A former teacher, former school board member and former board candidate to be interviewed
The Columbia Board of Education on Monday selected a former teacher, a former longtime school board member and a former school board candidate for Wednesday interviews.
After the interviews, the board will vote on one to fill a board vacancy.
The vacancy was created when board member Katherine Sasser resigned, saying that she planned to move out of state because the Legislature has made Missouri unsafe for LGBTQ+ families like hers.
The three finalists were chosen from among 13 applicants to fill the vacancy.
The former longtime board member is Jan Mees. Mees has said she doesn't plan to run when the unexpired term ends. A member of the Columbia Public Schools Foundation, if selected she would resign from the foundation as a potential conflict of interest.
The former teacher is Karen Hayes, who taught at Oakland Middle School from 2001 to 2005. She wrote in her application that she has worked in inclusion and diversity in the University of Missouri College of Education and Human Development and the School of Health Professions.
Andrea Lisenby ran unsuccessfully for the school board in 2022. She wrote in her application that she has been very involved in special education and is on the Boone County Family Resources board.
Each of the three will have opening and closing statements. They also each will answer these two questions:
How would you contribute as a board member to ensuring all scholars receive a quality education?
What are the ways that the board can strengthen its governance of the school district?
They also will answer randomly selected questions on the topics of communication, teamwork, empathy, open-mindedness, integrity and problem-solving.
Others who received votes in balloting Monday were former school board member Della Streaty-Wilhoit; Frank Aten, a former board member with Job Point; Sahba Jalali, an osteopathy doctor; and Greg Brockmeier, a board member with the Missouri Symphony and chair of the Small Business Committee for the Columbia Chamber of Commerce.
Other applicants were former school board candidates Chuck Basye, James Gordon and John Potter; Phillip Stroessner, who formerly worked for Refugee and Immigration Services; James Patterson, a member of the Boone County Industrial Development Authority; and Michael Zweifel, Boone County Pachyderm Club president.
Before balloting, school board members discussed qualities they sought in the interim board member.
Blake Willoughby favored a former school board member, who he said wouldn't need to be brought up to speed on being a board member while also getting up to speed on the issues the school board is facing.
The appointment strips the community of its votes, he said.
"This is a really uncomfortable position for the six of us to be in," Willoughby said. "This is really weighty."
Someone who can work with the six of them is needed, said board President Suzette Waters.
CPS students are Black, Hispanic and Middle Eastern, but they don't see anyone who looks like them on the school board, she said.
"We are kind of a vanilla board," she said.
Classroom teaching experience was mentioned by some board members, with Waters noting that Sasser had been a former teacher.
The board needs to choose carefully, said board member John Lyman.
"This is setting up this person really, really well for the campaign," he said.
Not necessarily, said board member Jeanne Snodgrass.
"I'm not 100% certain that it would help someone if they decide to run," Snodgrass said.
Wednesday's meeting starts at 7 p.m. at the CPS administration building, 1818 W. Worley St.
Roger McKinney is the Tribune's education reporter. You can reach him at rmckinney@columbiatribune.com or 573-815-1719. He's on Twitter at @rmckinney9.
This article originally appeared on Columbia Daily Tribune: Thirteen applied for school board vacancy, with these three finalists
