First major forum tackles school futures

Jan. 16—Key issues like teacher retention and student discipline, as well as the fate of the three-high-school system, dominated the year's first gathering of most school board candidates at the Trail Theatre.

Kenneth Reeder, LaTonya Williams, Tami Pasley, Jacob McMillian, Warren Ingram III, Ronda Chesney, Sean Connors and Mike Moore took turns answering questions from Bill McMurray, who served as mayor of St. Joseph from 2018 to 2022.

"I feel like all of the topics were important, and I don't recall hearing one that was not a concern of mine," said Judy Blizzard, a voter who watched the forum. "I gathered a lot of information tonight, and I took a lot of notes and I feel like pretty good. I would like to hear more from the other candidates that didn't make it this evening. So, I look forward to that."

Asked if they would endorse changes to the current operations of Benton, Lafayette and Central high schools, Ingram and Reeder said no, because St. Joseph's traditions and diversity represented by each must be preserved. Connors said he favors a plan to gradually shut down all three and construct two new campuses, in light of maintenance, academic fairness and cost concerns.

Asked if they would support or oppose a four-day class calendar, likely involving students no longer attending school on Monday, Williams indicated she is in favor of the concept. Teachers are stressed out and do not wish to remain in the profession, and vacancies are constant, so something needs to be done to alleviate their workload, Williams said.

Pasley said she is on the fence, and wants to see more data on how Independence Public Schools — often compared to St. Joseph — will be affected by the four-day plan in the long run; they implemented it in August 2023. All other candidates said they oppose the four-day concept.

Asked if they favored a restriction on materials available to students at school libraries, Chesney said she is in favor of establishing criteria that will carefully review each book or other publication, and determine if it ought to be banned. McMillian said he favors granting more parental autonomy, so that certain materials are not available to families who do not want it to be. Otherwise, strict age-based criteria would be considered.

The forum, organized by the Buchanan County Women's Democratic Club, gave each candidate a chance to explain their views to the voters in various other ways. The event was free and open to all, but was not recorded in its entirety. Candidates Steven Carrillo and Kim Dragoo did not attend. The election is set for April 2 and will elect three of the 10 contenders to three-year terms, set to commence April 15.

Club president Caroline Merrigan said that the group will not be endorsing any of the candidates at this time, because it wishes to preserve the tradition that school boards are not partisan and are based on cooperation for the benefit of students above hot-button issues.

"Talk to your friends and neighbors and families, and stress that it's our community's decision on where the school board and the education for our children go from here," she said.

Marcus Clem can be reached at marcus.clem@newspressnow.com. Follow him on Twitter: @NPNowClem