TIPP CITY — Nearly 6,000 votes were cast in the Tipp City Board of Education race in Tuesday’s general election.
Richard Mains and Amber Drum were elected to the two board of education seats open in the election, with Mains pulling 2,466 votes and Drum receiving 2,032 votes. Two other candidates were Lydia Pleiman, who received 854 votes, and Don Petsch, who received 646 votes.
Mains and Drum will replace current board members Corine Doll and Joellen Heatherly in January 2022.
Drum has been a member of the community since moving to Tipp City in 2011 and has two children currently enrolled in the school district. She has a background in education and is a travel planner for her business, Amber Drum with Dream Travel Consulting. She also leads a multi-level Girl Scout troop in Tipp City and coaches softball. She actively volunteers in the school system and around the community, and she ran for the school board because she wants to change the narrative in the community.
Drum thanked voters in the community for voting in the election and showing support toward building up Tipp City Schools. She said she’s most looking forward to being involved with education again and to be part of the community in a new and different way.
“It’s exciting, but it’s also kind of scary at the same time, because there’s that level of expectation, and I just hope I live up to everybody’s expectations of being a good board member. I’m pretty excited overall, though,” Drum said. “Thank you to the community for the support you gave me and all the encouragement along the way.”
Mains has previously served on the Tipp City School Board from 1991 to 1995, serving as vice president in his final two years on the board. Other past leadership roles include serving as president for the Tipp City Chamber of Commerce in 1986, the Tipp City Mum Festival in 1986, the Tipp City Jaycees from 1983 to 1984 and the Tipp City Rotary from 1997 to 1998.
Mains said that he is looking forward to working with the teachers in the district and that he values the community’s support in Tuesday’s election.
“Thank you, thank you, thank you — I can’t say thank you enough to all the people that took my signs and the people that were on my campaign committee and all of Tipp City. They’re all such good people,” Mains said.
