It is hard to imagine a more experienced candidate for the Worthington Board of Education than Amy Lloyd. Amy is an extremely active member of her community having served on the Worthington Schools Community Facilities Task Force to address aging facilities and the Feeder Pattern Committee to address growing enrollment as well as participating in the Educational Specifications for Elementary and High Schools future planning and serving on the school district’s Wellness Committee. She has also served on the Architectural Review Board for Worthington for the past 12 years. If that wasn’t enough, she also served as the President of the Worthington PTA Council from  2018-2019 and a mother of three young students! As a working mother, she understands the need to advocate for better wrap-around services such as medical and dental screenings provided at school and better access to before and after child care options. Amy’s professional career provides her with school design and construction experience which will prove extremely useful to the district going forward. Bottom line is Amy is a graduate of Worthington Schools, a parent of Worthington School students and an ardent advocate for the Worthington School District.

In 2020 Amy will begin her work as a Worthington Board of Education Member.

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Meet the Candidate

Can you tell our members a little bit about your journey to filing as a candidate?

I have always believed in being an engaged community member at the local level. In 2008, I was first appointed to the City of Worthington’s Architectural Review Board, a position I’ve held since. I am the youngest on the board even today and one of two females who serve on the seven member board. The same year I was appointed the City Board, I went to work for the State of Ohio, the Ohio Facilities Construction Commission, which is the State agency that assists school districts with funding, planning, renovation and replacement of their aging facilities to plan for future generations. It wasn’t until I left working for the State in 2013, that I engaged Worthington Schools and offered my assistance. In 2015, I realized that my call to public service, was to eventually run for school board. During an 18 month process of working with other community members and our administration on the Community Led Facilities Task Force in which I was elected Co-Chair, I knew that running for school board would be my next step. In 2017, I filed a petition and ran to be on the ballot in November. While I was not successful in my first attempt at running for political office, I knew that we had learned a lot and would likely run again. In 2019, I decided that I would again run for a seat on the school board in November 2019.

Tell our members about a friend or family member who inspired you to become a leader.

In 2017, when I was trying to decide if I was ready to run for school board, it was the same time Beth Liston was launching her campaign for State Representative. Beth’s sister, Lori, and I were friends from elementary all the way up through high school and are still friends today. I remember thinking, if Beth can run for State Representative, I can certainly run for School Board.  That was honestly the push that made me pull my petition in 2017.

Some of you are military veterans, some small business owners, some professionals, some mothers and grandmothers, some homemakers. How did one of these experiences shape who you are as a person and leader?

I think because I have been involved locally, even while having my children and working full time, all of those experiences have shaped who I am today. Having a child who is dyslexic and advocating for her for diagnosis, intervention and accommodations has taught me so much about how special education works and what we as a school district can do better.

I am a professional who has worked in the design and construction industry working on K-12 schools in Ohio. This experience has allowed me to bring a different perspective as there is no Board Member with school design and construction experience.  Worthington’s buildings are aging and are not adaptable to today’s teaching desires from both a teacher and student perspective. I have really pushed our school district to plan for the future, beginning in 2013.  I don’t want to take all the credit for Worthington moving forward with a plan, but I’m honestly not sure that they would be as far along as they are without myself advocating for our community as a whole. Strong schools make strong communities and are the reason many chose to live there.

The Matriots PAC has a goal to see 50% of all elected offices in Ohio held by women by 2028. What is your vision for Ohio in 2028?

I think women bring a dynamic perspective to elected offices. Often times they are wearing or have worn many hats that have shaped who they are and how they view the world. I feel lucky in Worthington that our City Council currently has women in three of the seven seats and our School Board has three of five seats. I will continue to encourage and support women who are engaged in our community and who have an interest to consider running for local office.  

Tip O’Neill famously said that “all politics is local.” What are the top-two issues your community or our state face today?

The top two issues the Worthington School District faces today is growing enrollment, mostly due to housing turnover, and aging facilities. We don’t have enough seats for the students we have now and are in the process of rebuilding four middle schools to create room. Addressing our aging facilities is going to be a 20+ year issue as we have limited resources to fund renovating and replacing our buildings. Part of that will involve asking the taxpayers over the years to pay for this, however, because we have an older population, we have to be concerned about pricing people out of their homes. Worthington Schools population is 75% over the age of 18, as in not currently in our schools. In addition, the City of Worthington has a declining income tax base, which also impacts our schools because the properties in which the businesses inhabit, if not properly reinvested in, will not increase property tax revenue for our schools. Worthington is land locked so there is very little land available for any kind of development whether it be residential or commercial and how it is developed will be either a benefit or obstacle for funding streams for both entities.  

Tell us something personal about yourself.

I love the concept of a suburban homestead and have gardens, compost bins and a rain garden on our ⅓ acre lot in Worthington. For the last 10+ years, we have composted at home using a three-bin system, have removed all storm water runoff from our roof from the storm sewers and utilize a rain garden in our backyard to hold and keep the rainwater in our own yard, grow our own food including vegetables and fruits and our home uses far less energy than likely anyone in our neighborhood.

We have pushed these ideas into our schools since 2013 installing rain gardens at three elementary buildings in Worthington as part of a National U.S. Green Building Council’s Green Apple Day of Service. Last year, we assisted an elementary with the installation of a learning garden, my girl scout troop installed two raised gardens and three bin compost system at my own children’s elementary and I have actively supported a zero waste cafeteria initiative which is now in two elementary buildings in Worthington and growing.