Christine Henninger, Rose Ioppolo, Lauren Marchaza, Gil Martello, and Lyndsie Wall are running in the nonpartisan general election for Mentor Exempted Village School District school board in Ohio on Nov. 7, 2023. Two at-large seats are up for election in the district.
Issues in the race include curriculum content, prohibiting certain books in school libraries, and policies relating to transgender students. The 1776 Project PAC, which describes itself as “committed to abolishing critical race theory and ‘The 1619 Project’ from the public school curriculum,” endorsed Ioppolo and Martello. According to News 5 Cleveland, objections to certain books in school libraries have been part of an “ongoing debate over what belongs on school library shelves, which has dominated public comment periods at school board meetings and prompted concerned citizens to seek elected office.” In March of 2023, the Mentor City School Board defeated a resolution supporting the Ohio Board of Education’s opposition to proposed changes to Title IX regarding protections for transgender students.
Henninger is a business support manager for Hub Plastics, a plastic bottle manufacturer. Henninger said her top priority would be “working together as a team by being respectful of another’s perspective, being open minded and learning to compromise in order to meet the current and future mental, emotional, social, and academic needs of our students, families, and teachers.”
