Mark Hensen “Resource Leadership Issues on Pickerington Board of Education”

October 19, 2025
From Mark Hensen, Pickerington Board of Education Member

This represents my views and does not necessarily reflect those of the PLSD Board of Education (BOE) or my colleagues. I’m speaking for myself, NOT the board.

The status quo needs to change. In my view, JD Postage, Cheryl Ricketts & Paul Hamman represent the status quo.

Two of our board’s primary roles include setting the district’s vision and goals, which require strong resource leadership to achieve, and engaging with the community, which calls for extensive communication. In both areas—resource leadership and communication—we have fallen short for many years.

This post will highlight the most crucial resource leadership issues, while the next one will focus on communication issues.

Over the past 17 years, our class sizes have grown from an average of 19 to 26 students (through 2024), giving us the seventh largest (worst) class sizes in the state (of 607 districts).
– This has continued during the incumbent candidate’s (JD Postage) time on the board.
– Our elementary grades (K-4) – which are our foundation – have been particularly impacted. 27 kids in kindergarten or
29 kids in first grade is not conducive to the most effective learning environment possible.
– This has caused our staff to be overworked, created unnecessary morale issues, and harmed both students and staff.
Compensation has fallen behind our peers for many years; over the past 20 years, our pay increases have averaged less than the inflation rate – a new employee now earns less than someone who started 20 years ago.
– This has continued during the incumbent candidate’s (JD Postage) time on the board.
– For example, the lifetime earnings of our certified staff (teachers, etc.) are about $191,000 lower than the average of
our four main local peer districts (Gahanna, Hilliard, Westerville, Worthington).
– Pay for our support staff and administrators isn’t any better. Our starting pay is lower—for example, $12.50 for a duty
aide is often less than what you can earn at fast food places. And at least four of our principals and assistant principals
left this summer because they felt (and were) undervalued. They took jobs in other local districts for higher pay,
where some of them also work fewer days.
The board spent over $405,000 on the former superintendent’s retirement package.
– The original contract would have paid about $153,000.
– JD Postage voted in favor of this payout (two board members did not).
Our lack of seeking revenue, which caused our class size and compensation issues, continues.
– The status quo candidates said they would have voted no (Cheryl Ricketts and Paul Hamman) on the recent operating levy proposal (as JD Postage did).
It’s 2025, and we still haven’t introduced full-day kindergarten. We’re one of only five public school districts in Ohio still denying our kids the opportunity for a better start and higher achievement in later grades.
– This has continued during JD Postage’s time on the board, and Cheryl Ricketts and Paul Hamman have both expressed
reservations about all-day kindergarten.
Our 1,000+ staff members voted no confidence in our BOE last year – I believe it’s a first for PLSD.

These issues highlight the need for significant change in the upcoming election. We need engaged, focused, and committed leaders to help prevent and address these issues.