Jocelyn Rhynard,

37, is the mother of four students at River’s Edge Montessori and Stivers. She is a school volunteer and organized the DPS Concerned Parents group last year.

Two of Rhynard’s key issues are better DPS communication with families and careful evaluation of programs to make sure they’re working. She said the district would benefit from consistency after years of near-constant change.

Rhynard said she first became active in Dayton Public Schools because parents didn’t feel their voices were being heard by district leadership. If elected, she promised regular meetings in all quadrants of the city, with the opportunity for true dialogue, rather than three-minute speeches to the school board.

She argued that a lack of equity in resources among Dayton schools needs to be addressed. And Rhynard is one of the more patient candidates on the district’s athletic eligibility plan, saying she’ll wait to evaluate whether a lower bar and more tutoring lead to graduation gains before criticizing the plan.

“We cannot discount having empathy for where children are coming from,” she said, referring to students with few resources at home. “If we truly understand that, then we can expect more from them. But we have to understand that some kids don’t have all the tools they need in their toolbox yet.”