Ronald N Occhiogrosso
Non-Partisan | Kansas
Candidate Profile
Conservative (Conditional)
BIOGRAPHY
Name
Ronald N Occhiogrosso
Party
Non-Partisan
Election Year
2023
Election
General Municipal and School Board
Race
Shawnee Mission USD 512 Board of Education, Member 1
Incumbent
No
Links
EDUCATION
Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, PhD Chemical Engineering, 1987
Notre Dame University, Notre Dame, IN, M.S. Chem.Eng., 1985
WORK & MILITARY
Candidate did not provide
AFFILIATIONS
Knights of Columbus, Treasurer
POLITICAL OFFICES HELD
Candidate did not provide
POLITICAL OFFICES SOUGHT
Candidate did not provide
Race
ENDORSEMENTS
REPORTED BY CANDIDATE (1)
Kansans for Life
SELECTED FINANCIAL SOURCE DOCUMENTS
Campaign Finance Report
OTHER INFORMATION
Shawnee Mission School Board Survey.
QUESTIONNAIRE
RIGHT TO LIFE
Abortion providers, including Planned Parenthood, should be a resource for instruction or services in the school.
Strongly Disagree
Planned Parenthood is a baby-killing enterprise. They have nothing to offer any child in school. And their ability to provide abortions needs to be stopped.
Human life begins at conception and deserves legal protection at every stage until natural death.
Strongly Agree
This is a scientifically-proven fact. And anyone who does not realize that is NOT FOLLOWING THE SCIENCE. Every person should protect Life.
ECONOMY
Free enterprise and the right to private property are essential elements of a productive economic system.
Strongly Agree
School districts should be able to use taxpayer money for lobbying the state legislature.
Disagree
Limited amounts of money are acceptable to me, as long as the causes are going to promote the good old 3 R's: Reading, wRiting, aRithmetic. And if it will promote the teaching that this great country, our United States of America, then I am all for use of some taxpaper money.
What is your position on government funding of public education from Pre-K through college?
The federal government should not be heavily involved in funding public education. Certain causes that are beneficial to the education of our students. Federal money must be limited or there will be potentially dangerous government control of our educational system.
RELIGIOUS LIBERTY
At school, students should be able to speak freely and civilly about matters of conscience and faith, including Christianity.
Strongly Agree
Anyone who is honest and knows our history MUST AGREE that when Prayer was taken out of our public schools back in 1962 we began down a very slippery slope to the demise of the character and moral compass of our students. And these students would then become the adults who promulgated these same compromised moral convictions. And then they pass it on their children. And so on.
School districts should not discriminate against individuals, organizations or small businesses because of their belief that marriage is only a union of one man and one woman.
Strongly Agree
Marriage is ABSOLUTELY the union of one man and one woman. That is clearly obvious. How can anyone think that two persons of the same sex becoming a married couple is logical? How can they beget children? IMPOSSIBLE!! Marriage is between one man and one woman in the sight of God.
EDUCATION
What is the function of the local school board?
To guide the schools in the education of students. To their success. At present, the students in the Shawnee Mission School District in Kansas are not succeeding in the basics of Math, ELA and Science. The recent numbers from 2022 are abysmal: 60% are not performing to an effective level in Math, 56% in ELA and 60% in Science. So, the board needs to be visionary in many ways. And one very important task is their selection of a superintendent who will do a good job at running the day-to-day operations of the district. And there MUST be a far better effort made to turn those %values listed above. How? For one thing, there needs to be downturn in the amount of DEI being woven into the fabric of the schools. This will provide more time for teachers to teach the concepts and the learning objectives of their subjects. The bottom line: the school board must implement procedures to help improve the learning of our students.
Who should have the authority to set curriculum and determine resources used in those curricula?
Curriculum is to be set by the experts in the courses. These would be the teachers and the administrations they report to. But the school board needs to be responsible for determining the resources needed in the curricula.
When should parents be restricted from speaking in school board meetings?
I would say that parents, in general, must be allowed to speak at school board meetings. Obviously if any parent is very disgruntled and after asking to speak, does so but loses their cool and becomes loud and/or uses profanity, in that case, then that parent will need to be told to either stop or be told that they must leave. Otherwise, parents MUST be allowed to speak. They are members of the community and as such must be allowed.
