About 55 Jefferson City residents gathered Tuesday to listen as five candidates for the Jefferson City Board of Education faced off at a forum on the Lincoln University campus.
Facing an April 7 election, four challengers and an incumbent are vying for two open seats on the board. In the order of their appearance on the ballot, they are Pam Murray, Joy Sweeney, Michael Couty, Dan Renfrow and Adrian Hendricks II.
The event was hosted by LU's Student Government Association and moderated by radio broadcaster Warren Krech.
Most of the questions gave listeners the opportunity to compare and contrast the candidates' remarks, although for a portion of the program the candidates were asked to address different questions. Most of the candidates used the questions as platforms to reinforce themes they've been stressing on the campaign trail.
The questions ranged from "What do you think of a four-day school week?" to "What will your first 90 days look like?"
Speaking to the latter query, Renfrow drew a chuckle from the crowd when he replied: "Well, it will look very differently, depending on if I'm elected."
More seriously, Renfrow replied his first steps will be to meet with staff, sit down with incoming Superintendent Larry Linthacum and visit with fellow board members to discern their priorities.
Couty remarked - in an effort to improve communication and board transparency - two of his first steps will be to publish his name and contact information on the district's website and find a way to live stream the board's meetings online.
However, he also said he's interested in making sure the district has enough classroom space to teach all of the district's students, so issues like this year's overcrowding at East Elementary School can be prevented.
"It's important we be proactive and not behind the eight ball," Couty said.
Sweeney, the only incumbent, said her first 90 days happened six years ago. However, if retained, she said she expects to spend her time preparing Linthacum for his new job, continuing the board's work on its strategic plan and "taking to heart" the work completed last fall by the Long Range Facility Planning Committee.
Hendricks said he's interested in brainstorming answers to the question: "What kind of Jefferson City school district do we intend to have?
"Let's make the next 10 years count, so that 10 years from now, we're not having the same conversation again," Hendricks suggested.
Pam Murray said she has a schedule set out of what she wants to accomplish. She said she's already visited 12 of the district's schools and wants to visit every building in order to sit down with staff to glean a better appreciation of their needs.
"I've been truly amazed by the wonderful things they have done with so few resources," she said.
Murray said she's also pledged to complete the state-mandated training for school board members within her first 90 days.
Much of Tuesday's conversation centered on how the candidates perceive and would address East Elementary School's issues.
All five agreed the school has problems the board should address.
Sweeney touted her record of already voting to put a new elementary school on land the district owns near Lewis and Clark Middle School, a proposal rejected by voters in 2013.
Couty said East's problems are unlikely to be fixed in the next 12 months, but overcrowding at the school could be eased by adding trailers to the site or allowing parents to enroll their children at other buildings that have more classroom space available.
"We have to convince the community that we are using their tax dollars appropriately," Couty said.
Renfrow noted East is not the only overcrowded building in the district.
Hendricks called East School "under-resourced" and said it's a concern.
"It's going to come down to the resources we have as a district and what is most feasible, economically," he said. "What we're looking at, "Is it equitable?' My answer is no. When it comes down to East Elementary School, we have to make those hard decisions as to how do we give those students the best educational opportunities, so they can be proud of their school."
Murray said East is blessed with some of the best teachers, but lamented that physically it's not a good environment for students. She said she supports the long range recommendations: building another school on the city's east end; reducing the population at East Elementary; and redistricting so socioeconomic factors are balanced more evenly among the area's schools.
In the short term, she agreed with Couty that installing trailers or allowing parents to transfer their children to other buildings are the best immediate options.
SGA President Shameka Kelley said this is the first year the organization has hosted such political forums, and thought the program was working well.
As a former graduate of both East Elementary and Jefferson City High School, Kelley shared others' concerns about crowded classrooms in the early grades.
If Lincoln's student body turns out in large numbers to vote in April, she said they could have a large impact on the election's outcome.
"It lets people know (LU students) have a voice," she said. "I think the forum was very informative."