Stephanie Eichenberg

This page was current at the end of the official's last term in office covered by Ballotpedia. Please contact us with any updates.

Stephanie Eichenberg

Nonpartisan

Prior offices

Toledo Public Schools Board of Education At-large

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Education

Bachelor's

Northwestern University

Personal

Birthplace

Toledo, Ohio

Profession

Market researcher

Contact

Campaign website

Campaign Facebook

Stephanie Eichenberg was an at-large member of the Toledo Public Schools Board of Education in Ohio. Eichenberg assumed office in 2015. Eichenberg left office on December 15, 2021.

Eichenberg ran for re-election for an at-large seat of the Toledo Public Schools Board of Education in Ohio. Eichenberg won in the general election on November 5, 2019.

Eichenberg completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2019. Click here to read the survey answers.

Biography

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

Stephanie Eichenberg was born in Toledo, Ohio. She obtained a bachelor's degree in economics from Northwestern University. Eichenberg's profession experience includes being a market researcher and serving as the vice president of key accounts and business development for Lightspeed Research. She has served as the president for the Toledo Public Schools Parent Congress and the performance audit advisory committee.

Elections

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.
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Endorsements

To see a list of endorsements for Stephanie Eichenberg, click here.

2015

See also: Toledo Public Schools elections (2015)

Opposition

Two of the five seats on the Toledo Public Schools Board of Education were up for election on November 3, 2015. All members represent the district at-large.

Perry Lefevre and Stephanie Eichenberg defeated incumbent Randall Parker III for the two seats up for election.

Results

Toledo Public Schools, At-Large, General Election, 2015
Candidate	Vote %	Votes
Stephanie Eichenberg	38.0%	21,626
Perry Lefevre	31.8%	18,074
Randall Parker III Incumbent	30.2%	17,148
Total Votes		56,848
Source: Lucas County, Ohio, "General Election Official Results," November 27, 2015

Funding

Eichenberg reported $9,875.00 in contributions and $9,183.93 in expenditures to the Lucas County Board of Elections, which left her campaign with $691.07 on hand in the election.

Endorsements

Eichenberg received an official endorsement from The Toledo Journal.

Campaign themes

2019

Ballotpedia survey responses

See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection

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

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Who are you? Tell us about yourself.

Stephanie Eichenberg is a Toledo native and a TPS Proud graduate of E.L. Bowsher High School. She seeks re-election to the Toledo School Board in November. A Board Member since 2016, she is currently the TPS Board President.

Stephanie is a passionate advocate for Toledo's children and public education. She brings perspective from a 24 year career in research operations and client service to support oversight of the district in her role the Co-Chair of the Finance and Business Operations and the Human Resources committees. She understands how efficient processes and use of resources can benefit our school district. At the same time Stephanie understands that classrooms are not businesses and district priorities should support student centered initiatives. She believes our children are far more than test scores and values our school personnel as the critical support system helping children grow as students and citizens. A Northwestern University graduate, Stephanie returned to Toledo to marry her husband David and embarked on a twenty-four year career in Market Research. Stephanie resides in South Toledo. Stephanie's daughters, Eden and Ella, attend Toledo Early College and Beverly Elementary

As a TPS Proud Board member since 2016, Stephanie will continue to build on the District's accomplishments in her second term, most importantly:? -Increasing graduation rates across all comprehensive High Schools -Continuing efficient business practices to redirect tax dollars to supporting students -Growing student opportunities through internships and college credit classes -Continuing the Student Voice program and the Family & Community Engagement committee to ensure we are -hearing from our students, parents and community -Supporting partnerships within the community that measurably lift our student engagement and achievement -Continuing support for Career Tech and Thematic Schools

-Being a careful steward of taxpayer funds bolster Toledo Public Schools

Please list below 3 key messages of your campaign. What are the main points you want voters to remember about your goals for your time in office?

• I will continue to support TPS programs that result in early literacy improvements and increased graduation rates
• I will continue to support efforts to expand horizons for our students and increase engagement including Career Tech programs and extracurricular activities
• I will continue to advocate that the State of Ohio pursue reasonable policies that support districts rather than distract them

What areas of public policy are you personally passionate about?

Some of our most fundamental educational policies are set by state legislation, limiting local control of our schools. While some baseline state legislation and policy backbone make sense, Ohio's continued focus on standardized tests results to measure students and districts, and the heavy emphasis on testing as a graduation requirement makes it very difficult for our local districts to respond to students' needs, rather than the state's demands. For students who struggle with standardized tests, but get good grades, attend well, participate and show they are capable in a career setting, this can translate to not graduating despite their own and a district's best efforts. This is a life altering problem. The continuation of an alternative pathway to graduation is critical.

Changing the Ohio school report card to make sense to the general public is important. The idea of sharing information in a marketplace to drive consumer choice is reliant on that information being easily understood. Very few Ohioans can explain what the Ohio School Report card represents, including the legislators who put these report card practices into place.

Finally, as a district, Toledo Public Schools needs to continue to listen to our stakeholders through initiatives such as the Face and Community Engagement Committee and the SMARTS student voice initiative. Only by listening to our community can we understand if our practices are responsive and helpful to our student's successes.

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

I look up to many people, but the first people I looked up to were my paternal Grandma and my maternal Grandpa. Both shaped how I look at the world and I was fortunate to have them as long as I did.

