Next month, newly elected candidates will take their seats on the Hickman Mills Board of Education.
They’ll join a board that has long faced scrutiny for struggling to get along while leading a district engaged in a decade-long struggle to regain full accreditation from the state of Missouri.
But this year, Superintendent Yaw Obeng said, school board members are finally working together.
“We probably have had the best four months or so of board meetings,” Obeng said. “It’s been very student focused. We’re talking about students, our agenda is aligned with our school improvement plan.”
Obeng said the key to that success was changing the structure of the board so it’s led by two co-presidents instead of just one.
After last year’s school board election, members clashed over when a newly elected director could be seated and who should be appointed to fill a board vacancy. The six-member board was split in half; members couldn’t even reach a consensus on who should serve as president.
Obeng said that division lasted for months. He met with members to find a way forward — and at times thought they were nearing an agreement to choose a board president — only to have the détente fall apart.
This dysfunction was not new for the school board. When Obeng joined the district in 2020, he said it was struggling then to choose a president.
“I think we had created some type of culture, in terms of how to be combative, when we didn't need to be because really the board (members) philosophically are aligned,” Obeng said.
Obeng said despite the board's differences, members believe in supporting all students — including those who have special needs, are learning English or struggle financially.
Up until that point, Obeng said, the board's instability had not affected students. But with big decisions on the horizon, he saw a moment where that could change.
Realizing he’d have to try something different to get the board to move forward, he came up with the idea to have co-presidents represent each side of the split board and collaborate on decisions.
The idea didn’t take off immediately — Yaw said some people held onto their personal politics and others had legal concerns about the new structure.
Missouri statute doesn’t include language around co-presidents leading a school board. Obeng himself had never heard of one with the model.
“It was a bit of a calculated risk for me, because it wasn't traditional,” Obeng said. “But I thought, well, we're not doing anything right now. It can’t get worse than this, let’s try something different.”
Despite concerns, the school board last summer chose members Ann Coleman and Irene Kendrick to serve as co-presidents. Obeng said the unusual move has paid off.
Since switching to the new model, the board has overseen big changes in the district. A Real World Learning Center will be opening in August, along with two middle schools with either a fine arts or science and technology focus.
The board also decided to move Ingles Elementary to a year-round schedule in an effort to improve outcomes at the historically low achieving school. Obeng said early data shows the new model is working for students.
“I look forward to… bringing the data forward and showing the board ‘Hey, look, you did this. This is what you supported,'” Obeng said. “This actually makes a difference for students.”
Kendrick said both co-presidents meet with Obeng to create an agenda ahead of meetings, bringing input from the board members they communicate with.
She said they each work with a side of the board and then come together to create a plan that works for everyone — but they’re now also communicating with every member about their concerns.
“Now that we're all communicating with each other, there’s not one side anymore,” Kendrick said.
Educators are also seeing the difference at board meetings. Last year, the teacher’s union urged the board of directors to find a way to work together after a contentious meeting that ended with a board member walking out.
Jessica Swete, a third grade teacher at Ervin Elementary School and the teacher union's president, said the shift to co-presidency has been a positive change.
“During the board meetings, it just seems that everyone's starting to not only speak but listen to one another,” Swete said. “It seems like we’re focusing more on the kids and the staff and what Hickman needs to do to progress moving forward.”
Despite those successes, the board has not yet filled the vacancy that caused conflict among members last year. In the fall, board members said they’d fill the spot after community feedback but were unable to get a majority vote for any of the candidates.
Obeng said the board decided to put the vacancy issue aside and leave the decision to voters on April 2.
“We said, ‘Okay, this is a topic that’s causing the rift between us,’” Obeng said. “‘Can we just focus on the work we need to do right now for our kids?’”
Newly elected members joining
This year’s election will have a lot of familiar faces since several candidates have served on the school board before.
The Hickman Mills School District is located in an area in south Kansas City where many people have a low income and live in rental housing — meaning they may not live in the district very long or don’t have the time or means to commit to serving on the board.
Since school board seats are non paying positions, Obeng said it can be difficult for people who need to work and support their families to take on the role.
Obeng said he's working on some ideas to attract prospective candidates, like promoting the positive things the district is accomplishing and the new rapport on the board.
The district is also trying to attract new candidates through a program to train community members to become board members.
Swete said she’s staying optimistic the board will continue to work as well together — but with three seats up for grabs next month it’s hard to tell what the new dynamic among members will be.
The Hickman Mills teachers union endorsed two candidates for April’s race, but Swete said the union is prepared to work with anyone who is elected.
“We're staying hopeful that the people are running for the right reasons,” Swete said. “That we're ensuring the working conditions for teachers and that we are making sure students are getting everything that they need.”
As new members join the board this spring, the existing board plans to do some things differently. That includes training new members about how the board works before they even have their first meeting.
Kendrick said the board has also updated its policy so if members decide to return to a traditional governance model, both the president and vice president will meet with the superintendent to create meeting agendas to ensure all members feel represented.
Obeng said he can’t ensure that seating newly elected candidates won’t shake up the board like it did last April. But putting those structures in place may bring in new members eager to participate in what the board is already doing for district students, instead of coming aboard with plans to shake things up.
“It’s not a question of our kids aren’t capable, it’s the adults,” Obeng said. “We need to set the stage so we can give our students those opportunities. And we’re starting to do that.”
