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Columbia School Board Race Up To Four

Two more announce candidacy for open seats on Columbia School Board

                 

• BY MARIA F. CALLEJON AND YUTONG YUAN
 
• Jan 10, 2018
• The race for the two free seats on the Columbia School Board is getting tighter: Tyler Lero and Susan Blackburn both announced their candidacies this week.
  The April 3 election will decide who will fill two three-year seats on the seven-member board. The two candidates that receive the plurality of votes will win the seats.
  Lero, a 28-year-old medical laboratory technologist at Women’s and Children’s Hospital, filed his application Tuesday.
  A Columbia resident for 10 years, Lero said he decided to run for the seat to get more involved with his local community.
  “I thought it was a great opportunity to give back to my community and try to do everything I can to help to improve it,” Lero said.
  Although he has no children, he and his wife have a 2½-year-old niece and want to ensure she has a good education.
  “I want to make sure that she has the opportunity to really have a good school and learn the best she can,” Lero said.
  Lero said his professional background is an asset, as it shares several values with a position on the board: accountability, commitment and teamwork.
  He praised the work the board has done and said he wants to continue the progress they’ve made.
  Blackburn announced her candidacy Wednesday. An MU graduate and Columbia Public Schools educator for 29 years, Blackburn said in a news release that she wants to change the lives of students through education.
  “Every student should be able to read, write, and think critically,” Blackburn said. “We must recruit and retain highly-qualified teachers and ensure a safe and welcoming environment for students.”
  After she retired from Reading Recovery — a specialized reading program— Blackburn worked part-time at Columbia Public Schools and offered literacy support and training for teachers until last December. She is also a member of the American Speech Language Hearing Association, the Reading Recovery Council of North America and the Missouri State Teachers Association, according to the release.
  Blackburn has lived in Columbia for over 30 years. All three of Blackburn’s sons went to Hickman High School. Her husband and her mother-in-law also graduated from Hickman.
  In addition to Blackburn and Lero, retired administrator Ben Tilley and current member Christine King are also running for the two school board seats. Board President Darin Preis is not seeking re-election.
  Applications must be submitted in person before 5 p.m. Jan. 16 at the board secretary’s office in the Columbia Public Schools administration building at 1818 W Worley St.

Candidates Begin to File For Columbia Public School Board

Retired administrator Tilley files for School Board election

• MARIA F. CALLEJON
 
• Dec 22, 2017
• 
  

  Ben Tilley
• About seven months into his life as a retiree, Ben Tilley decided to run for one of the two available seats on the Columbia Board of Education. Tilley, 60, filed his application to run on Thursday.
  He previously worked for 21 years in the school district, starting as a second-grade teacher at Fairview Elementary School and finishing as an assistant superintendent for elementary education for Columbia Public Schools.
  "I enjoyed my retirement, but I enjoy being busy as well," he said. "I want to spend some of my retirement time helping the school district."
  Tilley said he thinks that his experience working with children and parents is of the traits that make him a good candidate for the position. "I've been in our community for a long time," he said.
  Tilley also thinks that his years of experience will be valuable on the board and hopes to still contribute to the "good of the school district." For him, growth is a continuous concern, because it leads to students exceeding the capacity of the schools.
  If elected, Tilley said he would focus on "big-agenda-type items,"such as the construction of a new middle school south of town. This new project would relieve the overcrowding at Gentry Middle School, he said. He would also like to keep and improve what he called the "open lines" of communication between teachers and administrators.
  The election will be held on April 3. No matter the result, Tilley said he will seek to be of help in any way he can.  "There are other positions for citizens to participate (in)," he said. "I want to give back."

  

  Christine King

  Tilley is the third candidate to file for the election, joining fellow newcomer, John Conway, and incumbent Christine King. 
  Applications must be submitted in person before 5 p.m., Jan. 16 at the board of education secretary's office in the Columbia Public Schools administration building at 1818 W Worley St. The office will be closed between Friday and  Dec. 29

Columbia School Board to Have A No-Tax Increase Bond on the April 2018 Ballot

Columbia School Board approves ballot language for April bond question

• BY JESSICA DUFFIELD AND LILY O’NEILL
 
• Dec 11, 2017
• The Columbia School Board took another step Monday night toward constructing a new middle school by 2020. In April, voters will decide whether  to approve a $30 million  bond issue that will help fund some of the board's upcoming projects.
  The board approved the bond's language at its meeting Monday night. The bond will help fund constructing, repairing, remodeling, furnishing and equipping new and current school facilities. 
  Chief Financial Officer Anna Munson said Monday night it will aid the complete construction for the new southwest middle school, add additions to elementary schools, enhance outdoor middle school athletic facilities, upgrade old facilities and repair roofs, parking lots, windows, air conditioning and technology.
  Board member Jonathan Sessions said the bond has always been part of the district's 10-year bond plan."This board has stayed steady and true to our plan," Sessions said. "We're seeing the fruits of that plan."
  Board members emphasized that it will not increase taxes, as the current debt service tax levy is estimated to remain at $0.9719 per $100 of assessed valuation and will cover the bond repayment. If approved by voters, the bonds would be issued in the spring of 2019. 
  The board also presented Monday night a proposal for a STEAM middle school at Jefferson Middle School in north-central Columbia. Board members suggested the students would come from within Jefferson's attendance boundaries and from Benton STEM, Lee Expressive Arts and Ridgeway elementary schools.
  Those elementary schools’ specialized curriculum would make the transition easier for students into the STEAM —Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Math — middle school.
  Board President Darin Preis said the district’s STEAM initiative is a fantastic idea.“I don’t think that we can overstate that this is the future of public education,” Preis said. “It gives us an opportunity to engage students in a much more meaningful way that resonates with the students.”
  Over the past two years, the STEAM Bus has been visiting the district’s elementary and middle schools to engage students in hands-on lessons and provide training for teachers in STEAM curriculum. The bus has acted as a mini blueprint for the district’s possible STEAM middle school. On the bus, students can build robots, program video games, design lighting systems and work with many other technologies.
  The creation of a STEAM middle school would provide an incubator for innovative practices that can be shared with the other six middle schools, school board officials said. Jefferson Middle School faculty will meet with STEAM coordinators in 2018 to discuss outreach, curriculum development and faculty support, according to the board's proposal. The proposal presented Monday night included an estimated launch date of the 2020-2021 school year.