Two new faces are guaranteed on LS Board of Education

All three candidates seeking the two positions on the Lee’s Summit Board of Education have history in the education field.

Julie Doane, Adam Rutherford and William Lindsey are on the ballot to replace outgoing school board members Ron Baker and Patti Buie, neither of whom sought re-election.

Board of Education members are elected to three-year terms in at-large elections.

Doane, vice president of The Logistics Store in Lee’s Summit and a part-time employee at the University of Central Missouri’s Summit Campus, has served on the Lee’s Summit 360 education committee and is a past member of the booster club at Lee’s Summit West High School.

She said she wants to continue to contribute to the community.

“I have an education background,” said Doane, who graduated from UCM with a degree in speech pathology. “I have done many things to help the youth in Lee’s Summit and thought, ‘Why shouldn’t I run for school board?’”

Doane added she does not have a specific agenda.

“But what I do have is a get-it-done attitude and want to make sure what is best for students, faculty, staff and community gets done,” she said.

Rutherford, a national retirement specialist at Empower Retirement, is a current board member for the Lee’s Summit Educational Foundation and serves as chairman of the planned giving committee.

Rutherford attended Pleasant Lea Elementary, the former Pleasant Lea Junior High (now Middle School) and Lee’s Summit High School. He said he feels a great sense of responsibility to ensure students and teachers within the district continue to have the support they need to be successful.

He added that his children will eventually attend Cedar Creek Elementary School.

“I am passionate about enhancing our already thriving community,” Rutherford said.

Rutherford said that, if elected, he’d like to focus on a combination of his own analysis of the district and what he’s hearing from the community, teachers and his work on the Lee’s Summit Educational Foundation board.

“It’s a talented group with a great track record, yet plenty of remaining upside,” Rutherford said of the current board. “I look forward to joining them.”

Lindsey is a Lee’s Summit resident who ran for Missouri’s 5th U.S. House District seat last August. He was defeated in the Republican primary by Jacob Turk. Lindsey was born and raised in Kansas City. He holds degrees from Kansas City Kansas Community College, Graceland University and Baker University.

Lindsey served 12 years in the Army National Guard and is an active volunteer in the Boy Scouts of America.

Currently, Lindsey is an educator and debate coach in Kansas City. He was a part of the original planning group for Lee’s Summit 360.

This story was originally published March 27, 2015 at 7:09 AM with the headline "Two new faces are guaranteed on LS Board of Education."