President, Board of Education, Columbia Public Schools

Professional background: My paying job is being a dental hygienist. I’ve been at CoMo Dental for 25 years.   

Hometown: Right here. 

Years lived in Columbia: 40+  

Favorite volunteer/community activity: Being on the school board! 

Favorite recent project: The district just completed an attendance-area change and, while that is never anyone’s favorite project, I was happy with how transparent the process was, and the efforts made to gather and incorporate feedback.  

Why you are passionate about your job:  Public education is the single most important investment our society makes in its citizenry. Every child deserves a quality, free education and there is no better mechanism to deliver that than our public schools. My job is to advocate for public education and to support the thousands of people doing that work. The passion comes easily because I fundamentally believe in the mission. 

How do you prioritize competing priorities? I would love to say I have mastered balancing my personal life and my school board life, but I haven’t. When I’m at work, I leave my phone on silent in my locker and don’t look at it until I’m done seeing patients. The same thing applies when I need to focus on my family — especially my kids. I put my phone in a drawer or turn it off.

Biggest lesson learned in business: Be mindful of every interaction. Even if someone has wronged you or made a mistake that you feel you have every right to point out, take a breath and ask yourself if you can let it go. Because this is Columbia, there is a 100 percent chance you will cross paths with that person at some point and you’ll be glad you didn’t burn a bridge. And always, always tell the truth. 

There’s a narrative, especially on social media, that the Board of Education rubberstamps administrative decisions.  I’d say anyone who has come to or watched a board meeting in the last couple of years would see regular, thoughtful engagement on the part of the board. It’s important to know that the bulk of what the board is asked to approve is operational and has therefore been vetted by multiple departments. 

It is not the role of the board to manage the daily operations of the district, but rather to keep an eye on the big picture and make sure procedures adhere to policy. I’ll also say that there is always time after the meeting agenda has been finalized for board members to ask questions of the superintendent and to have discussions with other board members (within the parameters of the Sunshine Law) and staff. A vote is a yes/no question but the path there is anything but binary. 

The next big challenge facing your industry or CPS: Decreasing tax revenue. A majority of the operating budget for CPS is funded by local tax dollars. The personal property tax freeze for seniors will have a detrimental effect on revenue starting in fiscal year ’25. And then there’s Senate Bill 727, which was unfortunately signed by the governor this year. This bill allows for charter schools in Boone County (and only Boone County) that are funded by both state and local taxpayer dollars. 

It is worth pointing out that charter schools in other parts of the state are only funded with state dollars and they are only authorized in districts that are unaccredited, have been provisionally accredited for three years, or have been approved by their locally elected boards. This means Boone County taxpayers — who were not given the opportunity to vote on how their tax dollars should be spent —  will have to pay more for charters than any other county in the state despite the fact that CPS is and has always been accredited. Obviously, the concern for CPS is that the same tax dollars will have to support multiple systems. It’s not sustainable. 

What you do for fun: I hoard collect vintage holiday ornaments and trinkets and craft them into wreaths and tabletop decorations. I never met a dusty box of someone’s grandma’s junk that I wasn’t excited to dig through. 

Who makes up your family: Andy, husband of almost 25 years and our two college-aged kids Nate, 19, and Anna, 21. Yes, we are empty-nest newbies! 

Favorite place in COMO: Downtown on a weekday, my screened-in porch in the evening, and anywhere my family is together.

Accomplishment you are most proud of: I’ve done two meaningful things in my life so far. One is raising my kids to be independent, kind humans. The other is serving on the school board as president. The first I always wanted to do and although I wouldn’t say it was easy, it came naturally. The second has placed me in situations to do things I didn’t know I could do, which has been both scary and hugely rewarding. 

Most people don’t know that you: Hate bananas. The smell, the taste, the texture — blech.