Four candidates will vie for two seats coming open this spring on the Columbia School Board.
With hours to go before the filing deadline Tuesday, Jessica Chambers became the final candidate to file. Chambers is program director for the Reentry Opportunity Center, or the ROC, which helps formerly incarcerated people who are searching for support as they reenter society.
Chambers joins Erica Dickson, Ken Rice and incumbent Suzette Waters in the campaign to serve on the seven-member board. All but Waters are first-time candidates for the board.
Dickson is the founder and CEO of the Mid-Missouri Black Doula Collective. Rice is the chief operating officer for Pickleman's Franchising. Waters, the current board president, is running for a second term in the April 8 election.
Blake Willoughby, who is completing his second, three-year term, is not seeking re-election.
Service on the unpaid board comes at a time of administrative transition. Superintendent Brian Yearwood announced his retirement Nov. 22, saying in a letter to district families and staff he was will “step away to return to Texas to explore opportunities closer to family.”
Yearwood joined the district in 2021. His departure was effective immediately. Former Superintendent Chris Belcher was hired to hold the interim position through June.
The district announced earlier that formal interviews for superintendent finalists will be held during the week of Feb. 10, preceded this month by a School Board review of the candidate pool and screening interviews with semi-finalists. As of a Dec. 9 board meeting, 17 people had applied for the position.
In Columbia Public Schools, one of the biggest school districts in Missouri, the superintendent is the sole employee of the School Board. The board makes policy, and the administration implements it.
