Grandview School Board

There will be at least one new face on the Grandview school board come April.

Board member Ann Fisher, who has served since 2001, chose not to run again. Board Vice President Cindy Bastian, however, does have hopes of renewing her term and is among four candidates vying for two seats.

The other candidates are Larry Lewis, Michelle Shackelford and Geoff Gerling. Those elected will hold the seat for a three-year term

All the candidates are focused on increasing community involvement in the district — not only as a way to raise funds for the schools, but to foster communication with the community at-large about the changes in the district.

Also on the ballot is a $9 million bond issue for the Grandview School District, which includes Grandview and parts of south Kansas City.

Cindy Bastian

•  Age: 56

•  Address: 600 E. 133rd Terrace, Grandview

•  Occupation: Former teacher in the Grandview district

•  Education: Master's in education from MidAmerica Nazarene University; bachelor's in education from the University of Missouri-Columbia

•  Public experience: Grandview school board since 2010

•  Website: None

•  Stances: The district's biggest challenge is increasing student achievement, so it needs to focus on hiring, and then keeping, highly qualified staff. This is especially relevant as the district continues to implement the Common Core State Standards. Board will need to allocate money to make sure teachers have the resources and support they need. She would encourage more funding for readiness resources because she wants to expand the early childhood education program. She doesn’t want to ask the voters to raise taxes in the current economic climate.

Larry Lewis

•  Age: 61

•  Address: 12914 St. Andrews Drive, Kansas City

•  Occupation: President and CEO of Retail Services Groups, an independent pharmacy management consulting group

•  Education: Bachelor's in business administration from Wichita State University

•  Public experience: Lead consultant to the Kansas Pharmacy Association and Kansas Pharmacy Service Corporation

•  Website: www.larrylewisforschoolboard.com

•  Stances: His priorities are implementing the technology plan, because it's a tool for meeting the high expectations of the Missouri School Improvement Plan, and increasing private funds through corporate sponsorships, private grants and fund-raising. He plans to encourage marketing an alumni endowment. He is also focused on safety enhancements and classroom renovations.

Michelle Shackelford

•  Age: Refused to provide

•  Address: Grandview

•  Occupation: Self-employed

•  Education: Master's in accounting

•  Public experience: None

•  Website: None

•  Stances: Her priorities are fiscal responsibility, high test scores and increased community involvement. Wants parents, and the community at-large, to better understand the school board's objectives and to collaborate with the district more. She doesn't want to raise taxes and would increase the effectiveness of programs already in place.

Geoff Gerling

•  Age: 30

• Address: 10 E. 127th St., Kansas City

•  Occupation: Leadership consultant, works with non-profit fund-raising

•  Education: Bachelor's degrees in psychology and communication studies from the University of Missouri-Kansas City

•  Public experience: None

•  Website: www.facebook.com/pages/Geoff-Gerling/597600543602962

•  Stances: The board needs to do a better job of engaging all members of the community, including parents, teachers, business owners and alumni. The district needs to continue working on its academic improvement —raising ACT scores, boosting college acceptances and placing more emphasis on math and science achievement. The district's biggest challenge is an undeserved negative reputation.