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Chris Varwig

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Chris Varwig
Image of Chris Varwig

Candidate, Toledo Public Schools Board of Education At-large

Toledo Public Schools Board of Education At-large
Tenure

2013 - Present

Term ends

2025

Years in position

12

Elections and appointments
Last elected

November 2, 2021

Next election

November 4, 2025

Personal
Profession
Community volunteer
Contact

Chris Varwig is an at-large member of the Toledo Public Schools Board of Education in Ohio. She assumed office in 2013. Her current term ends on December 31, 2025.

Varwig is running for re-election for an at-large seat of the Toledo Public Schools Board of Education in Ohio. She is on the ballot in the general election on November 4, 2025.[source]

Biography

Email editor@ballotpedia.org to notify us of updates to this biography.

Varwig is a product of TPS schools and also raised a daughter who graduated from TPS. She is an active community volunteer, having previously served as Girl Scout leader, Chess Club adviser, lunchroom helper, and tutor, among other duties. She has also served as President of the following organizations: TPS Parent Congress, a districtwide parent advocacy group, the Parent Teacher Organization (PTO) at Beverly Elementary and Byrnedale Junior High, and the Bowsher High School Boosters.[1]

Elections

2025

See also: Toledo Public Schools, Ohio, elections (2025)

General election

The general election will occur on November 4, 2025.

General election for Toledo Public Schools Board of Education At-large (3 seats)

Incumbent Polly Taylor-Gerken, incumbent Chris Varwig, and incumbent Bob Vasquez are running in the general election for Toledo Public Schools Board of Education At-large on November 4, 2025.

Candidate
Image of Polly Taylor-Gerken
Polly Taylor-Gerken (Nonpartisan)
Image of Chris Varwig
Chris Varwig (Nonpartisan)
Image of Bob Vasquez
Bob Vasquez (Nonpartisan)

Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

Endorsements

Varwig received the following endorsements. To send us additional endorsements, click here.

2021

See also: Toledo Public Schools, Ohio, elections (2021)

General election

General election for Toledo Public Schools Board of Education At-large (3 seats)

Incumbent Bob Vasquez, incumbent Chris Varwig, and incumbent Polly Taylor-Gerken defeated Jason Sobb in the general election for Toledo Public Schools Board of Education At-large on November 2, 2021.

Candidate
%
Votes
Image of Bob Vasquez
Bob Vasquez (Nonpartisan)
 
30.7
 
16,762
Image of Chris Varwig
Chris Varwig (Nonpartisan)
 
28.3
 
15,418
Image of Polly Taylor-Gerken
Polly Taylor-Gerken (Nonpartisan)
 
27.3
 
14,912
Image of Jason Sobb
Jason Sobb (Nonpartisan) Candidate Connection
 
13.7
 
7,477

Total votes: 54,569
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.

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2017

See also: Toledo Public Schools elections (2017)

Three of five seats on the Toledo Public Schools Board of Education in Ohio were up for at-large general election on November 7, 2017. All three incumbents filed for re-election. Incumbents Polly Taylor-Gerken, Chris Varwig, and Bob Vasquez defeated newcomer Ruth Leonard.[2][3]

Toledo Public Schools,
At-Large General Election, 4-year terms, 2017
Candidate Vote % Votes
Green check mark transparent.png Bob Vasquez Incumbent 30.10% 22,854
Green check mark transparent.png Polly Taylor-Gerken Incumbent 26.49% 20,113
Green check mark transparent.png Chris Varwig Incumbent 23.36% 17,735
Ruth Leonard 20.06% 15,231
Total Votes 75,933
Source: Lucas County Board of Elections, "Election Summary Report: Official Results," accessed November 27, 2017

2013

See also: Toledo Public Schools elections (2013)

Results

Toledo Public Schools, At-large General Election, 4-year term, 2013
Party Candidate Vote % Votes
     Nonpartisan Green check mark transparent.pngBob Vasquez Incumbent 19.3% 16,715
     Nonpartisan Green check mark transparent.pngPolly Taylor-Gerken 18.5% 15,947
     Nonpartisan Green check mark transparent.pngChris Varwig 15.6% 13,505
     Nonpartisan Perry Lefevre 13.4% 11,589
     Nonpartisan Randall Parker III 10.8% 9,333
     Nonpartisan Aji Green 9.8% 8,423
     Nonpartisan Tina Henold 9.3% 8,023
     Nonpartisan Darryl Fingers 3.3% 2,852
Total Votes 86,387
Source: Lucas County of Ohio, "Election Summary Report for General Election in Lucas County, Ohio," accessed December 13, 2013