My grandmother was widowed young, a mother of 5 in a small Ohio farming community. She managed the business of her farm well and sent each of her children to college, despite being a single parent in the early 1960's when women typically would have remarried. My grandma taught me that if you win bingo at someone's church festival, you stayed at the table until you lost that money back to the church since it was a fundraiser. She also could see the good in anyone, but without being blind to people's faults, balancing independence and strength with kindness.

My Grandpa was a skilled tradesman and a leader in his community. He helped hundreds of people through issues with substance abuse after having recovered himself, and he managed to make people laugh while holding them accountable. I'm sure he spent thousands of hours volunteering to help others who needed this help, but he also always managed to convince each of his grandchildren they were the most loved in the world.

I was fortunate to have these two incredibly strong examples in my life through early adulthood. They taught me that our purpose is to make the world a better place while caring for our families.

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

Integrity and a sense of purpose are the most important principles for an elected official.

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

To oversee and guide the school district is the basic responsibility of a school board member.

What is the first historical event that happened in your lifetime that you remember? How old were you at the time?

The first big historic event I remember was the shooting of Ronald Reagan. I was 8 and that day my grandpa happened to be working on a project for my mom at our house. I remember him telling me and talking to me about ideological differences never justifying murder or violence. Later of course we all learned the motives were even stranger than politics.

What was your very first job? How long did you have it?

My first job was at the Heatherdowns branch of the Toledo Lucas County Public Library, working as a Page, shelving books. I worked there in high school for about 1.5 years.

What is your favorite book? Why?

My favorite book is To Kill a Mockingbird. Scout is unconventional and independent, which I love. Atticus is the person I think we should all aspire to be, trying to do what's right even when it does not help one personally.

If you could be any fictional character, who would you want to be?

Scout!

What was the last song that got stuck in your head?

My

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

The primary job of a school board member is oversight and governance. In Ohio we only employ the Superintendent and the Treasurer directly, but we shape the policy that informs their decisions and processes.

Who are your constituents?

The entire community, from students and their families to taxpayers who help fund our schools and local employers who hire our students.

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

SInce I've began on the board, we've established a department of Equity, Diversity and Inclusion and also established a Student Voice program where the district engages with our high school students on a regular cadence. Our Board also established a Family and Community Engagement Committee. All of these elements are important in making sure we understand and provide for our diverse community.

How will you build relationships with members of the broader community? Which groups, organizations, stakeholders will you specifically target?

I will continue to work with our community partners and stakeholders. That includes services providers, local industry, and most of all our students and families.

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?

We continue to encourage our schools to have several welcoming events each school year, and we offer programming for parents in subjects as diverse as preparing for Kindergarten to filling out the FAFSA.

Do you believe it is important to intentionally recruit with the aim of diversifying the district’s faculty, staff, and administration? If so, what would be your policy to achieve this?

It is important and also difficult. We need more diversity in the teacher training programs at universities if we hope to hire a more diverse staff. That means we as a society need to speak about education with greater respect.

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

Poverty and standardized testing get in the way. Schools cannot solve the poverty challenge alone, we need a two generation approach with our local government and businesses. Jobs with opportunity need to be combined with appropriate education. We can try to help students work around the impacts of poverty by supporting them with the appropriate services, going beyond free lunch to things like locating a health clinic on site at the school so we know they can access healthcare without a transportation barrier. For testing I will continue to advocate that we measure school quality based on items about the whole student, not just the test scores. By measuring only on test scores, the state does not drive dynamic learning.

What constitutes good teaching? How will you measure this? How will you support advanced teaching approaches?

Good teaching engages willing students. Sometimes even good teaching cannot engage a disconnected student, but with more staffing around mental health and greater access to services, hopefully we can help the student with other circumstances that might cause them to disengage.

What type of skills should students be learning for success in the 21st century?

They need skills to navigate college or the workplace so those are not just academic, but include the developing a work ethic and having interpersonal skills that allow them to thrive in their environment.

How might you improve the value of a high school diploma? What should a 21st century diploma reflect?

Ohio has so many requirements for a diploma it's tough to keep track of them. Those requirements have also changed 3 times in 4 years here. If we set that aside, TPS provides students who want to be career ready with plenty of pathways that ensure their degree means something as they go directly into the workplace. We also have robust college prep offerings including many advanced placement and college credit plus courses.

In what areas would you like to expand curriculum? For example, do you see a need for advanced technical training or apprenticeships? What sort of innovative programming would you advance if given the opportunity?

TPS has more career tech programs than anyone in the region and I support their growth where ever we can provide our students with a clear pathway to college or career. I will also continue to support our magnet school and and college credit plus and advanced placement offerings.

What strategies or plans would you advance to ensure the schools are properly funded?

Building the confidence of the local community and advocating at the state are the keys to ensuring funding. Ohio needs to fix the funding mechanism in our state.

What principles drive your policies for safety in schools?

We must have safe schools, without the schools feeling like a prison.

How might you support the mental health needs of students/faculty/staff?

We have added health clinics and we have a program to allow our leaders to listen to students. For example, the high school based clinics are front line defense, so where a student might comes in with a headache repeatedly, but it turns out they really have a distressing mental health issue. That student can be referred to counseling. For the Student Voice program, the things our leadership hears from the students who are involved in student voice helps them to make real changes in the daily school environment. They can be more responsive to student needs, including mental health, when they get information through this formalized feedback loop.

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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Candidate

Toledo Public Schools Board of Education At-large

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