Eight candidates will seek four available seats on the Cole County R-1 Board of Education in the April 7 municipal election.
Three three-year terms and a one-year term are available. Candidate filing for the April election closed Tuesday.
Incumbent Rodney Edwards is running for a third term, and Adam Weber, Aaron Wyss, Elaine Buschjost, Renee Bungart and Ritchie Jenkins also are running for three-year terms.
Jenifer Seaver and Jesse Farris are running for the one-year term to complete the term of former Board of Education President Jerry Schulte.
Weber, a lifelong Russellville resident, is a professional electrical engineer and the vice president of operations at Central Electric Power Cooperative. He has four children - one who attends elementary school in Russellville and three who will in the future.
"I just want to help the school district and make good decisions that will benefit our children and our community," Weber said. "I think we have a really good community. We've got a lot of local teachers in the school, and I think it's a good school district, and I just hope we can continue down that path and keep things as local as we can."
Jenkins, who was born and raised in Russellville, has three children in the school district. He works in information technologies for the Missouri Department of Conservation.
Jenkins said he wants to continue to improve student academic success and promote the value of the district. He also said he wants to make sure the board is making the best decisions for students by making sure all sides are heard and considered.
"I think, at times in recent history at Russellville, there has been a very vocal minority that seems to want to push their agenda with the school board, and the silent majority doesn't always get heard," Jenkins said. "And the vocal minority represents themselves as if they're the majority."
Bungart has lived in Russellville for about 25 years. She has three children who graduated from the school district. She served on the Athletic Booster Club for about five years when her children were in school, and she recently retired from a career in communications at the state Department of Natural Resources, where she worked on environmental issues in Missouri.
"Because I have that environmental background, I really believe in giving our students the STEM skills that are necessary that's going to help them in their everyday world experiences," she said.
Bungart said she would like to continue the successes the district has had.
"I really want to just try to continue with that success to help work to ensure that the teachers and the faculty have what they need necessary to help provide the best education for our students as possible," she said. "I really want our school board members to work together as a team and to help make that happen."
Wyss has lived in Russellville for almost his entire life, and he has two children in the district.
"I just want to help make sure that the school, which has a historically positive reputation, is a place where children can excel," he said. "I just want to make sure that the kids have a positive experience and the finances are well handled."
Wyss has a son with special needs, and he said the district has done a good job working with him for speech therapy.
"I would really like to see that continue and just make sure that the kids that may need something a little out of the norm are getting what they need," Wyss said.
Seaver, a lifelong Russellville resident, has three children in the district.
"My kids are just really involved, and so it's important to me to know that things are running smoothly and that we're always doing the best that we can for our students and giving them the best opportunities out there, even though we're a smaller district," she said.
Seaver said recruiting and retaining quality teachers is important to her.
"I think my biggest push, personally, would be just getting and maintaining good quality teachers," Seaver said. "I know that we are one of the lowest paid districts, and I would like to see if there's an opportunity to make that better."
Buschjost said she was unavailable for an interview. The News Tribune also reached out to Farris but did not receive a response.
The News Tribune previously published an article including an interview with Edwards, who is the maintenance manager for Durham School Services.
"I want our kids to be excellent," Edwards said at the time. "I truly believe in our school statement, 'Expecting Excellence.' That's what I expect, too. I want everybody to succeed to the level they can get to - whatever they are capable of."
Editor's note: All candidates were given the opportunity to provide a photo to accompany this story. The News Tribune did not receive some of the candidates' photos.