It’s not every day the governor calls and asks you to be part of a working group because he was impressed by work you did five years ago, but that’s just what happened for Fort Frye Local Schools Superintendent Stephanie Starcher.

There are more than 600 public school district superintendents in Ohio. She is one of only two to be chosen for Gov. Mike DeWine’s Property Tax Reform Working Group.

“DeWine actually reached out to me and called me and asked me if I would serve on their work group as a public school representative, and he knew that I was in a rural school area,” Starcher said.

“He was familiar with my work because when COVID hit and he had a task force on closing and reopening schools, there was a group of superintendents that worked closely with him, and I was one of them, so I was privileged to get to know him personally and work with him.”

Building that kind of trust is important, because it will let Starcher be a voice of reason among a group of people who are supposed to figure out how to provide targeted property tax relief without harming those who are supported by funding for schools, emergency services, libraries and other public programs.

Her seat at the table will also let Starcher share information from the Buckeye Association of School Administrators, the Ohio School Boards Association and the Coalition of Rural and Appalachian Schools.

Her perspective is going to be a vital part of how this group accomplishes its task.

And, because of her, perhaps the public will get to SEE that work getting done.

When the group discussed whether its workings should be open to the public, Starcher went to bat for Ohioans.

“I felt as a public school person that it should be public, so that people could know what was going on,” said Starcher.

“It’ll be a work group that the public could watch and listen to, but they’re not participating. They are going to set up an email through the governor’s office where taxpayers and citizens can send in ideas and recommendations.”

Those who have already gotten to know Starcher through her work at Fort Frye would expect nothing less.

There is no doubt that on a board otherwise filled with politicians and business people, she will be a voice of rural, Appalachian Buckeye State reason.

We congratulate her on the assignment and look forward to the work she (and the rest) are able to get done.