West Plains, MO. – The West Plains R-7 School District Board of Education will elect three board members in this coming election on Tuesday, April 4th. Three members of the board are up for re-election (Jack Lee Freeman, Jr.; Christena Silvey Coleman; and Warren Reid Grigsby) and, there are two newcomers (Jodi Purgason and Scott Tuma) running for the open position.
Our first interview is with challenger Jodi Purgason:
Transcription by Rev.com
Nate Hudson:
This is Nate Hudson with Ozark Radio News. Today I’m speaking with West Plains School District School Board candidate Jodi Purgason. Good morning.
Jodi Purgason:
Good morning, Nate.
Nate Hudson:
Why are you running for the school board and what experience do you have with education?
Jodi Purgason:
I’m running for the school board because I’m extremely passionate about this community. The kind of education I have, well, I don’t have much to be honest with you. I graduated from the senior high in West Plains in 2011. I’m a very passionate mom and I’m very passionate about my community and that’s really what I’m running on.
Nate Hudson:
When it comes to the school board, have you participated in any of the board meetings in the past, or have you ever gone to any of them?
Jodi Purgason:
Yes, I have.
Nate Hudson:
Okay. You said you’ve got three young children, but they’re not currently attending?
Jodi Purgason:
They are currently attending.
Nate Hudson:
Oh, they are.
Jodi Purgason:
My youngest is three and he will attend South Fork Preschool next year, the year 2024. Actually, the year after this school year coming up. My oldest is in third grade and my middle is in first.
Nate Hudson:
All right. All at South Fork Elementary?
Jodi Purgason:
Yes. I will have kids in this district for the next 15 years.
Nate Hudson:
Since you are running for the school board, have you been part of any other boards that have made policy decisions or budget decisions?
Jodi Purgason:
I have not, but I am very well aware of that kind of policymaking. I am currently a part of our local UFRW, United Federation of Republican Women. We stay very up on current bills that are about to be passed or wrote. I am very involved with local politics.
Nate Hudson:
All right. When it comes to the school district, what do you believe are the top needs for the West Plain School District at this time?
Jodi Purgason:
At this time, I believe that there needs to be more parent involvement. Covid has really restricted parents’ involvement I believe, and I want to get back to pre-Covid policies. Our parents are extremely important and I feel like their needs have not been met and their voices have not been heard or valued. I believe that we need to bring some humility to the board and really just get our parents back in the schools because it’s better for our children. Believe it or not, our educators want them in there as well. As a whole, that just makes things run smoother and our children, it just supports them even more.
Nate Hudson:
Where would you like to see the school focus money on as far as addressing certain issues?
Jodi Purgason:
I guess what I’m trying to say is budget wise, I would like to see all the arts programs and the sports get a little bit more equal. I feel like there’s a lot of kids that, not necessarily neglected, but are kind of struggling behind, I guess you could say. We are very sports affiliated and I feel like there are other areas that can really improve. There’s a lot. Our arts program, I feel, is suffering.
Nate Hudson:
How will you address the different needs of all students? As there are some special needs, there are other cases, students that are bullied as well as students that are top of the class and are doing very well.
Jodi Purgason:
Yes.
Nate Hudson:
How would you address all those needs?
Jodi Purgason:
I would, first of all, listen to them. I don’t feel like all the needs are being listened to. I feel like there are other things that take priority and that there is a huge void that needs to be filled. I feel like there are parents that come to the school district and the board with their concerns, but they are not heard. I really feel like that is a huge deal. I feel like if we could work together with the parents, we would get things done and improve things. Bullying is a huge issue. It just is. It’s not just in our district, but as a whole. I feel like maybe if our teachers felt like they had a board that really had their backs, then we could get some things really significantly changed.
Nate Hudson:
When it comes to bullying, I’m going to go a little further in this line of questions. What kind of changes would you like to see made?
Jodi Purgason:
I would like to see stricter policies put in place as far as there’s a no nonsense, if it’s a first time offense, that’s understandable, but after that we need to implement stricter rules and implement stricter consequences. Maybe even involved law enforcement or something like that. These kids have got to be held accountable. Just because their children doesn’t mean that they can just get away with it.
Nate Hudson:
Should you become part of the school board, what do you think you could do to help make children feel more comfortable about coming forward? I am aware that is one of the big problems that a lot of children face. They are scared to come forward because if they do come forward, they feel that nothing will be done and it’ll just draw more attention from a bully.
Jodi Purgason:
Once again, I feel like if their bullies actually got consequences that would keep them from doing that, that would help tremendously. I understand this because my son has gone through the same thing. He’s finally hit his bully back or whatever, or stopped putting up with it and he ends up getting in trouble. I feel like we just really need to implement some major restrictions. Safety is a huge thing too. I don’t know if we need to get some more resource officers in there or whatever, or whatever we need to do, but there are ways to make this a better school as far as that goes.
Nate Hudson:
Now, I suppose we’re going to move a little bit further down on the monetary aspect of things. When it comes to educator salaries, teacher benefits, what are your views on those? Do you think West Plains is adequate or does it need to be increased, decreased? Where are we?
Jodi Purgason:
I think it needs to be increased. I personally have spoke to teachers in privacy, of course, not publicly, but in privacy that they are struggling. Another thing, parent involvement does help with that a lot too. At least with staff work, I know that there’s a lot of parent involvement. If our teachers need anything, they reach out, but they do, they are hurting big time. There’s so many administrators in West Plain School District that I feel like that might, I don’t know if that takes away from the educator salary or not. I’ve got a lot to learn, but I’m willing to learn it all.
