MOKANE, Mo. - Four candidates are competing for two seats on the South Callaway R-2 School District Board of Education to serve for three-year terms. Voters will choose two of four candidates on Tuesday's ballot. The candidates are incumbents Ryan Arrowood and Greg Kimminau, and challengers Dawn Bailey and Micah Benningfield. Candidates are listed below in the order they will appear on the ballot.
Dawn Bailey
Dawn Bailey is a challenger in the school board race. Her two children graduated from the South Callaway school district. Additionally, she has a grandson starting school there in the fall and she, herself, attended the district.
Bailey said she thinks the district spends too much money on facilities, some of which she said are unneeded.
"I remember starting out in the trailers there and everybody was in one school. I think we are getting way ahead of ourselves and building too much stuff," Bailey said.
When it comes to additional facilities and athletics, she said she doesn't think people living in the community believe the school needs the facilities. Bailey said she is happy the district has athletic programs for its students, but she thinks the schools' athletics are trying too hard to compete with much larger districts.
Bailey also feels some of the district's staff are underpaid.
"I think some of our staff are underpaid, especially the non-certified," Bailey said. "There are a lot of reasons (I'm running)."
When asked why she would be a good choice for a seat on the school board, Bailey said she freely expresses her opinions.
"I'm not afraid to say no or to express my feelings," Bailey said.
Ryan Arrowood
Incumbent Ryan Arrowood has served on the board for two terms. He seeks reelection because he said he would like to see some of the board's projects through to completion.
"We've done a number of facility upgrades that we are still in the process of doing. We're also in the process of fully implementing the iPads and the addition of the instructional coaches and how that technology is implemented in the classroom," Arrowood said. "We still have some work to do but we are making progress every year."
These projects, he added, are part of a long-range plan. Regarding the facility upgrades, he said the district has planned for the upgrades for the last 10 years and just recently got to a place where it can proceed with facility upgrades.
Regarding the implementation of iPads and instructional coaches in the district, which has been a project in the district the past few years, Arrowood said the board has received a lot of positive feedback about that progress.
"We've heard a lot of feedback from the administration and staff in that these instructional coaches are available for them to fully implement them. It's one thing just to put iPads in the kids' hands," Arrowood said. "Instructional coaches give hands-on feedback in how to implement the use of those for the kids and for the teachers so they can structure their curriculum around that technology that we're fortunate enough to put in their hands."
Arrowood said he is a good fit for the board because he feels he contributes to the collaboration on the current board.
Greg Kimminau
Incumbent Greg Kimminau seeks a second term on the school board. He has lived in the South Callaway school district since 1998. He had three children go through the school district and he has one child who is currently in high school.
He decided to run again, he said, because the board has started several projects in the past few years.
Kimminau cited building projects that are part of a continuance of an athletic project in the district, including a multipurpose building and a locker room.
"When I first ran (three years ago), my concern was about the maintenance of what we have in place. And we got a good building administrator that has taken charge of that and corrected that concern of mine," Kimminau said. "I think we have a lot of good things going on at South Callaway. I want to be a part of all the good stuff going on."
When asked why voters should return him to office, Kimminau said in his three years on the board, he has been part of a lot of changes and initiatives.
Micah Benningfield
Micah Benningfield is a challenger in the school board race. He has three children in the district. He and his family have lived in the distirct since 2001.
"It's better to be involved then to not," Benningfield said of his decision to run. "It's about the longterm longevity of the school."
Benningfield said his youngest child is in third grade, meaning he and his family will remain invested in the school for several more years.
When asked what his goals were if elected, Benningfield said he would strive for the district and the board's priorities to be academics first, teachers second and sports third, which he said he feels is not the current priority list.
Based on how the district spends its money, Benningfield said he thinks there has been more of a focus on athletics. He said he has nothing against athletics and emphasized it's an important aspect of students' lives. However, he said sports in the district seems to be prioritized higher than he would like.
The focus should be, he said, on student academics, followed by efforts to keep quality teachers in the district.
He said the district seems to have a good number of quality teachers, but the district needs to do more to better take care of its teachers, he said.