The Mexico Public School Board meeting on Tuesday, May 17 was a mix of routine and reaction.

Among the routine celebrations of service, the board presented Golden Apples to the 20 district retirees of 2021-22, and featured Haley Schafer in the Staff Spotlight for May. They also recognized two employees of the month: Molly Clark, an Early Childhood Teacher at McMillan Early Childhood Center (with the district for six years), and Jena Coleman, a para-professional at Eugene Field (with the district for 2.5 years).

Other positive highlights included board member Nicole Jahn commending the FFA students who won awards and recognition at SkillsUSA, and board member Marci Orr praising the engagement reflected in the JAG reverse career fair and the REAL simulation at Mexico High School.

In addition to the celebrations and commendations, the school board also included some commentary and criticism from some members of the community. The first of the two, Dusty Blue, expressed his concern over a variety of different issues which he felt reflected political bias being promoted in the district. He then directed his comments to demanding the resignation of Marci Orr, one of the elected board members. Blue said he felt she had misrepresented some aspects of a bill allowing for open enrollment in school districts. He claimed that by offering her understanding of the possible impacts on her social media page and in an interview she did with KXEO, she was not putting students and teachers first.

Orr has clarified that she had posted comments to her personal social media page, speaking as a community member and long-time public education supporter, and not in her role as a school board member. The same is true of her radio interview, which focused on the comments from her social media post.

The second patron and community member to voice concern and criticism was Randy Cash, who felt that another board member, Kara Clovis, had made comments on social media during an open investigation of a bullying incident which showed bias and were a violation of the school district’s own policies. He concluded his comments by saying Clovis should, “step down or we will be forced to move forward with your removal.”
The referenced quote was, “Perception and descriptive summaries can change a narrative to favor either party.”

When asked about the comment, Clovis said, “understandably, the statement could have been worded differently to provide a better understanding of the true meaning behind it. I did not intend for it to be viewed in a biased manner or to insinuate the innocence or guilt of anyone, but merely as an opportunity for the engaging community members to approach in any given situation with empathy and the understanding that perception varies from each one of us depending on interpretation and past experiences.”

She went on to say that she is committed to working toward the well-being of the student body as a whole and is glad for input and participation from community members in change process as she learns to do that better.

When board of education president Keith Louder was asked about the process regarding demands for resignation, he explained, “Once a member is elected, they are bound by the Missouri ethics standards. If a member violates those standards, then there is a process for removal. While the public can make a statement asking for removal, since the members are elected, the ethics standards are what applies.”

As for next steps by the board, Louder shared, “The BOE heard the patrons’ items, and some of those items are being directed to the groups within the district that have the most knowledge of the situations brought to the attention of the board.”