“Steph Has Soared”
By Ashton Slaughter
(Photo of Stephanie Ruttman, photo provided by Stephanie Ruttman)
“Soar With Steph” was the tagline used by Stephanie Ruttman and her supporters during her campaign for the school board member position. “We were looking for a word or phrase that was powerful and positive and carried the visual of an upward, rising, forward motion for our district,” says Ruttman when describing the tagline. Ruttman, the mother of five, a military wife and former teacher definitely has her hands full with the “Ruttman Family Circus,” as she appropriately calls her family. With multiple kids in the Owasso school district ranging from a senior at Owasso High School to a kindergartener at Northeast, she has a pretty good idea of how great OPS is.
“Our family has been here for 14 years… and has had a great experience with Owasso Public Schools,” says Ruttman. However, she knows there is “always room for improvement” within the district, no matter how great it has been to her family along with many other families. The school board is planning to release goals in the next few months that they plan to reach moving forward, as Ruttman will already be making decisions for the community. Ruttman continues with, “In general, I think that our community is very pleased with Owasso schools. I just wanted to be a positive voice on the board and use my gifts and experience to serve the students. The biggest takeaway from the election for me is that the voters turned out and voted for that.”
The election wasn’t just dominated by Ruttman though, as the polarizing election started with five candidates. When it comes to why the election became such a hot topic in the Owasso community, Ruttman believes the pandemic played a big role in that. “The pandemic was when people really started to pay attention to how decisions were made… I think that’s when voters started to become more involved,” says Ruttman. The primary election was conducted back on February 9th, where no clear majority was reached so the top two candidates moved on to the general election. Those two candidates happened to be Ruttman and Rick Lang, the without-a-doubt top two candidates, whose voting numbers were landslides compared to the other three candidates. The two then moved on to the general election, where they fought it out for the victory. April 6th then rolled around and after all the votes were counted that night, Ruttman won by a vote count of 1,004-762.
(Photo of the final vote count, photo provided by Ashton Slaughter)
When it comes to the Owasso residents who voted against her, Ruttman wants to hear their opinions as well. “I definitely want to hear from all of the voters about our school district, because obviously, there was something about the other candidate that over 700 people decided that they entrusted in him. I want to know their concerns as well and do what I can to address them,” Ruttman genuinely states.
(Picture of Ruttman’s campaign team, photo provided by Stephanie Ruttman)
It’s safe to say that the district is in good hands with Ruttman as our newest school board member. However, Ruttman knows it’s not just her alone. “I’m one of five on the board, which is widely made up of people from all backgrounds and all walks of life. I feel like I bring the voice of a parent and a former teacher to the board, which I’ll use to make great decisions for our school district.” Owasso community members, be assured that Stephanie Ruttman has your best interest, no matter who you voted for!