Nate Hudson:
As you say, you do have a lot to learn. One of the things I am curious on is, do you know or can you explain where the money to fund the school district comes from?
Jodi Purgason:
It comes from basically tax dollars and government funding.
Nate Hudson:
From what I understand about that, the largest portion comes from property taxes.
Jodi Purgason:
Yes.
Nate Hudson:
That is collected by the state.
Jodi Purgason:
Yes.
Nate Hudson:
Following that, there is some federal funds that go into it. State lottery as well. Getting into a bit more of the more interesting questions, stuff that has been topics in the local news, coffee shop talk as you were. I want to ask you about school choice and what your view on school choice is.
Jodi Purgason:
That’s a loaded question because I have a lot of thoughts on that. I’m actually originally from Junction Hill School District, so I’m a huge supporter of our rural schools, and I’m a huge supporter of our community as a whole. And that’s not just West Plain School District. That is all of our rural schools included. Honestly, I can totally see us going towards school choice. I think that it would benefit the community astronomically. Whenever I say that, I’m not against any school district or West Plain School district, I just know that West Plains as a whole has a huge area of needs that need to be met. I don’t know that West Plains District can just meet that by itself. I do think that that would give parents more right to education for their children, and I am 100% for that.
Nate Hudson:
How do you feel about public funding going towards private schools and religious schools?
Jodi Purgason:
Public funding going towards-
Nate Hudson:
One of the issues with school choice is it would take tax dollars and move those from public schools to private and religious schools.
Jodi Purgason:
If you chose to put your child in a private or religious school, yeah, I mean, once again, it gives the parent more rights to do that.
Nate Hudson:
Okay. Another big heavy question is, do you think that critical race theory is being taught in our school district? Can you define what CRT is?
Jodi Purgason:
Critical Race theory is basically, first of all, it’s not being implemented right now, but I think in the very near future it will be. We are progressing extremely fast, scarily fast. Critical race theory is basically to our educators really narrow down on racism as a whole, and I feel like personally with us being such a small town and family values and common sense that we don’t have room for racism here, which there might be, but it’s not to an extent that that needs to be taught.
Nate Hudson:
Now, as far as, can you define what critical race theory is as far as how it is taught? Well, really what the theory is in general?
Jodi Purgason:
Oh my God, I don’t know why I’m drawing such a blank. I’m seriously so nervous.
Nate Hudson:
Well, from what I understand about the critical race theory is that critical race theory is a political theory, so political science theory that historically the US has had laws enacted that were based on race and how those laws through the past and public perception have continued into the modern day and that some of those laws, while not particularly framed with the same wording, come to the same effect.
Jodi Purgason:
Yes. I’m 100% against it because I feel like we’re beating a dead horse. I feel like there’s division across the board, and I really think we need to focus more on unity instead of continuing to, like I said, beat a dead horse.
Nate Hudson:
Another topic that’s been a very big thing, and I’m sure with your Republican women’s group, you’ve probably heard about this and talked about this. The Missouri Senate recently passed a bill in enacting a parent’s bill of rights. Now D.E.S.E. has already had a parent’s bill of rights beforehand. This further expands on it. What are your thoughts about this bill?
Jodi Purgason:
I am very excited about this bill because once again, I feel like our education systems have really lost touch with our parents. Once again, this is a school district, but the children are ours. They belong to us and we need to know what they’re learning, what they’re doing every day in schools and what their curriculum is and what’s being implemented on them. I’m in huge support of this and I think it’s in the right direction.
Nate Hudson:
My last question for you is another rather heavy question, and that is, last year Missouri passed SB 775, this banned a number of books that had to deal with sexual intercourse, genitalia, and other materials. What are your views on the book banning number one?
Jodi Purgason:
I do not believe any of those books have any place in our educational systems, in our schools, period. If you want to go home and read that book, great. If your parents want to show you this book, great. Once again, parental rights. I do not want my kids going to school and then me having them coming home and me having to explain to them things that I’m not ready to explain to them.
Nate Hudson:
Okay. One of the next things I’m going to ask is have you read any of these? Are you aware of any of the books that were banned?
Jodi Purgason:
I have. I haven’t read any of them personally, but I have seen children along with their parents go to school boards and read out of these very descriptive, very perverse books. I can’t tell you which one off the top of my head, which ones they are, but they’re terrifying.
Nate Hudson:
Okay. Some of the books include Shakespeare.
Jodi Purgason:
Okay.
Nate Hudson:
Homer’s The Odyssey.
Jodi Purgason:
Okay.
Nate Hudson:
The Children’s Bible is one of them. Let’s see. Honestly, I’ve got a list of 300 of them.
Jodi Purgason:
Gotcha.
Nate Hudson:
You believe that those should not be allowed K through 12?
Jodi Purgason:
I believe that our education systems should not be teaching our children anything that we are not aware of or agree with, period. They go to school to learn their math and arithmetic. They don’t go there to get political views or worldly views put in their heads.
Nate Hudson:
All right. Well, that is the last of my questions. Again, thank you for coming in, and good luck to you when it comes down to the April 4th election.
Jodi Purgason:
Thank you very much for having me on.
