Deadline looming, data analyst, dentist, file for Fayette school board 3rd district

A data analyst and a dentist have filed for election to the Third District seat on the Fayette County Public Schools board.

“I want to create more transparency between the school board and parents,” Gregory Brenner, 35, said.

The filing deadline for the November election was 4 p.m. Tuesday.

Brenner is opposed by Kathleen “Penny” Christian and Danny Anthony Everett. A fourth person, dentist Isaac Sebourn, had filed by 1:30 p.m. Tuesday afternoon, according to Fayette County Clerk officials.

Sebourn, Christian and Everett in 2023 all asked school board members to appoint them to serve out a term when there was a vacancy for the third district seat. They were among several applicants.

School board members chose Jason Moore. He currently represents the Third District on the school board but said Sunday he won’t run for election.

School board members appointed Moore to the seat about six months ago to fill a vacancy.

Brenner said if elected, he would focus on the following goals: improved security and safety of school children.

▪ More progress on math and reading at grade level.

▪ Reduce chronic absenteeism among students.

▪ Look for ways to reduce district overhead to allow more funding to reach the classrooms.

▪ Expose more middle and high school students to financial literacy and life skills.

On Tuesday, Sebourn told the Herald-Leader: “I’m a 41 year old dentist with a practice in Versailles. I’m running for the school board seat because my youngest will start kindergarten in August, making her my third child in elementary school this fall.”

“ Because of this, I am heavily invested in the success and growth of the public school system and want to see it thrive,” said Sebourn.

Sebourn said he has not previously served on a board of education but served on supervisory boards, budget committees and was in charge of multiple large medical facilities while serving with the US Army.

“ I was saddened to see certain art programs cut recently and would love to reduce waste enough to prevent cutting of any future programs that our students depend upon,” he said. I think it’s imperative that our children are skilled readers and critical thinkers and would like to focus on increasing reading and math scores.

Sebourn said its vital that school children feel safe.

“ I’ve heard too many stories recently about our children being afraid to go to certain places while in school because they didn’t feel safe. That’s unacceptable,” he said. “I understand that such a large school district, with such a diverse population and differing needs, requires a delicate balance for everyone to have the opportunity to succeed but it’s a balance that we need to find. “

District 3 encompasses the eastern section of the county, including Hamburg, Chilesburg and outbound Richmond Road.

Other school board candidates

The field for the November election is now set with no additional candidates filing by the deadline.

Two other Fayette school board seats, in addition to District 3, are contested in the November 2024 election.

As of Tuesday, Betsy Rutherford was opposing incumbent Amy Green in District 5. In the 1st District, Monica Mundy was running against incumbent Marilyn Clark.

This story was originally published June 4, 2024 at 1:57 PM.