Voters will choose new school board members in some of the largest districts in the Kansas City area on Tuesday, April 5.
They include the Liberty, Lee’s Summit, Independence, North Kansas City, Raytown, Blue Springs and Park Hill school districts.
School board elections were once low-profile affairs. But in recent years, school board meetings have emerged as frontline venues for debates over COVID precautions, racial justice, books in school libraries and other cultural wedge issues.
Some of those hot-button issues, including how schools should handle diversity and inclusion, feature in some of Tuesday's races. The elections come on the heels of a string of racist incidents at Kansas City area schools in recent months.
Missouri lawmakers have also weighed in, with bills that would require school board candidates to declare a party and move school board elections to November. Education leaders worry these changes would only deepen partisan divides.
Here’s a guide to the races and candidates on Tuesday’s ballot. A look at candidates' responses to a questionnaire can be found at The Kansas City Beacon.Jackson County
Voters can choose two of the following candidates.
Lee’s Summit School District
- Larry Anderson
- Anne Geanes
- Melissa Kelly Foxhoven
- Mike Allen (Incumbent)
- Joseph A. Yacaginsky
- Heather Eslick
- Jennifer Foley
- William Lindsey
Independence School District:
- Jill Esry (Incumbent)
- Greg Gilliam
- Anthony Mondaine
- Jason Vollmecke
- Matt Mallinson (Incumbent)
Blue Springs School District:
- Rhonda Gilstrap (Incumbent)
- Bobby Hawk (Incumbent)
- Nick Bleess
- William (Will) Hecht
Raytown School District:
- Edith Marsalis
- Bobbie Saulsberry (Incumbent)
- Michael Watson
- Natalie Johnson-Berry (Incumbent)
- Alexis Christopher
Hickman Mills School District
- Terri T. Barr-Moore
- Beth Ann Boerger
- Cecil E. Wattree (Incumbent)
- John Charles Carmichael
Clay County:
Voters can choose two of the following candidates.
North Kansas City Schools
- Terry Ward (Incumbent)
- Josiah Bechthold
- Laura Wagner
- Duane Bartsch
- Andrew Corrao
- Daniel Wartick
- Susan Hines
- Frances Yang (Incumbent)
The district is also asking voters to approve a $140 million general obligation bond issue to build and renovate school facilities and acquire school buses. The bond issue is not expected to increase the district’s current debt-service tax levy.
The district will also ask voters to permit the school board to raise the cap of its operating property tax levy. The move is not expected to increase the district’s total tax levy.
Liberty Public Schools
- Karen Rogers
- Matthew Sameck
- Daniel W. Currence
- Kyle Christopher Bryant
- James (Jim) Bates, (According to Ballotpedia and his campaign Facebook page, Bates has unofficially withdrawn from the race but will appear on the ballot.)
- Johnathan (Jon) Rhoad (According to Ballotpedia, Rhoad has unofficially withdrawn from the race but will appear on the ballot.)
Platte County
Voters can choose two of the following candidates.
Park Hill School District
- Cory Terrell
- Tammy M. Thompson
- Daryl Terwilleger
- Jason Richard Keck
- Shereka Denice Barnes
- Jeff Runyan
- Christopher Robyn LaCour
- Diona “Kelli” Johnson
The district is also asking voters to approve a $137 million general obligation bond to build and renovate school facilities, including a new elementary school. The bond is not expected to increase the district’s current debt-service tax levy.
The district will also ask voters to permit the school board to raise the cap of its operating property tax levy. The move is not expected to increase the district’s total tax levy.