Endorsements

Varwig was endorsed by the Toledo Federation of Teachers; Toledo Association of Administrative Personnel; AFSCME; UAW; NOW Building & Construction Trades including IBEW Local 8, Sheet Metal Local 33, Cement Masons Local 886, Plumbers/Fitters Local 50, Roofers Local 134; AFL-CIO; and Teamsters.[1]

Funding

Varwig reported $16,800 in contributions but no expenditures to the Ohio Secretary of State, which left her campaign with $16,800 on hand.[4]

Campaign themes

2025

Ballotpedia survey responses

See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection

Candidate Connection

Chris Varwig has not yet completed Ballotpedia's 2025 Candidate Connection survey. Send a message to Chris Varwig asking her to fill out the survey. If you are Chris Varwig, click here to fill out Ballotpedia's 2025 Candidate Connection survey.

Who fills out Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey?

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You can ask Chris Varwig to fill out this survey by using the button below or emailing varwigfortps@gmail.com.

Email

2021

Chris Varwig did not complete Ballotpedia's 2021 Candidate Connection survey.

2013

In an October 2013 interview with the Toledo Free Press, Varwig stated the following when asked about her campaign priorities:[1]

What are the three most crucial issues — in order of importance — facing TPS? What would you do as a board member to address the issues you identify?

  • Graduation Rate
    • Continue with wrap-around services, and work to expand to additional schools
    • Encourage college/career tech opportunities by connecting with local businesses and apprenticeship programs within the trades
    • Strive for earlier connections with career tech programs
  • Early Education
    • Support of Head Start program
    • Continue with wrap-around services, and work to expand to additional schools
    • Create a Pre-School Fair (possibly per learning community) – invite families with toddlers into our schools; discuss what families can do at home to prepare for Kindergarten
  • Financial Stability
    • Continue to implement aspects of the performance audit as a tool to assist with savings
    • Lobby state and federal legislators to make public education a priority
    • Continue to look for creative ways to save dollars; bring staff, parents, community together per learning community to share ideas
  • Communication (this is my fourth crucial issue)
    • Share the positives within our district; better communication with parents; and work on letting our community know the needs within our district

TPS currently has a renewal levy on the ballot that will raise approximately $16 million annually for five years, or about the annual savings that can be obtained by implementing the performance audit recommendations. Why should the TPS renewal levy be approved by voters?
Your question assumes that all of the ideas in the performance audit are good. Some of the ideas are valid and are being implemented. The performance audit is a tool, nothing more, nothing less; the recommendations are forecasted savings only and could take years to implement. If would be great if some of the savings could be redirected into current and improved programs to help our students be more competitive upon graduation. Some of the ideas need to be thoroughly assessed before decisions are made. The renewal levy is crucial for the day to day operations of the district as well as the efforts for progress.

Ohio statutes require that TPS teachers and principals have regular performance evaluations with student performance on standardized tests a component of the evaluation. Should teachers and principals be held directly accountable for student performance in their individual performance evaluations? Why or why not?
No, teachers and principals should not be held directly accountable for student performance in their individual performance evaluations because it is very difficult to tie a teacher evaluation to a student’s performance when there are so many outside variables. Homelessness, absenteeism, emotional & social situations, socio-economic issues are a few of the variables that will affect a student’s performance in school. I do not believe the state’s mandates accommodate for these variables.

Ohio is currently implementing national standards regarding the skills and knowledge all students need for success, referred to as the “Common Core.” Why do you support or oppose the adoption of these standards?
While these standards are rigorous, I do support the concept of Common Core. In today’s mobile society, it’s important to have similar standards across the nation. On a personal level, Common Core would have been beneficial to me as I was one of those transient children and always felt behind as I switched schools. Unfortunately, classroom educators were left out of the initial development of Common Core so therefore implementation may be a challenge. [5]

See also


External links

Footnotes

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 Kevin Moore Toledo Free Press, "School Board Candidate Profile: Chris Varwig," published October 24, 2013
  2. Marielle Bricker, "Email communication with Dora Anderson," August 17, 2017
  3. Lucas County , "Unofficial election results," accessed November 8, 2017 These election results are unofficial and will be updated after official vote totals are made available.
  4. Ohio Secretary of State, "Elections & Voting: Campaign Finance," accessed December 26, 2013
  5. Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.