Ohio Association of Public School Employees

Stronger Together.

Our Leadership

State Officers

The elected State Officers are the State President, State Vice President and the State Secretary. The State Treasurer/Executive Director is appointed by the State Executive Board.

OAPSE State Leadership Team


Lois Carson
State President

Lois Carson is State President of OAPSE. She was re-elected to that post in 2021. She was the former State Vice President, a position to which she was elected in November 2015. Lois has been a member of the union’s statewide executive board since 2013, serving as the Central District Executive Board Alternate and then Board Member before moving to State Vice President. Lois has been a secretary at Columbus City Schools for 37 years and currently works in the Department of Higher Education. In 2010, she was elected president of the Columbus School Employees Association (CSEA), made up of 11 local unions with more than 3,000 members who work in the Columbus City Schools. Lois is a past President and Vice-President of OAPSE Local 150, the union for Columbus City Schools’ secretaries.

She is an Ohio AFL-CIO vice president. She is also an active member of the Coalition of Black Trade Unionists (CBTU), A. Philip Randolph Institute (APRI), the Coalition of Labor Union Women (CLUW), and the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). Lois is a graduate of Columbus City Schools. She studied Secretarial Studies and Office Administration at Columbus City School Adult Education and Early Childhood Education at Columbus State Community College. Lois was married for 27 years and has four children with her late husband. She enjoys spending time with her five grandchildren and her great-granddaughter.


Mike Lang
State Vice President

Mike Lang was elected by the State Executive Board as the OAPSE State Vice President in 2019. He was elected to a four-year term in 2021. A 14-year OAPSE Local 470 leader at Mount Vernon City Schools, Mike had served as North Central District State Executive Board alternate since 2016. He started with Mt. Vernon City Schools in 2009 as a custodian, but the majority of his decade with the district has been as a computer technician. Mike is from a union family and was a member of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers at Cooper Energy Services. After a plant layoff, he worked at a cabinet manufacturing company, where he was active in union organizing campaigns. Mike was hired at Mount Vernon City Schools in September 2009 and signed a union card immediately. Within a few months, he was vice president of that local, which is the union for more than 120 workers in the district. Mike has served as Local 470 president since 2014 and was elected North Central District vice president in 2019. He is a graduate of Mount Vernon City Schools. Mike and his wife, Dianna, are parents of one son.


Sheila Dawkins-Flinn
State Secretary

Sheila was elected by the State Executive Board as the new OAPSE State Secretary in 2023. Previously, Sheila was elected to serve as the Notheast District State Executive Board Member in 2015. Before that, Sheila served as the Northeast District State Executive Board Alternate for 8 years. Over the last 20 years Sheila has also been a Local Officer in OAPSE Local 689, Akron Public Schools. She has held the positions of Local President, Local Vice President, and Local Treasurer throughout the years. Sheila is the Chair of OAPSE’s Legislative and Retirement Committee. She is a member of the Coalition of Labor Union Women (CLUW), Coalition of Black Trade Unionists (CBTU), the NAACP, Akron-Summit Public Employees Coalition (ASPEC) and serves as the Corresponding Secretary of the Akron Alliance of Black School Educators (AKRO NABSE). Sheila is also President of the Akron/Canton Chapter of the A. Philip Randolph Institute (APRI). Sheila is a library technician and has been with the Akron Public Schools for over 40 years.

Joseph P. Rugola
State Treasurer/Executive Director

Joe has served as the Executive Director of the Ohio Association of Public School Employees (OAPSE) for 34 years, after his appointment to that position in 1988. Prior to assuming the responsibilities as Director of our union, Joe served for 10 years as the union’s Field Director and as a Field Representative. Joe, with the support and assistance of our Executive Board, guided OAPSE through dramatic changes during the 1990’s that stabilized our union’s finances and led to a period of dramatic growth in membership.
After his appointment as Executive Director, Joe was elected as an International Vice President (IVP) of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), and still serves on that Board as the senior IVP. In 2007, Joe was elected to the Presidency of the Ohio AFL-CIO, working as a volunteer in that full-time position while still heading up our own union. After he left the Ohio AFL-CIO, Joe continued to serve on the Executive Board of the Federation and still holds that position today.
Joe is recognized in the trade union movement as one of Ohio’s most aggressive advocates for the welfare of OAPSE members and a supporter of working families across our state.
Joe is a graduate of The Ohio State University, earning his degree in Political Science in 1972.

