There are four candidates - including two incumbents - who are running for two available seats on the Board of Education for Jefferson City Public Schools.
Get to know your Jefferson City school board candidates with profiles compiled by the News Tribune.
Candidates appear in the order they will appear on the April ballot.
Name: Pam Murray
Age: 63
Occupation: Incumbent school board member and board member of Community Health Center of Central Missouri
Hometown: Bromlla, Sweden (hasn't been there since she was 6 years old; first moved to Jefferson City in 1982, and returned to Missouri in 2004 to live in Holts Summit)
Why run? "I feel like we've made progress in the past three years" and she wants to see it continue.
Pam Murray knows Jefferson City Public Schools has needs as a district beyond the second high school - Capital City High School - that voters approved in last year's April election.
A four-way race is set for two JCPS Board of Education seats this year, with Murray, Enloe, Couty and Rowden hoping to win the April 3 election.
Murray has been a school board member since 2015, is chair of the board's policy committee and is a member of the safety and security committee. She was a member of the district's long-range facility planning committee from September 2013 to November 2014.
She's a board member for the Community Health Center of Central Missouri; is a retired health care worker; served on the Holts Summit Board of Alderman from June 2005 to April 2012; and has been on the board of directors for several other area associations, commissions and organizations.
Murray wants the progress she said has been made by the Jefferson City school district to continue. She cited the appointment of Brian Shindorf as the district's chief of learning and updates of curriculum as good things, and she wants to see all students academically performing at grade level.
Beyond Capital City High School, Murray would like to see the construction of a new elementary school on the east side of Jefferson City, and added she thinks community development in the area would follow the construction of a new school there.
"I meet with community groups," she said of what she does with some of her spare time, adding it's important to be responsive to the community's needs.
Also, in her spare time, Murray surrounds herself with family at their and grandchildren's events. Two of six grandchildren attend at JCPS buildings and two more grandchildren attend the University of Missouri after they graduated from Helias High School and Calvary Lutheran High School.
Name: Ken Enloe
Age: 63
Occupation: Director of human resources and business development at Huber & Associates Inc.
Hometown: St. Joseph (moved to Jefferson City when he was 4 years old)
Why run? "The board of education has to be a positive, supportive influence."
Ken Enloe has four platforms of his campaign to get elected to the school board and to take things in the district to the next level.
A four-way race is set for two Jefferson City Public Schools Board of Education seats this year, with Enloe, Murray, Couty and Rowden hoping to win the April 3 election.
Enloe has been director of human resources and business development at Huber & Associates Inc. for five years and has been at Huber for almost 20 years.
He's a 1973 Jefferson City High School graduate and went to Southwest Baptist University. Enloe has an MBA with an HR emphasis from William Woods University. For a time, he attended seminary school in Louisville, Kentucky. He also was a youth minister and managed a district state education office in Cape Girardeau.
Enloe's two daughters are JCHS graduates, and he has a grandson at Moreau Heights Elementary School. His wife, Karen Enloe, is executive director of the Jefferson City Public Schools Foundation. He volunteers for the foundation and other local organizations, has been an active business partner with JCPS and was on the outreach committee of the campaign to pass the bond issue last April.
"It's a non-issue," he said of any potential conflict of interest if he were on the board with his wife at the foundation. "I consider it to be an asset."
To stay engaged with the community is one of his four platforms. Enloe wants to be a positive leader on the board - someone who's 100 percent behind staff and faculty. He wants to fulfill the promise of the district to be good stewards with taxpayer money entrusted through the bond issue to pay for Capital City High School and the renovation of Jefferson City High School. He also wants to focus on excellence and achievement in academics and extra-curricular activities in the district.
"I'm a pretty voracious reader," he said of what he likes to do in his spare time. He's a season ticket holder for the Kansas City Chiefs, likes to bike the Katy Trail or streets and is involved with First Baptist Church of Jefferson City.
Name: Michael Couty
Age: 66
Occupation: Incumbent school board member and juvenile court administrator at the Prenger Center
Hometown: Kansas City, Missouri (has lived in Jefferson City since 1978)
Why run? "I'd like to maintain what we have (achieved as a district)."
Michael Couty wants to be sure every student in the school district benefits from efforts to boost academic achievement.
A four-way race is set for two Jefferson City Public Schools Board of Education seats this year, with Couty, Murray, Enloe and Rowden hoping to win the April 3 election.
Couty has been on the JCPS board since 2015, is chair of the board's safety and security committee and is a member of the finance committee.
He worked in state government for 31 years from 1976-2007. Couty was deputy director for 12 years with the Department of Mental Health from 1982-93, then director of the department's Division of Alcohol and Drug Abuse from 1993-2007. He has served on several alcohol, drug and health boards at various levels of government.
He's worked at the Prenger Center since 2007, where he's juvenile court administrator.
Couty has two sons who are Jefferson City High School graduates, and they're both police officers - one in Los Angeles and the other in St. Louis.
"Every child needs to have that early childhood education," he said of the importance of having such a program for all children in the school district. He also wants to focus on the district's long-term goal of having every student be reading at their grade level.
Building a new elementary school on the east side of Jefferson City is another important goal of his.
"I like to be more proactive," Couty said of his work, especially when it comes to school safety measures.
When he has spare time, Couty likes to golf and stay read up on current issues in education and juvenile justice.
Name: Lindsey Rowden
Age: 38
Occupation: Family care specialist at Freeman Mortuary
Hometown: Jefferson City
Why run? "It's really obvious there are so many kids who attend our schools who don't have a voice."
Lindsey Rowden describes herself as an active parent, but she realizes not all families have direct representation in the district.
A four-way race is set for two Jefferson City Public Schools Board of Education seats this year, with Rowden, Murray, Enloe and Couty hoping to win the April 3 election.
Rowden is a family care specialist at Freeman Mortuary. She previously worked in sales for Sprint for 20 years, then lost her mother suddenly and realized she could help other people.
She's vice president of the the Jefferson City Parks and Recreation Commission - in her second term - is on the executive team of the HALO homeless shelter, and is active with the parent-teacher associations at Belair Elementary School and Thomas Jefferson Middle School, where her three children attend.
Rowden is a 1998 Jefferson City High School graduate.
"Not everybody's parents are as involved (in their children's activities)," she said, but added all parents have stakes in district issues such as attendance, boundary lines, discipline and safety.
In her spare time, Rowden enjoys cooking and watching her children in sports and activities - volleyball, baseball, basketball, dance, gymnastics and football. She also likes to soak up quiet time - "just nothing, absolute quiet."