USD 232 school board candidates share views on special ed, AI in class, trans students and more

Candidates vying for three seats on the USD 232 school board addressed a variety of issues raised by readers at a forum hosted by the Johnson County Post on Thursday night.

They shared the views on special education services, teacher pay, use of AI in schools and policies impacting transgender students, among other issues.

The forum came on the eleventh of 12 scheduled nights of local candidate forums that the Post is hosting across Johnson County ahead of the Nov. 4 election. Nearly 60 people attended.

The event was held in the auditorium at De Soto High School, 35000 W. 91st St.

Who is running?

Member Area 4

• Lucy Rumsey DeWitt 
• Nancy Moneymaker *Did not participate due to a family obligation*

Member Area 5

• Christian Amend
• Calley Malloy (incumbent)

Member Area 6

• TJ Finan
• Brandi Jonasson (incumbent)

How to watch the Post’s forum

The Post livestreamed Wednesday’s event on our Facebook page. A recording of the forum can be viewed there, though it is now Facebook’s policy to erase live videos 30 days after they are produced.

You can also watch the full USD 232 school board forum on the Post’s new YouTube channel, where it should be preserved into the future.

The full forum videos are also embedded below:

Questions

The candidates gave opening statements and answered a series of questions based on reader feedback and suggestions received by the Post before and during the event.

The Post also asked a number of questions directly from the audience, submitted via index card during the event.

Timestamps are included at the end of each question to help you navigate through the forum video if you’d like to jump around to issues that matter most to you.

1. Opening statements [3:23]
2. Challenge/priority: What is the next big challenge for USD 232? And how will you address it over the next four years on the board? [10:52]
3. Budget and spending: Last month, the board approved the budget for the 2025-26 school year that estimates general fund spending at $64 million. The budget includes a mill levy, or property tax, rate that stays essentially flat at 61 mills. Do you think USD 232 is spending effectively on instruction that drives student outcomes? Why or why not? Use specific examples. [18:58]

   

4. Special education: From the audience, “What experiences, personal or otherwise, do you have that demonstrate your commitment to serving students with disabilities in our district. And how does that commitment extend to our special education educators?” [24:30]
5. Curriculum: This one also comes from the audience. “It was mentioned earlier math and literacy lacking… how does the school board influence that directly?” Of course, the state sets the standards but the school board has some decisions over what can get taught or what curriculum is used. [30:10]

   

   

6. Critical thinking/diversity: Another question from the audience, “How will you encourage an environment that invites critical thinking, empathy and diversity of perspectives in classrooms?” [35:21]
7. Public money to private schools: A person from the audience sends up this question, “Should public money go towards private schools?” or families sending their children to private schools or homeschooling. [39:52]
8. Transgender students: There has been much scrutiny in recent years on schools’ policies regarding transgender students. As a school board member, it’s partly your job to set policies that guide how schools accommodate all students. Do you support or oppose policies that allow transgender students to express their gender identity at school, specifically ones that may allow them to use their chosen pronouns or use a bathroom different from the gender they were assigned at birth? [45:04]

   

   

9. Artificial intelligence: From a reader email, “What is your position on student use of AI for homework and school projects?” You can certainly share how you feel about the use of AI in education but to broaden the scope of this question, I’ll ask: what do you see as the school board’s role in guiding schools and teachers on how to use AI, if at all, in class? [49:44]
10. Experience in classrooms: Consider this a prompt for a closing statement. It does come from an audience member. This person wants to know what your involvement in education and in classrooms has been up to this point. Have you been in classrooms recently, have you seen what goes on in them? What is your experience and how will that influence your work as a board member? [54:54]