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Who are the Columbia School Board Candidates?

Three candidates - Blake Willoughby, Jay Atkins and Della Streaty-Wilhoit - are running for two open seats on the Columbia Board of Education on April 2. KBIA spoke with three Columbia Missourian reporters, each of who has been covering a candidate.

Atkins, 45, is the Vice President of governmental affairs at AutoReturn, a tech company headquartered in San Francisco. He has three, soon to be four, kids in school district. His top campaign priority is 100 percent literacy.

Streaty-Wilhoit, 65, is retired, and previously worked as a federal employee and a visiting faculty member at MU, among other jobs. She has said she wants to increase communication and build trust between the board and the rest of the district.

Willoughby, 25, is a doctoral student at MU studying theater and performance studies. He recently finished a term on the city’s public transit advisory commission and currently serves on the its substance abuse advisory commission. Willoughby also prioritizes better communication between the board and the district’s parents, students and teachers.