The Springfield Board of Education will start its year with a goal of working toward building some unity, but two split votes to elect its leaders showed plenty of work remains.
Danielle Kincaid was re-elected as president during a reorganizational meeting April 9 at Kraft Administration Center, while Judy Brunner was elected as vice president. Both were elected along the same 4-3 votes, with Kincaid, Brunner, Shurita Thomas-Tate and newly elected board member Susan Provance voting in their support, and board members Kelly Byrne, Steve Makoski and Maryam Mohammadkhani voting in opposition.
Reappointed to their positions were Deputy Superintendent of Operations Travis Shaw as the board’s treasurer, and Board Secretary Tammi Harrington. Both were named with 7-0 votes.
Scott Crise honored for service
Provance, Kincaid and Mohammadkhani were sworn into their positions April 9, after voters chose them as the top three finishers in the April 2 election. They finished over Landon McCarter, Chad Rollins, Kyler Sherman-Wilkins and one-term incumbent Scott Crise.
First elected in 2021, Crise was honored April 9 for his service and praised by fellow board members. In a statement before leaving the board, he praised district officials for getting a lot of hard work done together. He criticized the Springfield NEA for its endorsement process , yet acknowledged the teachers union has an important place in the district, and encouraged the new board to work toward a compromise.
He also praised his family and friends for the support, especially his daughters and wife. He fought back tears as he spoke about his wife, Martha.
“It’s been an honor serving with you, and I have gained a lot from each of you,” Crise said. “I do ask that you follow the board norms to work together. I challenge you to go back and thoroughly review the board’s self evaluations we recently completed. Be the better person, work together with each other and with Dr. Lathan for the betterment of the students of SPS.”
Kincaid re-elected for president
The process of choosing its leaders took about 30 minutes, as board members shared thoughts about getting past previous split votes and finding unity.
The nominations for president started with Byrne nominating Brunner, then asking for a second so that there could be discussion. Brunner immediately declined and nominated Kincaid.
Byrne said Brunner had the potential to better unite the board.
“I know you said you declined, but I’m hoping and asking you to consider to step up and lead this board in a moment where it needs you to do so,” Byrne said during the meeting. “A year ago today we had a very chaotic back and forth that resulted in 4-3 votes leading off. I believe we have an opportunity here, with a new board, to put someone in a leadership position that I believe the public has stated they know and trust, that is a champion of this district.”
Makoski pointed out Brunner’s experience in the education field — Brunner is a former teacher and principal in the district, including at Central High School.
“Every member that comes to this board is blessed to serve,” Makoski said. “You have served for so long, and I’d like to have you put that knowledge to work in this board for us to achieve bigger and better things.”
Mohammadkhani also paid tribute to the breadth of her experience, including a time where she was needed.
“You stepped up to lead Central, and you didn’t have to do that, and that was a really critical time for Central,” Mohammadkhani said. “I think that having you as president, you can be the glue for the board.”
While grateful for the confidence, Brunner said she felt she was not ready to hold the gavel.
“That skill set that I have, I will continue to use to the best of my ability to serve not only our community and our students,” Brunner said. “I just truly do not believe that this is the year for me to (be president).”
Because she declined the nomination, that left Kincaid as the only remaining nomination. Brunner said she nominated Kincaid because she has grown into the role and done a great job.
Before a final vote, board members opposed to her repeating as president said they were concerned about her role in creating division
Byrne, after last year’s flurry of frustrating nominations and struggle to elect a leader, said that Kincaid exceeded his expectations and did a lot of positive things as president, but said she has spoken critically in public about other board members in the past.
“Constituents showed a desire to be united, and I think the overwhelming support for both Provance and Brunner in the last two election cycles show that nonpartisan uniters and educators can lead us,” Byrne said. “I would ask leadership to be a uniter in all comments made, and try to understand that different board members choose to vote in different ways.”
Board members voted 4-3 in Kincaid's favor, with Byrne, Makoski and Mohammadkhani voting against.
Vice presidential choice also split
The board members who supported Brunner for president did not support her for vice president.
Mohammadkhani nominated Byrne for the post, citing his work on previous issues and his ability to develop relationships with others.
“My concern is, with Kincaid leading again, is that we are staring down the same barrel as we did a year ago, with a 4-3 split vote,” Mohammadkhani said. “We can work together, and I see Byrne as a person who has shown that he can do that.”
Makoski also supported Byrne, praising him for listening and proposing alternatives, as well as his work on Proposition S projects.
“That type of knowledge and that type of mentality needs to be in a position of leadership, and I think that should be you as vice president of the board,” Makoski said.
Provance praised Brunner as a principal and mentor of hers, and said she hoped board members who supported her just one vote ago could do so again, and give a 7-0 vote to a key leadership position.
“I appreciated all your kind words about Brunner. She was a great principal and mentor of mine,” Provance said. “I could tell that you were sincere in supporting her for the presidency, and I would hope that your support would roll to her as the vice president. This is a time where we can unite.”
Thomas-Tate said that true unity won’t depend on who is elected, but did have concerns with Byrne taking on the role based on a disagreement during a February meeting over what sort of authority board members have.
“I don’t know that either Byrne or Brunner is going to unify this board,” Thomas-Tate said. “This board will unify when all the board members decide that they want to be unified.”
Mohammadkhani said that Thomas-Tate’s comments only encouraged more division, and that the leadership posts needed to be balanced.
“You choose to serve differently than Byrne, and I think that is powerful. I value that beyond measure,” Mohammadkhani said. “Which is why I think it would be important to have somebody like him, who does serve differently, who can elevate the voices that don’t feel like they have a space on this board.”
Because two nominations were made, board members were given the chance to vote for their preferred candidate. Brunner won the vote over Byrne along the same 4-3 lines.
At the closing of the selection process, Kincaid said she heard concerns about her leadership and vowed to work toward unity.
“Every one of us sitting up here knows that this is not an easy job, so I’m not going to say that I haven’t made mistakes,” Kincaid said. “I look forward to serving as your president for another year and working with all board members to ensure that this is our board.”
