Sheena Barnes

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Sheena Barnes

Nonpartisan

Toledo Public Schools Board of Education At-large

Tenure

2020 - Present

Term ends

2027

Years in position

5

Report an officeholder change

Elections and appointments

Last elected

November 7, 2023

Sheena Barnes is an at-large member of the Toledo Public Schools Board of Education in Ohio. She assumed office on January 1, 2020. Her current term ends on December 31, 2027.

Barnes ran for re-election for an at-large seat of the Toledo Public Schools Board of Education in Ohio. She won as a write-in in the general election on November 7, 2023.

Elections

2023

See also: Toledo Public Schools, Ohio, elections (2023)

General election

General election for Toledo Public Schools Board of Education At-large (2 seats)

Incumbent Randall Parker III and incumbent Sheena Barnes defeated Zach Mercer and Jason Sobb in the general election for Toledo Public Schools Board of Education At-large on November 7, 2023.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Randall Parker III (Nonpartisan)	85.9	29,566
✔		Sheena Barnes (Nonpartisan) (Write-in)	10.8	3,722
	Submit photo	Zach Mercer (Nonpartisan) (Write-in)	2.2	742
		Jason Sobb (Nonpartisan) (Write-in)	1.1	379

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	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 34,409
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Endorsements

Barnes received the following endorsements.

• Toledo Sch. Brd. Memb. Randall Parker III (Nonpartisan)
• Lucas County, Ohio, Democratic Party
• Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen
• Greater Northwest Ohio Central Labor Council
• International Brotherhood of Teamsters Local 20
• Ohio Federation of Teachers
• Toledo Federation of Teachers
• United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of America
• Central Ohio Young Black Democrats
• Everytown for Gun Safety
• LGBTQ+ Victory Fund
• Lucas County Latina Democratic Empowerment Club
• Matriots PAC
• Ohio Young Democrats
• Project LPAC
• Run for Something

Pledges

Barnes signed the following pledges.

• Everytown for Gun Safety
• LGBTQ+ Victory Fund

2019

See also: Toledo Public Schools, Ohio, elections (2019)

General election

General election for Toledo Public Schools Board of Education At-large (2 seats)

Sheena Barnes and incumbent Stephanie Eichenberg defeated Dan Jaksetic in the general election for Toledo Public Schools Board of Education At-large on November 5, 2019.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Sheena Barnes (Nonpartisan)	39.5	12,493
✔		Stephanie Eichenberg (Nonpartisan)	38.5	12,174
	Submit photo	Dan Jaksetic (Nonpartisan)	22.0	6,973

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	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 31,640
= 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.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Campaign themes

2023

Sheena Barnes did not complete Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey.

Other survey responses

Ballotpedia identified the following surveys, interviews, and questionnaires Barnes completed for other organizations. If you are aware of a link that should be added, email us.

• League of Women Voters

2019

Sheena Barnes completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2019. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Barnes' responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.

Expand all | Collapse all

What would be your top three priorities, if elected?

Clear and transparent communication being TPS staff, teachers and TPS families.

Support increasing wrap around services for TPS students.

Increasing equity of treatment for all TPS students.

What areas of public policy are you personally passionate about?

Policies surrounding the supportive services of our special education department and special education teachers. I am a proud TPS mother and know first hand the challenges navigating TPS special education department as I had to advocate for my youngest son with autism.

Who do you look up to? Whose example would you like to follow, and why?

I look up to several Civil Rights leaders known and unknown. I look up to my great-great-great-great grandfather that fought for fair and equal education for his son and other youth in California and won a supreme court case (Wysinger v. Crookshank). I look up to him because he was determined to fight for the betterment of his family and the community youth education, like myself.

Is there a book, essay, film, or something else you would recommend to someone who wants to understand your political philosophy?

Knocking Down the House

What characteristics or principles are most important for an elected official?

Honesty, Fairness and Empathy

What qualities do you possess that you believe would make you a successful officeholder?

I have worked with Toledo area youth for 11 years as a community engagement specialist and have help many through the challenges of being homeless, hungry and traumatize. So I know first hand what TPS teacher are trying to navigate as they prepare our students for their future.

What do you believe are the core responsibilities for someone elected to this office?

To assist the students to obtain high quality education, support teachers and fight for better resources to help them give quality education without risking their family sustainability and be an advocate for public schools on a local and state level.

What is the primary job of a school board member in your view?

Advocating for their school district on every platform for the betterment of their school district.

Who are your constituents?

Everyone that see our youth as our future.

How would you support the diverse needs of your district’s students, faculty, staff, and community?

By being present and making sure all are seen, heard and welcomed in TPS.

What will you do to build a better relationship with parents in the district? What plans do you have to be inclusive of parental involvement?

Have a honest and open discussion on how to make parents/ guardians involvement more inclusive to all the households we have in TPS.

What issues get in the way of quality education? How would you address these obstacles?

Extreme poverty: By creating wrap around supportive non-judgement services for families, since 86% of our students identify as economically disadvantaged
Behaviors/ high disciplinaries: By creating a system that focus on the trigger of the behavior instead of focusing on the behavior with a criminal mindset. Increasing mental health support within the schools for students and teachers.

Note: Ballotpedia reserves the right to edit Candidate Connection survey responses. Any edits made by Ballotpedia will be clearly marked with [brackets] for the public. If the candidate disagrees with an edit, he or she may request the full removal of the survey response from Ballotpedia.org. Ballotpedia does not edit or correct typographical errors unless the candidate's campaign requests it.

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