Mains, Drum win seats on Tipp school board, unofficial results show

Tipp City views

Credit: Cosette Gunter

Credit: Cosette Gunter

Tipp City views

TROY - Richard Mains and Amber Drum were elected as the two new members of the Tipp Exempted Village Schools Board of Education, according to unofficial results Tuesday at the Miami County Board of Elections.

Four candidates – Drum, Mains, Don Petsch and Lydia Pleiman – filed to seek the seats being vacated at year’s end by board members Corine Doll and Joellen Heatherly. Both chose not to seek election to another four-year term.

The vote breakdown was Mains at 41.1 percent, Drum at 33.9 percent, Pleiman at 14.2 percent and Petsch at 10.8 percent. All candidates said the board needs to work better together to address needs of students, staff and the community.

The election comes as a citizens group works to collect signatures on petitions seeking the legal removal of the board’s president and vice president. Neither Theresa Dunaway nor Anne Zakkour is up for election this year.

Drum, 39, is a former educator who completed student teaching in the Tipp City schools. Now a travel agent, she and her husband, Chris, have two children.

“I want to help change the narrative in this community. I believe that a board of education must be responsive and receptive to parents, teachers, staff, students and the community at large,” Drum said. “I believe that I can help put some trust back into the school board and help to set our school district up for a path to success.”

Mains, 69, served on the board of education from 1991 to 1995. He and his wife,Hazel, have two grown children and nine grandchildren. He is a certified public accountant.

“I have been a resident of this community for 45 years. The reason we moved to Tipp City was because of the excellent reputation of our schools. I care about our kids and grandkids so much,” Mains said. “I want to unite our board in an effort to seek solutions to creating a positive environment for all of our teachers and administrative staff.”

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