Suzette Waters returns to the Columbia School Board for a second term along with newcomer Erica Dickson, voters decided Tuesday.
Waters was the top vote-getter with 17,698 votes, followed by Dickson with 16,885 votes and Rice with 10,423, according to unofficial results.
Waters is reclaiming her seat for another three-year term. She watched results roll in from home, where she was watching a livestream of her daughter’s last college choir concert.
Waters said she was excited and relieved to win with more votes than she received in her last election.
“Thank you to the community for supporting candidates that prioritize public education,” Waters said. “That’s what happened tonight.”
Dickson will replace outgoing member Blake Willoughby.
Dickson held her watch party at The 50 Yard Line Sports Bar & Grill. When the race was called, the room hushed, and partygoers gathered around an attendee’s phone as he read the results aloud.
Cheers and whoops filled the room again when the results appeared on the TV.
“I saw a reflection of the social capital that I gained over the years by being so immersed in the community, and I saw that reflecting in this space as well,” Dickson said. “Because that is my plan — to utilize my social capital to engage people in the process more.”
Waters and Dickson will be sworn onto the board at Monday’s regular meeting.
Rice held a watch party with friends and family at Shakespeare’s South. At 8:30 p.m., there were roughly 20 people in attendance, including his wife and son.
After results rolled in, Rice said he had no regrets about running.
He said he would urge more people to run for public office and he hopes people “see that it’s okay to question authority.”
Rice said he is unsure if he will run again in the future.
“If I run again next year, I know how to run a campaign,” Rice said. “I think the people of Columbia know me, and I can guarantee you, if I decide to run, there won’t be any doubt whether I’m very active in the schools and in the School Board meetings.”
Waters has been the board president for two years. She went through Columbia Public Schools, and her two children are recent Hickman High School graduates.
Throughout the campaign, Waters highlighted work the board has accomplished during her first term while noting the improvements she would like to continue addressing in her second term.
In her first term, the board started livestreaming all committee meetings and work sessions, implemented weapons detection systems at some schools and formed a special education task force.
However, Waters recognized the board has more work to do — especially when it comes to academic achievement among students of color, students with individualized education plans and students who qualify for free and reduced-cost lunch.
“All those subgroups — we are proud to take every single one of them,” Waters said at the March 18 forum hosted by the League of Women Voters. “That is what we do as a public education system. If we dilute the funding that comes to public education, who is going to be looking out for those kids?”
Dickson is the founder and CEO of the Mid-Missouri Black Doula Collective. Education doulas provide support services for a small group of students and families at Battle and Hickman high schools. Dickson worked in several positions for the district, most recently as the assistant director of student services. She has three children — one a recent graduate, another at Battle and a third not yet in the district.
For Dickson, “standing in the gap” for marginalized students is at the core of why she ran. She wants to champion students who aren’t seeing success in the district.
“If I gain a seat, I’ll continue to be a fierce advocate and speak up and speak out,” Dickson said at the March 8 forum hosted by The Center Project. “We cannot be wavering in this right now — we can never be, but especially right now in this current climate.”
Rice, the chief operating officer at Pickleman’s Franchising, hoped to bring his business experience to the board, especially to increase transparency. He has five children and has lived in Columbia for the past three years.
In his campaign, Rice focused on increasing parent involvement in the district. One way he wanted to do this was by implementing a parental advisory committee for each school made up of parents, teachers, staff, administration, students and community members.
“I think we need to be cautious of taking across the board issues,” Rice said at the March 18 Boone County Retired Teachers Association forum. “We need to look at each individual school and their needs and what we hear back from the people who are in that school.”
Both Waters and Dickson were endorsed by the Columbia Missouri National Education Association, the teachers’ union.
The Missourian’s coverage of the candidates — including their responses to questions asked at forums over the past two months and a series of issues stories — can be found on our homepage under “Election 2025.”
Missourian reporters Tanvi Kulkarni and Abigail Didonna contributed to this article.
