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Thomas-Tate, Brunner come out on top in Tuesday's Springfield Board of Education election

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The school board election featured candidates, Judy Brunner, Landon McCarter, Chad Rollins and incumbent Shurita Thomas-Tate.

After a contentious campaign in which an attack ad was launched against two candidates, the Springfield Board of Education election is over. Unofficial results show the winners are Judy Brunner with15,055 votes and Shurita Thomas-Tate with 13,143 votes. Landon Thomas was close behind Thomas-Tate — only 274 separated them. Chad Rollins was last with 11,877 votes.

An attack ad paid for by the PAC, SWMO Forward, which ran right before the election, called Thomas-Tate “anti-American” with Judy Brunner as a secondary target. It did not mention the other two candidates.

McCarter said on his campaign website he values “the Christian conservative foundation of our community and plan to represent that voice on the school board.”

Chad Rollins said he would support removing “politics and social agendas from the classroom to further improve the learning environment and promote focusing on the core curriculum.”

Shurita Thomas-Tate ran on the message that students must be safe, teachers must be supported, and parents must be engaged.

Judy Brunner promised to work to help kids catch up after the pandemic by providing safe learning environments, supporting family engagement and retaining quality staff.

Michele Skalicky has worked at KSMU since the station occupied the old white house at National and Grand. She enjoys working on both the announcing side and in news and has been the recipient of statewide and national awards for news reporting. She likes to tell stories that make a difference. Michele enjoys outdoor activities, including hiking, camping and leisurely kayaking.