New candidate for Jefferson City School Board Suzanne Luther said her top priority is supporting student well-being through new programs and initiatives, and pledged to collaborate with the board to determine other priorities.
Luther said her overall focus is student well-being, and "the next priorities after that would be determined by interacting with the other board members and seeing what would support that top priority."
Luther, a former teacher, has about two decades total teaching experience at Jefferson City and Eldon. She has two adult children, both graduates of Jefferson City. She left the teaching profession in 2014 and then started a small business called Four Quarters Art House.
She mentioned a potential bond issue that would fund the construction of a new early childhood center, renovation of the Miller Performing Arts Center and renovation of both middle schools, among other initiatives. Luther thought that bond sounded like an item that would support students, alongside the recently created preschool program.
Luther promised to work with the board to determine other plans for supporting students.
"Listening to the other board members, listening to the teachers and the community and doing my homework, learning what I need to learn and then collaborating with the other members of the board so that we can operate as efficiently and effectively as possible" would be her first steps, she said.
Luther said her experience as a teacher and her understanding of the effects of policy make her a qualified board candidate.
"I've had a lifelong commitment to education," Luther said. "I attended the schools, I'm from Jefferson City, I was raised here, I went to elementary here, I graduated from JC and I taught in the public schools off and on for the last 30 years. My children attended public schools and graduated from public schools, so I've always supported the schools."
"You can't thrive in any other area of a community if you don't have good public schools," she said.