A new member will join the Knox Educational Service Center (ESC) governing board in January. Tommy Groshong, a 36-year-old software consultant and Fredericktown parent, secured a four-year term on the five-member board as a write-in candidate during the Nov. 4 general election.
“I was encouraged to run by family and friends,” Groshong said. “I am very excited to be involved and learn from current board members.”
Groshong and his wife, Yulia, have experience with the ESC’s preschool programs. Their son, now in fourth grade, attended the Mount Vernon preschool, while their daughter, a second-grader, went to the Fredericktown location.
“Our son is autistic so we are very aware of special needs programs and their importance to children. He has shown a lot of improvement,” Groshong stated.
The Knox ESC runs preschools in Centerburg and East Knox in addition to those in Mount Vernon and Fredericktown. It also operates the Knox Learning Center, an alternative K-12 school located in Mount Vernon. The ESC is responsible for vetting and hiring nearly 200 classroom aides for districts across Knox County and provides additional services upon request.
Groshong has been active as a parent within Fredericktown Local Schools. He attended school there through middle school before moving on to St. Peter’s High School in Mansfield.
“I still had lots of friends in Fredericktown while meeting new ones at St. Peter’s,” he said.
He later graduated from Brigham Young University.
Although this will be Groshong’s first official position on a board, he previously participated with his company on the development team for Springfield Sports Academy—a public charter school in Springfield, Ohio—before local leadership assumed control.
“I was involved through my company while helping to get things started, then a local board took over,” he explained.
Groshong is scheduled to be sworn into his new role at the ESC board meeting in January.
“I have no agenda or plans of my own,” he added. “I am looking forward to learning how I can contribute.”
