Hear from local candidates: Nonpartisan coalition begins airing interviews March 18
As they have in past elections, more than a dozen nonpartisan Springfield-area organizations have partnered to produce a series of candidate interviews allowing local voters to hear directly — in their own words — from those running for school board positions April.
Volunteers with the Informed Voter Coalition, which includes the Springfield News-Leader, collaborated to help voters learn about school board candidates in Springfield, Nixa, Ozark and Willard.
Starting March 18, candidates will share their ideas and goals in brief conversations to air on KSMU Ozarks Public Radio (91.1 FM).
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After they air, video versions of the conversations produced by the News-Leader will be added to this story at News-Leader.com and on the websites of other coalition members.
The coalition selected four contested races to cover for area public school boards of education, which will air at noon on the following days:
March 18: Nixa Public Schools
March 19: Ozark Public Schools
March 20: Willard Public Schools
March 21-22: Springfield Public Schools
The following candidates participated in the interviews:
Nixa Public Schools Board of Education — Megan Deal, Elizabeth Dudash-Buskirk, Jason Massengale, Joshua K. Roberts
Ozark Public Schools Board of Education — James Francis Griffin, Patty Quessenbury
Willard Public Schools Board of Education — Renee McKelvie, Megan Patrick, Matthew Young
Springfield Public Schools Board of Education — Scott Crise, Danielle Kincaid, Landon McCarter, Maryam Mohammadkhani, Susan Provance, Chad Rollins, Kyler Sherman-Wilkins
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Launched in 2019, the Informed Voter Coalition aims to educate voters and connect candidates with citizens. The nonpartisan member 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
League of Women Voters of Southwest Missouri
Missouri State University’s Office of Public Affairs
NAACP Springfield
Ozarks Technical Community College’s Social Sciences Department
Rosie
Show Me Christian County
Springfield Business Journal
Springfield-Greene County Library District
Springfield News-Leader
This article originally appeared on Springfield News-Leader: Springfield-area school board candidates share ideas in interviews