Fourth in a series of candidate profiles to be published Feb. 7-Feb. 16. Profiles are being published in order names will appear on the ballot.
Scott Crise knows what it’s like to see something big get built.
The manager of gas plant operations for Associated Electric Cooperative Inc. has devoted his career to utilities operations and management. As he has worked in the power industry, he has helped develop plants that serve large populations.
Crise, 58, is running for a second term on the Springfield Board of Education. First elected in 2021, he is currently the board’s vice-president.
After growing up in the northwestern Chicago area, Crise in 1987 earned a bachelor’s degree in petroleum engineering from the University of Tulsa. That was a year when the industry was down, so finding a job was almost impossible, he said.
He went back to school and earned a bachelor’s in mechanical engineering, and quickly had opportunities in oil fields around Bakersfield, California. A summer job turned into a full-time job.
After returning to the Chicago area to work for a fertilizer-based co-op, the opportunity to work for AECI arose when that group was building a selective catalytic reduction system for its New Madrid coal-fired power plant on the Mississippi River at the top of the Missouri Bootheel. He started as a mechanical engineer.
“It was to reduce (levels of nitrogen oxides) in power plants down in New Madrid,” Crise said. “They didn’t have anybody with experience in fertilizer ammonia like I do, so there was a natural fit.”
Crise moved to Springfield in 1999 for work, but quickly got involved with his daughters' schools. Crise took the chance to volunteer with the PTA groups over 15 years at Sequiota Elementary, Pershing Middle School and Glendale High School. He helped set up a WatchDOG Dads group at Sequiota in 2005.
He was also a board member for the Foundation for SPS. During his time on that board, he helped create the Back to School Grant campaign, which funds classroom projects proposed by SPS teachers.
Fortunately for Crise, his job takes him to a place he likes to be: the Great Outdoors.
In addition to golfing and fishing, Crise enjoys boating at Lindenlure, where his family has a cabin. Crise’s boat is a simple deck plate on top of two pontoons, powered by a small trolling motor. The small waterway doesn’t offer enough space for boats that are much larger, but that’s kind of the point of that bend in the Finley River.
Motivation for running
Crise's previous involvement with school-related groups is part of why he cast an eye toward the Springfield Board of Education. He felt his experience with construction and his passion for education would make a good fit for the board, but didn’t want to run until his daughters neared graduation.
Crise was first elected in 2021, in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic that transformed instruction methods.
“I have a real passion for education, and I have experience in construction management, budgeting and long-term planning,” Crise said. “It seemed like a natural fit.”
Strongest qualification
While Crise is proud of his work with PTAs and other volunteer groups, he said his experience connected to construction is his best qualification for the job.
Springfield Public Schools is in the midst of building projects attached to a $220 million bond issue that voters approved in 2023. That list includes new homes for Reed Academy and Pipkin and Pershing middle schools, as well as a number of security upgrades and safe room constructions.
He said he proposed the use of Navigate Building Solutions, a construction consultation firm, to ensure the school district can eliminate needless expenses within each of the projects.
“In my experience, if we don’t have any experience with a certain piece of equipment, we hire an engineer who helps oversee and come up with specifications, so that they are not overbuilding,” Crise said. “We were trying to provide the most economical power for our member owners.”
Like AECI, Crise said that Springfield Public Schools is also a non-profit group, and that means it’s important to ensure that new buildings are adequate, and not overbuilt.
“Taxpayers overwhelmingly passed the bond issue,” Crise said. “I want to use my experience in operations and construction , as well as budgeting within our larger strategic plan, to really make sure we are the best stewards of taxpayers’ revenue.”
Editor’s note: This story is part of an ongoing series in the Hauxeda’s coverage of the April 2024 election for the Springfield Public Schools Board of Education.
