On the topic of what sets Springfield Public Schools apart from peers regionally and across Missouri, school board candidates were surprisingly unified.
All seven heaped praised on the district’s “choice” programs , which have grown in number and size since the 1990s. Board support for choice was embedded in the strategic plan and Superintendent Grenita Lathan made new options and expansion of existing programs a feature of her entry plan.
There are magnet programs focused on health care, agriculture, fine and performing arts, conservation and science, technology, engineering and math.
Programs in older grades allow students to explore leadership skills and career paths, take more rigorous courses, gain college credit, learn on a college campus, and earn a pilot’s license.
The seven candidates vying for three open seats include Landon McCarter , Susan Provance , Kyler Sherman-Wilkins and Chad Rollins and incumbents Scott Crise , Danielle Kincaid and Maryam Mohammadkhani .