Tonya Mabry
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Tonya Mabry is running for election to the Marysville Exempted Village School District, At-large in Ohio. She is on the ballot in the general election on November 4, 2025.[source]
Mabry completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2025. Click here to read the survey answers.
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Biography
Tonya Mabry provided the following biographical information via Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey on October 8, 2025:
- Birth date: January 17, 1973
- Birth place: Bellefontaine, Ohio
- High school: Benjamin Logan
- Gender: Female
- Religion: Christian
- Profession: Business Owner
- Incumbent officeholder: No
- Campaign slogan: Mabry for Marysville - A Voice for Taxpayers. A Vision for Excellence.
- Campaign website
- Campaign Facebook
Elections
General election
The general election will occur on November 4, 2025.
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Ballotpedia survey responses
See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection
Tonya Mabry completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2025. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Mabry's responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.
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I’m Tonya Mabry, a longtime Union County resident, small business owner, and former Fortune 100 project manager with over 18 years of experience managing complex budgets and delivering results. I’m running for the Marysville School Board to represent the taxpayers of our district - those who have invested heavily in our schools, often without ever having children in the system, and deserve transparency, accountability, and a voice at the table.
- STOP THE TIF GAME - Marysville’s taxpayers—and our school district—are losing millions of dollars each year because of development deals that benefit the city while stripping money from our schools. The City’s use of TIFs (Tax Increment Financing) has been allowed to continue unchecked, with zero real pushback from previous school board members.
That stops with me.
I will stand up to city leaders, not lay down. I will demand that the school district has a seat at the table for all future development discussions. If development is happening, we deserve our share of the revenue. Schools can’t be an afterthought—we must protect our budget from political games. - SPEND TAX DOLLARS WISELY & TRANSPARENTLY - I want to be clear: I don’t believe there’s been outright mismanagement of school funds. But that doesn’t mean there isn’t room to do better. We need to audit every area of spending and ask the tough questions:
Can we combine or share resources more effectively?
Can we negotiate better rates or contracts?
Are there inefficiencies we’ve overlooked?
Let’s thoroughly examine the budget—Dig deep, Optimize spending, Guard against waste, and Elevate value. I’ll approach the school budget like a business, because every tax dollar deserves to be spent wisely.
- RAISE CLASSROOM STANDARDS & SUPPORT TEACHERS - Again and again, I’ve heard the same thing from teachers:
“We’re spending too much time dealing with disruptive students, and nothing changes.”
That’s unacceptable.
Teachers are in classrooms to teach. Students are there to learn. Anything that disrupts that balance needs to be addressed—with real consequences and real accountability.
We need a chain of support:
Admin must back the teachers.
The board must back the admin.
And parents must back the school.
We can’t keep placing disruptive students back in the classroom without change. It’s time to raise standards, restore order, and put learning first.
Over the past few years, I’ve studied the district’s finances in depth, including how we arrived at recent ballot measures and the growing burden placed on property owners. With much of my own tax dollars contributed to the school district - and countless others in the same position - it’s time we asked tougher questions about spending and stop shifting the weight onto taxpayers through mechanisms like TIFs and repeated levy requests. With all the growth and development in Marysville, we should be financially sound. Unfortunately, deals have been made that are crippling the schools and the current board has not pushed back on city officials, even when given an opportunity. It's time for change, and I'm willing to be that change!
I believe the top 3 characteristics or principles for an elected official are - INTEGRITY, ACCOUNTABILITY and COLLABORATION.
Anyone running for public office needs to be above reproach. No one is perfect, but the public needs to have confidence that their representatives are going to do what they say and be the person they portray to be. They need to be held to a higher standard and be accountable for not only their actions, but their words. Their decisions will have consequences and will not always please everyone, so they need to be able to take responsibility - even when constituents aren't happy. And with the way our current political climate is today, I think a collaborative mindset is paramount. We must come together in unity for the betterment of society. That doesn't always mean compromise, but it does mean civility.
The core responsibilities are GOVERNANCE, OVERSIGHT and ADVOCACY. I believe this directly relates highly to how taxpayer money is spent! All too often, large school districts start to be run more like a government entity than a business. Every dollar needs to have a purpose! In these challenging economic times, families are tightening their belts and making tough financial decisions - schools need to do the same. You can't make decisions based on emotions - make decisions on fiscal responsibility!
We also need to ensure we are turning out students that will eventually be productive members of society. With teachers leaving the profession in record numbers due to lack of administrative support and unruly kids, we need to re-establish behavioral standards in the classroom. Let's come together and provide the support our teachers need and create a learning environment where students want to learn!
In 1986, the Spaceship Challenger exploded on national TV while all of us were watching. I was 13 and remember it feeling so surreal. But nothing impacted me as much as 9/11. I was 28 and working as a Project Manager in Columbus. I heard fellow co-workers starting to rumble and head to the cafeteria to watch the TV's. We all got down there just in time to see the 2nd plane hit the 2nd tower. We knew then it wasn't an accident. Everyone was just standing there in shock and disbelief. After 10-15 minutes, I returned to my desk and pretty much spent most of the day checking the internet for updates. Next, the Pentagon. Then, the plane in PA. We were all just waiting to see if there were more planes out there. I can recall nearly every emotion that day, as if it were yesterday. The one thing I miss is the unity we had as a country in the days following 9/11. I sure wish we could get some of that back!
