League-led coalition to produce virtual candidate forums
On April 5, voters in the Springfield R-12 School District will decide who will represent them on the Board of Education. Two positions on the seven-member board are open. Before Election Day, find out where candidates stand on the issues important to you.
The League is again taking a lead role in a coalition of nonpartisan organizations, producing candidate interviews that will air on KSMU Ozarks Public Radio in late March. The interviews also will be posted on social media and websites by the partner organizations.
Incumbent school board member Charles Taylor has declared his candidacy; Alina Lehnert has decided not to run again. Those elected April 5 will join the rest of the current board: Scott Crise, Denise Fredrick, Danielle Kincaid, Maryam Mohammadkhani, and Shurita Thomas-Tate.
The candidate forum coalition began its partnership in 2020, led by the League. The groups—all nonpartisan—share the goals of educating voters and engaging candidates with citizens. In addition to the League, the other organizations are:
- Be Civil, Be Heard
- Drury University’s L.E. Meador Center for Politics & Citizenship
- Junior League of Springfield
- KSMU Ozarks Public Radio
- Leadership Springfield
- NAACP Springfield
- Ozarks Technical Community College’s Social Sciences Department with Politically Active, a nonpartisan student organization ·
- Springfield-Greene County Library District
- Springfield News-Leader