State Executive Board

Stephanie Wiley

Central District

Columbus City Schools Bus Drivers, Local 336

Sue Williams

East Central District

Perry Local Schools, Local 329

Debora Adams

Eastern District

Switzerland Schools, Local 41

Bev Payne

North Central District

Crestline Village Local Schools, Local 416

Davida Russell

Northeast District

South Euclid Lyndhurst City Schools, Local 110

James Haller

Northwest Central District

Lima City Schools Custodians, Local 137

Karen Jones

Northwest District

Oregon City Schools, Local 320

Tim Warren

Southeast District

Nelsonville-York City Schools, Local 400

Tish Jones

Southwest District

Princeton City Schools, Local 174

Kathy Chamberlain

Western District

Preble-Shawnee Local Schools, Local 678

State Executive Board Alternates

Arnetta Banks

Central District

Columbus City Schools Educational Aides, Local 518

Julie Langanke

East Central District

Canton City Schools, Local 161

John Sindeldecker

Eastern District

Buckeye Local Schools, Local 373

Katrina Martin

North Central District

Crestline Exempted Village Schools, Local 416

Sharyn Ficyk

Northeast District

Parma City Secretaries, Local 160

Heather Vermillion

Northwest Central District

Lima City Schools, Local 306

Stella Wymer

Northwest District

Sylvania City Schools, Local 227

Carla Daniel

Southeast District

Fairland Local Schools, Local 345

Shonda Ferguson-Gordon

Southwest District

Winton Woods City Schools, Local 271

Angie Klein

Western District

Kettering City Schools Transportation, Local 573

District Officers

Central District

Stephanie Wiley, President

Columbus City Schools Bus Drivers, Local 336

Michelle Phillips, Vice President

South-Western City Schools, Local 211

Shirley Timberlake, Secretary

Westerville City Bus Drivers, Local 719

Sally Clemmer, Treasurer

Columbus City Schools Secretaries, Local 150

East Central District

Sue Williams, President

Perry Local Schools, Local 329

Kathleen Secrest, Vice President

Osnaburg Local Schools, Local 31

Julie Langanke, Secretary

Canton City Schools, Local 161

Ira Essner, Treasurer

Canton City Schools Child Nutrition, Local 609

Eastern District

John Sindeldecker, President

Buckeye Local Schools, Local 373

Bruce Millick, Vice President

Indian Creek Local Schools, Local 460

Pam Thomas, Secretary

Coshocton City Schools, Local 387

Debra McKahan, Treasurer

Caldwell Exempted Village Schools, Local 339

North Central District

Mike Lang, President

Mt. Vernon City Schools, Local 470

William Hurlow, Vice President

Galion City Schools, Local 370

Katrina Martin, Secretary

Crestline Exempted Village Schools, Local 416

Beverly Payne, Treasurer

Crestline Exempted Village Schools, Local 416

Northeast District

Davida Russell, President

South Euclid Lyndhurst City Schools, Local 110

Leslie Turner, Vice President

North Olmsted City Schools, Local 257

Jimmie Dawson, Secretary

Willoughby-Eastlake City Schools, Local 145

Vicki Kirby, Treasurer

Springfield Local Schools, Local 179

Northwest Central District

Heather Vermillion, President

Lima City Schools Secretaries, Local 306

Jim Haller, Vice President

Lima City Schools Custodians, Local 137

Taminka Mallory, Secretary

Lima City Schools Secretaries, Local 306

Dennis Fricke, Treasurer

Elida Local Schools, Local 16

Northwest District

Stella Wymer, President

Sylvania City Schools, Local 227

Jessica Gleba, Vice President

Fremont City Schools, Local 321

LuAnn Kralovic, Secretary

Rossford Exempted Village Schools, Local 384

Hollie Muraco, Treasurer

Sylvania City Schools, Local 227

Southeast District

Tim Warren, President

Nelsonville-York City Schools, Local 400

Jaime Jordan, Vice President

Gallipolis Local Schools, Local 349

Kimberly Kearns, Secretary

Wolf Creek Local Schools, Local 504

Carla Daniel, Treasurer

Fairland Local Schools, Local 345

Southwest District

Tish Jones, President

Princeton City Schools, Local 174

Vicki Gregor, Vice President

Little Miami Local Schools, Local 516

Becky Smith, Secretary

Edgewood City Schools, Local 679

Connie McDonald, Treasurer

Adams/Manchester Local Schools, Local 343

Western District

Kathy Chamberlain, President

Preble-Shawnee Local Schools, Local 678

Teresa Harney, Vice President

Kettering City Schools Transportation, Local 573

Angie Klein, Secretary

Kettering City Schools Transportation, Local 573

Jan Robinson, Treasurer

Kettering City Schools Food Service, Local 553