My very first job was working Winters in the office at Mad River Mountain at age 14. I handled Season Pass sales and ID's, and worked the customer service desk. Back then, we didn't have limitations on hours for minors, like they do today. I would work almost every day after school 3-11pm and sometimes would work until 4am on Friday and Saturdays for Midnight Madness. I loved to work! I worked there for 3 seasons, until I took a lifeguarding job at the Honda Sports Center year-round.
I believe the primary job is to represent those who elected you - the taxpayers. They want to know that their hard-earned dollars are being spent wisely and transparently. By doing so, you will reduce or eliminate wasteful spending so that funds can be better spent on paying for better teachers and new resources.
Primarily - the taxpayers. But also - parents, teachers, administrators and students.
I believe it all comes down to the budget. If we can make the budget whole, by amending some (if not all) of the TIF agreements that are hurting the school, and ensuring we are running as lean and clean as possible, we can meet many needs and wants of all shareholders.
First and foremost, the school board needs to build a bridge with City Council. Decisions should not be made that impact the school, without the school's input or knowledge, especially when it comes to TIF's. I will also push for a Business Advisory Council (BAC) to be established as soon as possible. This is required by law, but has not been enacted by MEVSD to date.
I am not an expert on teachers. I will leave this question and answer up to those who are way more qualified than me.
School funding is a major issue, especially here in Ohio and here in Marysville. We are currently suffering significantly due to unfair TIF's, which divert money from school taxes to the city. This is my TOP priority if I'm elected, to get some, if not all, revised to make the school whole. But ultimately, I don't agree with how property taxes are used to fund schools in general. That is a state issue, which may or may not, be a mute point after next year. But I do believe, public schools should be funded by the community. Either through sales tax, earned income tax, or a resident tax. I would even entertain a property tax, if it were based on actual purchase price - not some hypothetical market value assigned by a 3rd party that I have no control over. I believe that is no different than taxing unrealized gains, which is absolutely unfair and absurd.
I believe every school should have at least (1) school resource officer (SRO) on-site at all times. I believe that is a small price to pay for the security of the students and staff of a school. When our current board eliminated all SRO's within 3 weeks of the failed levy, I was appalled. And now we're having trouble getting them back. Safety should NEVER be where you cut costs! Especially in this day and age where we are having school shootings across the country on a regular basis and mental health issues are on the rise. I would fight with everything I have to ensure that never happens again!
Again, this is not my area of expertise. But I would explore the possibility of partnering with the Board of Mental Health to see what resources are available.
The main issue I have is when it comes to disruptive kids in the classroom. Per my 3rd top priority, time and time again, unruly kids are removed from the classroom, only to return a few minutes later. No punishment. No consequences. No improvement in behavior. This is unacceptable to me! We have to come up with a discipline plan that will teach, or incentivize, these kids to behave. I don't know what that looks like, but I believe together we can devise a plan that will benefit the kids, the teachers, and all the other kids that actually want to learn. If teachers know that admin will support them, and admin knows that the board will support them, and the board knows that the community/parents will support them...I believe we can change the entire culture of the school and the community!
I believe children enjoy learning when teachers enjoy teaching. If the teacher is excited about the subject, and can make it fun and interesting - kids will enjoy it, too! Kids need to learn how to LEARN, THINK and REASON again! Not just be taught how to pass the standardized tests.
As a local business owner, I already have a good, open relationship with many parents. But I will gladly extend an open invitation to anyone, anytime to meet privately or in a group setting to discuss issues or ideas. If elected, I would love to hold a weekly meeting or session to foster a more open dialog with those who wish to participate.
Thankfully, I think Marysville is already a desirable district for most seeking employment. MEVDS has a great reputation for how it treats it's staff and for it's pay. I think the biggest issue is igniting employee excitement for the profession again. As mentioned previously, we have an epidemic of disruptive and unruly kids in the classroom, which has burnt out many teachers. If we can address that issue, perhaps teachers will enjoy teaching again.
I would love to eventually see the standardized testing that is required be changed, but I doubt that will happen in my term. I believe each child learns differently and tests differently. I don't know what the answer would be to replace the standardized test, but I don't like a "one-size fits all" approach to testing and scoring for schools.
I believe AI is a beneficial tool, but I'm not sure about the use in school. Kids still need to learn to THINK and LEARN for themselves and we don't want AI doing it for them. I don't know how you keep them from using it, though. I don't have an answer! I will leave that to the professionals.
Most of the stories I hear are from senior citizens who are getting taxed out of their homes. With the recent school levy that passed, and the huge revaluations, all that will hit January 2026, those on social security will be faced with serious challenges! With property values increasing upwards of 50%, how can seniors afford that? They will likely only get a 2.5-3% COLA adjustment on their SS checks. Our district is 20% senior citizens, so that's a big part of our constituency.
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