School Board Election Results from April 5, 2016

School board incumbents to keep their seats

Missourian Staff

COLUMBIA — Voters decided on Tuesday that incumbents Jan Mees and James Whitt could both keep their seats on the Columbia Public Schools Board of Education for the next three years











The vote:

• Jan Mees: 36.53 percent
• James Whitt: 23.30 percent
• Sarah Dubbert: 18.39 percent
• Paul Rainsberger: 13.23 percent
• Joseph Toepke: 8.56 percent

Winners' priorities 

Mees said doing what’s best for the students is her main goal with her re-election.

Whitt was focused on achievement — he emphasized overall student success. 

Mees has been on the board since 2007 and was a large proponent of the bond issue and tax levy increase. Whitt has been on the board since 2009, and is the current board president. 

Both were excited the ballot issues had passed. 

"We’ve got an aggressive plan to move forward with it, and we’ve gained the confidence of the public based on the vote," Whitt said. "We’re going to make sure we maintain that confidence and trust that we’ve received from our community."

The celebration

A large group of family and friends gathered at D. Rowe's restaurant to support Mees and wait for the results.

The school board incumbent made rounds around the room talking and laughing with guests. She was surprised with a bouquet of roses from her granddaughters, Hannah, 7, and Lauren, 4. Her party updated her about every 10 minutes when new results came in.

As Mees kept her lead to the end, the crowd cheered in celebration of her victory and congratulated her with clapping and many hugs. 

She said she was relieved the campaign was over, and thankful both the bond issue and tax levy had passed. 

"Our biggest priority now is going to be to get working on the budget for next year and continuing negotiations with our teachers. The plan for the bond issue is pretty well set in place. We need to find land and get the design going," she said. 

A few friends and family gathered at a private table in Flat Branch Pub and Brewing to support Whitt.

He hugged his wife as he celebrated his re-election.

"I feel good," he said. "Glad the campaigning is over. Now it’s time to get to work on the different programs we have implemented."

Other candidate watch parties

Surrounded by close family and friends, Toepke awaited voter responses in a private room at The Heidelberg. While watching the votes come in, Toepke and the small crowd of nine people remained cheerful, smiling and making jokes.

After he found out he hadn't won the seat, Toepke said he fully supports Mees and Whitt. He said one of the main things he hopes to see from Mees and Whitt is an increase in opportunities for minority and low-income students. He said they have been working on increasing diversity, but wants to see more results.

Toepke was undecided if he will run for school board in the future.

Dubbert held her watch party at Grand Cru restaurant. She was seated at the bar with about 14 supporters as the results filed in. Many of them congratulated Dubbert on her campaign after the final result came in.

"This has been a fun experience, we moved the conversation on issues that matter," she said.

Rainsberger watched the results with a party of more than 20 people at a corner table at Bleu restaurant. Susan McClintic, a current candidate for Missouri’s House of Representatives and former president of the Columbia Missouri National Education Association, came out to support him. 

Rainsberger said it was a good run even though he didn't win. He said he hopes the elected members of the board continue to keep the dialogue with the community going and follow up on issues such as racism and how low income students and students with learning disabilities are faring in schools. 

"I think I still have something to offer to the school board," Rainsberger said, "but I’d have to take some time to think about running again."