Newcomer candidate for Blair Oaks School Board Sarah Lueckenhoff said her priorities would be limiting class sizes, recruiting and retaining teachers, and keeping high school students from having to go to other buildings for classes during the day.
One incumbent and four challengers have filed for three three-year positions on the board.
Lueckenhoff is an account executive in Missouri and Iowa who works with automotive manufacturers for Yushiro Manufacturing USA. She has three sons: a Blair Oaks graduate and two who are enrolled in fifth grade and eighth grade.
One priority has to do with the number of students in each room.
"There is some concern about the size of our classrooms. Even for my son, he sits in a classroom of 26 in a tiny little room, and I think that that should be a focus," Lueckenhoff said.
She also said she would focus on recruiting and retaining quality teachers.
Lueckenhoff said she would prioritize finding ways to limit students having to cross the road between the new high school and the middle school during the day for classes, such as adding rooms to the high school. She said it's all about the best learning environment for students.
Lueckenhoff said she's a qualified candidate because she's invested in the community as a mother and a taxpayer.
"Our school directly affects our community, and it's pretty much the primary draw for this area, for Blair Oaks," she said.
It's a time of change for the district, she said, and she'd like to be a part of those decisions.
Lueckenhoff said she had a simple reason for running.
"It is simply about the students of Blair Oaks and their education, and it's no more than that. It really wasn't in my intentions to run originally when I started going to board meetings. I'm not running to further a political office or run for any other political office. This wasn't about my resume," she said.
"It is really about the best decisions being made for Blair Oaks," she said.