RELATED: Board member said he was considering resignation over threats
Lunt, an orthodontist, resigned on May 30 after a board meeting in which Board Member Lisa Babb was accused of colluding with a parents group that submitted a petition bearing 130 signatures to the board at the meeting.
Before his resignation, Lunt cited threats made against him and his family after Board President Dave Stuckey read a statement at the meeting raising ethical and board policy questions related to Babb’s role with the parent groups.
RELATED: Parents group pressing Springboro school board
Gudz said the dispute took attention away from running the district and looking out for its students.
“Those issues have been resolved,” Gudz said in a phone interview Friday. “We’re going to be working together to help support Springboro schools.”
Gudz was one of the candidates considered for the seat Lunt was appointed to last year after the resignation of Ron Malone, also citing stress related to the board post.
A resident of Springboro and Clearcreek Twp. since 2006, Gudz and his wife, Angie, a first-grade teacher at Clearcreek Elementary School, have two children in the district.
“I have a vested interest in Springboro Community Schools and am involved through many facets of my life,” Gudz stated in his application. “I’m very proud of this school district and its place in the community. It would be a privilege to be able to dedicate my time and energy to help continue the district’s legacy and improve upon it.”
On Friday, he acknowledged “There are certainly going to be issues where I will abstain or step aside,” due to his wife’s job with the district.
On the other hand, Gudz said her education background “helps me understand the technical details of the education system.”
Gudz is vice president of finance for Molina Healthcare and has a bachelor’s degree in finance from the University of Dayton and an MBA from Wright State University.
“With my experience, I can help the board look further down the road,” he said.
In addition to Lunt’s resignation, the dispute prompted the district’s former communications director, Karen DeRosa - also accused of assisting the parents group - to accuse the school board of violating the law in obtaining an email cited as evidence of misconduct claimed by the board.
RELATED: Former employee presses board over release of email in dispute
DeRosa also accused the board of violating Ohio public meetings law when they talked to Babb about resigning.
At the meeting, Stuckey said the email was the latest example of behavior by Babb “overstepping” board conduct rules and Ohio ethics law, revealing confidential conversations from executive sessions and forwarding emails with confidential information to her personal email, violating student and parent confidentiality regulations.
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During the board comments portion later in the meeting, Babb said she agreed with the letter and petition calling for better communication, but was not “behind” the efforts.
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Babb said she had been asked to resign before the meeting, but “I’m not stepping down from the board.”
The turmoil and turnover come as the board moves toward placing a substitute levy on the November ballot.
“It’s very important to us to maintaining the facilities we operate in the district. That’s important for the financial stability of the district as well,” Gudz said.
RELATED: Springboro to seek substitute levy
Gudz’s appointment was announced Thursday night, although it is not official until a vote at the board’s next meeting, set to begin at 6 p.m., Tuesday in the junior high library.
He is expected to run for the seat with incumbents Stuckey and Charles Anderson in the November election, but had not filed yet with the Warren County Board of Elections, according to online records.
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