone from Lake County. Their report is due 9/30/25.

Numerous legislators are scrambling to develop their own version of property tax relief. Most notable are:

*HB 420-421-422 or the Trilogy Trio

420 Proposed terminating every tax levy by 2030

421 Lower millage floor to 10M from 20M, will require voter approval

422 Requires school districts requesting levies or bonds to achieve increasing voter approvals based on the dollar amount requested. For example levies>1mil-1.9mil will require 60% voter approval and a levy >2mil will require 65% voter approval.

*HB 335 or The Committee to Abolish Property Taxes NOW. It proposes no inside millage and eliminate all property (homes and land) taxes. It has been approved by the AG and is currently in the House Ways & Means Cte. They are gathering petition signatures to place it on the 2026 ballot as a constitutional amendment. The estimated loss to RR schools is $6M

* millage is the tax rate used to calculate property taxes; a “mill” is a unit equivalent to one- thousandth of a dollar ($0.001) or $1.00 for every $1000 of assessed property value*

Source: https://www.ohiohouse.gov

My Education

I have master’s degrees in nursing and business (MSN/MBA) from Case Western Reserve University. When I retired in 2019, I attended Emory University School of Law graduating in 2021 with a Juris Masters (JM) degree. My intention with this degree was to serve as a legal advocate for children’s issues.

I worked with families and school systems to ensure the children were receiving all the legally required services their Individual Educational Plan (IEP) required. I served on the Juvenile Justice Advisory Committee as a community advocate, and I served on the Providence House Board assisting them in acquiring governmental funds to support their work.

Personal Life

I am married to my husband, Don. We celebrate 35 years together this year. Don was a banker at National City and retired from his VP role in 2006 which created the space for my accepting the CEO position in Memphis. Before moving to Memphis, we lived in Rocky River on Beachwood Dr for 7 years and then Homeland Ave for 9 years. We had one son who passed away unexpectedly at the age of 22 in 2014 from hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. We miss him every day. When I retired, Don and I wanted to come “home” and back to Rocky River. We live in Westhampton surrounded by the best of neighbors. I have a brother and his family that live in Avon Lake, so coming home is very comfortable and healing.