Nearly a year after voters approved a second public high school, the future direction of the Jefferson City school district is still very much an issue this year's school board candidates will have to grapple with, as was apparent Wednesday at the candidate forum hosted by the News Tribune at City Hall.
Five of the eight questions asked of the four candidates for Jefferson City Public Schools' Board of Education were submitted by News Tribune readers, and the focus was largely on candidates' priorities for long-term plans of adding or expanding schools and working to ensure educational equity for all students.
The four candidates running for two available seats on the JCPS Board of Education are incumbents Pam Murray and Michael Couty - each at the end of their first terms after being elected in 2015 - and challengers Ken Enloe and Lindsey Rowden.
The News Tribune asked if the immediate focus of the district's planning for new facilities should be on one or more elementary schools - particularly on the east side of Jefferson City - a new middle school across the Missouri River in the Callaway County portion of the district, or fifth- and sixth-grade buildings that would decrease the number of students at the existing elementary and middle schools.
Questions from readers John Landwehr and Jennifer Taube asked if candidates would prioritize building a new East Elementary School, and a further question from Taube asked candidates specifically how they felt about building across the river.
Last year's board decided not to include language about supporting a new elementary school on the ballot asking for permission to build a second high school for fear it would have turned voters off causing the issue to fail at the polls.
"Yes, I would want to see an east end elementary building (being) built be our next step," Couty said, adding later that's why he'd like three more years on the board - to see that project through, using land the district already has. From there, he said the district should look at expansion of its existing two middle schools or building a third in the Holts Summit area.
Rowden said it makes the most sense to explore ideas about fifth- and sixth-grade buildings, as the district already has land available adjacent to Thomas Jefferson and Lewis and Clark middle schools. "I'm all for building a new elementary school where it's needed, and if that is on the east side of town, that's where it needs to go, but I would definitely need some more information from either the superintendent or the long-range planning committee to make that decision."
"I feel that the next elementary school absolutely needs to be on the east side," Murray said, adding later that too many opportunities to build another east end school have been passed up before by the district. She acknowledged middle school capacity is another issue, but would not at this time be in favor of exploring the fifth- and sixth-grade buildings idea. She cited parents' concerns students move too much between school buildings, which requires adjustments on students' parts.
"I'm not prepared to say that the number one priority ought to be building an elementary school on the east end," Enloe, a Ward 5 resident said, adding the district should look at its whole area and determine where the greatest space needs are. "We have to look at where the most practical and most fiscally project would be."
Other questions asked of the candidates included how they would address disparities between racial and ethnic groups of students in achievement and discipline, how they would aim to maintain equity between the district's buildings on indicators like poverty and how they would promote public transparency in the district's operations.
The full school board candidate forum is archived on the City of Jefferson YouTube page at https://youtu.be/QIqhM55yO1g?t=1h7m39s.