Please list in order the following priorities in relation to the role of a K-12 public school (omitting any that do not apply): Mathematics, Information Technology, Science, Political Activism, Personal Finances, Gender Identity, Physical Fitness, American History, Critical Race Theory, Language Arts, Art & Music, Vocational Learning, Sexuality, Foreign Language, Social Emotional Learning
The primary goal of schools is to teach students so that they can take that education and become productive members in our society. To that end, it my firm belief that the MOST IMPORTANT PRIORITY to the LEAST IMPORTANT ARE: Mathematics THEN Language Arts THEN Science THEN American History THEN Personal Finances THEN Physical Fitness THEN Foreign Language THEN Vocational Learning. The rest DO NOT APPLY; They have no place in our schools.
iVoterGuide Notes:
The candidate wishes to add the following statement. "The primary goal of schools is to teach students so that they can take that education and become productive members in our society. To that end, it my firm belief that the MOST IMPORTANT PRIORITY to the LEAST IMPORTANT ARE: Mathematics THEN Language Arts THEN Science THEN American History THEN Personal Finances THEN Physical Fitness THEN Vocational Learning THEN Foreign Language THEN Art and Music THEN, TO A VERY LIMITED AMOUNT Sexuality. The rest DO NOT APPLY; They have no place in our schools."
Which more closely matches your view of America's founding principles? A) Liberty and equality. B) Slavery and racism.
A) Liberty and Equality.
What does "equity in education" mean to you?
I am ot able to see this question. So, that is why I can not reply. It is a window that has several selections such as 'E-mail - Campaign Mgr. I am not able to remove this window.get it to dis
iVoterGuide Notes:
The candidate wishes to add the following statement. "I contend that the word should be Equality, not Equity. All students, regardless of race, gender(male or female), religious belief deserve EQUAL education opportunities. Equality sounds more normal, more natural to me, equity sounds to me to be divisive."
Written parental consent (opt-in) must be obtained before students are taught courses such as Comprehensive Sex Ed (CSE) or Social Emotional Learning (SEL).
Agree
The loss of local control in education is too high a price to pay in exchange for federal dollars.
Strongly Agree
Parents are the ultimate authority in their child’s education and should be able to freely pursue whatever educational options they deem best for their child.
Strongly Agree
School boards are accountable to parents and taxpayers.
Strongly Agree
Do you believe students should have access to materials that graphically depict and describe sexual acts?
No
In what universe should this happen. Sexual acts and their depiction SHOULD NOT BE PROVIDED IN ANY MANNER.
All print and digital material available or presented to students should be easily accessible for public review.
Strongly Agree
Absolutely. This is what I call TRANSPARENCY. The public must absolutely be allowed to see all materials that are being used to teach our children
Do you believe print and digital material available or presented to students should be easily accessible for public review, including those without children enrolled in school.
Yes
VALUES
Briefly describe your spiritual beliefs and values.
I am a very devout Catholic Christian. I firmly believe in the 10 Commandments. If only these ten commandments were to followed and the law of the land - our country would be a far better place than we see what is happening now in our society.
I support allowing public high school students to participate in athletic competition based on the gender with which they identify instead of biological sex.
Strongly Disagree
This is a NO BRAINER. How in the world can anyone say that it is ok for a person who is a male at birth to compete against a female at birth. This is so unfair to the girl who is going to have to compete against a person who is clearly and obviously a male. What ever happened to NOW? For anyone not familiar with NOW, it is the National Organization of Women. Why are they silent? Why are they not vocally supporting the girls? This is horrendous.
No school official should be involved in the sexual transitioning of a student, including the use of alternative names and pronouns.
Strongly Agree
This is so blatantly obvious to me, and to any logical, intelligent person. These students are not in school to have such transitioning take place. What in the world is happening to our society.
No healthcare diagnosis or treatment, whether mental, reproductive, or otherwise, should be given to a child without first receiving written consent from the parent.
Strongly Agree
Who is responsible for teaching sexual education to children, and what is the appropriate age when it should be taught?
Sex edcation should not be taught in schoolI was never taught that. Parents should be the educators of their children in these matters.
If you support the teaching of Sex Ed, please answer the following question: Sexual education should include these topics (list all that apply and add your own, if needed) -- Physical and emotional health outcomes; contraceptive methods; consent; abstinence; sexual orientation and gender identity; human anatomy/the reproductive system; abortion methods and side effects; stages of pregnancy and fetal development; sex acts and pleasures of sex
I oppose any discussion of contraceptives to students. Why? because sex should not be happening between children/students since they are NOT MARRIED. I get it, someone may say to me, "Don't you understand that these students may choose to have sex, and so we need to provide sex education." Well, parents need to work harder to tell their children, the students, to embrace abstinence! And then there'd be no reason to have to discuss stages of pregnancy.
Judeo-Christian values established a framework of morality that is necessary for our system of limited government.
Strongly Agree
The ten commandments say it all. Follow these 10 and guess what, we will have a morally- rich society.
I support allowing public middle and high school students to participate in athletic competition based on the gender with which they identify instead of biological sex.
Strongly Disagree
Biological males should be allowed in female locker rooms and bathrooms.
