Meet the 6 candidates running for Piper Board of Education in Wyandotte County
Six candidates are vying for three spots on the Board of Education of the fast-growing Piper School District.
On Nov. 4, voters will choose their leaders for Piper USD 203, which serves 2,800 students in Kansas City, Kansas, west of Wyandotte County Lake and north of the Legends. The three candidates with the most votes will get seats on the school board.
In April, voters overwhelmingly rejected a $32.5 million bond for building maintenance and upgrades for Piper schools.
In the last 10 years, the district’s enrollment climbed more than 40%, from 1,988 students in 2014-15 to 2,831 in the 2024-25 school year, according to the Kansas State Department of Education.
Only one incumbent, Julian Wells, is running for a seat on the seven-member board, while current members Desiree’ Fergus and John Bakarich opted to leave their positions.
All candidates, except for Mark Gilstrap, filled out a candidate questionnaire compiled by Piper High School students. Those five candidates said they have children or grandchildren attending Piper schools.
In addition, Melanie Bakarich, Scott Grause, Alexander Morales and Julian Wells attended a candidate forum in early October.
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The Star Editorial Board will not endorse a candidate in the Piper Board of Education race, but makes endorsements for other Wyandotte County races. The Opinion staff is independent and editorially separate from The Star’s newsroom.
Melanie Bakarich
Melanie Bakarich is the president of the board of directors for the Piper Educational Foundation, which raises money for the schools. She also serves as treasurer of the Piper High School PTA and owns a construction company with her husband.
At the candidate forum, Bakarich said, “I am running for the board because I want to bridge some gaps. I never saw as much divide as I did in the past bond issue.”
Piper USD’s proposed bond would have accounted for 38% of district residents’ property tax bills, roughly $69 per $1,000 property valuation rate. The April election marked the school district’s fifth ask for bonds since 2007.
Mark Gilstrap
Mark Gilstrap filed for Piper school board and Unified Government mayor races at the same time, according to the Wyandotte County Election Office. In August, he came in fourth place in the mayoral primary, missing the general election.
Gilstrap served as Kansas state senator from 1997 to 2009 for the Democratic party, and ran for his previous seat as a Republican three times since 2012. Gilstrap worked in the UG’s finance department for more than 30 years before his retirement.
Scott Grause
Scott Grause works as a construction project manager. In the fast-growing Piper school district, Grause believes in keeping all kindergarten to fifth grade students in the same school, instead of expanding into separate campuses.
He said at the candidate forum, “I think the biggest thing the families want is they want a voice to be heard about what is happening in the school district.”
Patty Jurich
Patty Jurich served as the president of the Kansas State PTA from 2021 to 2023, and has been appointed to Kansas State Department of Education committees since 2009. Jurich’s website says she volunteered at schools for 40 years and supports “protecting parental rights” and “curriculum transparency.”
In her questionnaire, Jurich said she will encourage monitoring the progress of all students, especially those who have disabilities, deal with language barriers or live in poverty.
Alexander Morales
Alexander Morales owns a small marketing business, teaches design at Kansas City Kansas Community College and coaches youth soccer. In his questionnaire he wrote he will advocate for school funding in the Unified Government and the state capitol.
At the candidate forum, Morales said, “I think that it’s incredibly important that we not only set a high expectation for ourselves here, but that Piper sets an expectation in the state of Kansas.”
Julian Wells
Julian Wells has served on the Piper Board of Education since 2022. He works in health care, fitting arm prosthetics. In the candidate forum, Wells said he wants to look at grants and other ways to bring money to the district.
He said, “That’s what I’m really here for is to figure out how we can maximize Piper — not just the people that are getting paid to work here, but the community members.”
The Star’s Sofi Zeman contributed to this report.