Strongly Disagree
See my answer to question 2 above.
No school official should be involved in the social or medical transitioning of a student, including the use of alternative names and pronouns.
Strongly Agree
ELECTIONS AND VOTING
People should be able to vote without photo identification.
Strongly Disagree
Of course a photo should be produced by EVERY PERSON, of legal voting age. There are so many times when I need to provide photo identification such as being allowed to fly in an airplane and taking my own money out of the bank. Photo identification must be provided, NO EXCEPTION.
ABOUT YOU
Have you ever been convicted of a felony or been penalized in either civil or criminal court for sexual misconduct? If so, please explain.
I have never been convicted of a felony or been penalized in either civil or criminal court for sexual misconduct. And I believe very very very strongly that I never will.
A candidate's personal moral values are relevant when considering a candidacy for elective office.
Strongly Agree
Of course I strongly agree with this statement. Elected officials must be morally sound members of our society.
When you consider your views on a wide range of issues from economic and social matters to foreign policy and religious liberty, which of the following best describes you overall?
Very Conservative
And at the heart, at the foundation of my selection of 'VERY CONSERVATIVE' is the strong stance I have to PROTECT THE UNBORN. That is the most important matter that forms my beliefs and how I live my life. I am the Proud Father of 6 and at the Grandfather of 12 - with no doubt more to be born. That speaks volumes. I lose sleep some times worrying about how to improve being a Dad and Grandpa. & I'll hold these same convictions when I am working to help students have access to the best education
Please provide publicly available information, including interviews and media reports, validating your answer to the previous question (other than your website).
Just touch bases with the Administration of the school I have been teaching middle school science (7th and 8th grades) at for the past 10 years. The school is Holy Trinity Catholic School in Lenexa, Kansas. I have attended many Marches For Life, both here in Topeka, the Capital of the state I have proudly called my home for the past 10 years, Kansas. And I have also attended the March for Life in our great USA Capital.
Is there anything else you would like voters to know about you?
fI wish I couls fully see this question. I am not able to fully see this question, similar to a prior page. i think it's asking me 'What else would you like voters to know about me' Presuming that is the question, I would like to reiterate my reply to question 2 above that I am so very proud of my family and the fct tht I have been happily married to my wife Fran for over 40 years. That shows DEDICATION and the ability to work together to strive to be a role model for other marriages suh as my the marriages of my 2 eldest children. Marriage, Family, dedication - these are three primary hallmarks of what I am. AndI believe that they will be how I will conduct myself when I am a School Board Member for the Shawnee Mission School District in Kansas.
I voted in these primaries and general elections:
2016 Republican Primary 2016 General Election 2018 Republican Primary 2018 General Election 2020 Republican Primary 2020 General Election 2022 Republican Primary 2022 General Election
Once again, there is a window that is open above that I could not close no matter what I tried. It inhibited me from seeing the full set of elections I have voted in, and it blocked my seeing what I was typing in the prior box. So, if there are any typos, they happened because of this window blocking my view. This has been frustrating and I've wasted a lot of my time. I would be happy to edit any typos AFTER YOU REMOVE THIS BOX.
iVoterGuide Notes:
The candidate wishes to add the following statement. "2016 Republican Primary 2016 General Election 2018 Republican Primary 2018 General Election 2020 Republican Primary 2020 General Election 2022 Republican Primary 2022 General Election AND ALL/MOST PREVIOUS back to the first time I could vote in 1980."
2ND AMENDMENT
Teachers who are licensed to carry should be allowed to carry guns at school.
Agree
The Constitution of our Great USA allows for conceal carry. However, once at school their firearms MUST be locked up in safe. And these safes would be in every classroom where that teacher is licensed to carry. I believe that if this was done in a school then that school will reap the rewards of a safer, more stable school. Enhanced learning will occur too.
OTHER IMPORTANT ISSUES
Under what circumstances (if any) should schools be allowed to require vaccinations?
What a loaded questions! When I was a kid, vaccinations against diseases such as polio or TB were, in my estimation, good vaccines. These vaccinations are safe. But, vaccines such as that for Covid 19 are known to be dangerous, and many times persons have died suddenly or have been vaccine-injured.
I support mask mandates.
Strongly Disagree
You have likely heard the following analogy: masks stopping covid are as effective as a chain-linked fence stopping a mosquito from getting through it. Masking leads to little children's learning being severely inhibited. Masks were mandated during covid for FAR TOO LONG A PERIOD. It was happening by our federal government trying to grasp control and power over the masses. This was a grim period in the history of our country. This CAN NOT HAPPEN AGAIN.
All official open meetings should be live streamed, recorded, and have transcripts available online for public access.
Agree
All votes should be roll call votes and recorded in meeting minutes.
Strongly Agree
