Joplin School Board Candidate Forum - March 31, 2025
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Joplin School Board Candidate Forum - March 31, 2025
The forum was hosted by Lisa Oligus on KGCS TV and featured four candidates—incumbent David Weaver, Lori Musser, Derek Gander, and Thomas Ross—running for two seats on the Joplin School Board. The election is scheduled for April 8, 2025. Candidates answered six prepared questions on key district issues, followed by audience questions. No votes were taken; the forum provided a platform for candidates to express their positions.
Candidate Introductions
- David Weaver (incumbent): Instructional professor, former owner of Weaver Photography, 40+ years in district, four children, wants to serve for children and economic development.
- Lori Musser: Retired teacher, counselor, principal in Joplin; 38 years in education; wants to ensure best education for students, support teachers, and give parents a voice.
- Derek Gander: Former two-term board member, home inspector; two children in district; cites need for change and fiscal responsibility.
- Thomas Ross: Business owner, former city employee; two children; wants to fix issues before his daughter enters school.
Questions and Positions
Teacher Retention (Question 1)
- Lori Musser: Create high-quality work environments with support, resources, work-life balance, and appreciation.
- Derek Gander: Teachers need respect, should not spend own money, and must feel heard; noted that some teachers fear repercussions.
- Thomas Ross: Release “shackles” from educators; teachers should not be forced to remove entire class when one student misbehaves.
- David Weaver: Beyond salary, teachers need respect, support for discipline issues, and appreciation; Joplin ranks top four in salaries and number one in benefits in the region.
Shortages: Substitutes and Special Education (Question 2)
- Derek Gander: Board members should spend more time in classrooms; special education teachers need more support (paras).
- Thomas Ross: Board involvement is important; burnout from overwork must be addressed.
- David Weaver: Substitute pay raised, certification eased; special ed caseloads rising (autism 1 in 40); early intervention is key.
- Lori Musser: Suggested permanent building substitutes with benefits; also recommended using volunteers.
Student Behavior (Question 3)
- Thomas Ross: Remove cell phones; discipline starts at home; focus on education.
- David Weaver: Behavior starts at home; early childhood programs help; supports removing disruptive students even if it hurts attendance.
- Lori Musser: Build relationships, involve parents, provide more counselors and psychologists.
- Derek Gander: Disagreed with sending students home; instead keep them in a learning environment with support.
Cell Phone Policy (Question 4)
- David Weaver: Limit phone use; they detract from learning.
- Lori Musser: Not sure about current policy; sees benefits for accessibility but also distraction.
- Derek Gander: For banning phones entirely; they are a distraction.
- Thomas Ross: Supports a ban; students have Chromebooks for learning.
Early Childhood Expansion (Question 5)
All four candidates expressed strong support for adding preschool classrooms to every elementary school. They cited foundational benefits, equity, and social skill development. David Weaver noted that demand has grown from 157 to 417 students (2022–2025) and that the district is exploring funding for new rooms.
Artificial Intelligence (Question 6)
- Derek Gander: AI is cheating; opposes its use; supports in-school suspension for misuse.
- Thomas Ross: AI has no place in schools; it hinders critical thinking.
- David Weaver: AI is here to stay; needs a balanced approach—teach its use but prevent cheating; detection is difficult.
- Lori Musser: Agreed with Weaver; AI is inevitable; teachers need strategies and collaboration with stakeholders.
Federal Department of Education Shutdown (Question 7)
- Thomas Ross: Shift to local control is positive; focus on fiscal responsibility.
- David Weaver: Local control is best; concern about IDEA (special education) funding; Joplin is in strong financial shape.
- Lori Musser: Local control is good but worries about loss of funding for vulnerable students (special ed, Title I).
- Derek Gander: Supports local control; hopes funding is maintained but believes cuts to federal bureaucracy could free up more money for schools.
Biggest Challenges (Question 8)
- David Weaver: Student behavior and declining state revenue.
- Lori Musser: Teacher retention and quality work environment.
- Derek Gander: Support staff retention (bus drivers, cooks) and behavior; funding uncertainty.
- Thomas Ross: Funding, bus driver shortage, and classroom discipline.
Standardized Testing (Audience Question)
- Derek Gander: Against teaching to the test; wants change.
- Thomas Ross: Dial back testing; MAP testing has some value but is overemphasized.
- David Weaver: Supports monthly or incremental assessments rather than waiting seven months for MAP results; also look to industry feedback.
- Lori Musser: Data is important but standardized tests are too stressful; use informal daily assessments.
Tax Increases vs. Streamlining (Audience Question)
- Thomas Ross: No new taxes; look at top-heavy administration first.
- David Weaver: Tax increase is last resort; district has lived within its budget without new taxes.
- Lori Musser: Open to tax increase only if convinced it is right for students; district currently in strong financial shape.
- Derek Gander: No new taxes; teacher pay is more important than building upgrades.
Key Outcomes
- All candidates supported expanding early childhood education and voiced concern about teacher retention and student behavior.
- Divergent views emerged on cell phone bans (Derek and Thomas strongly in favor of a full ban; David and Lori more cautious).
- On AI, David and Lori favored a balanced approach, while Derek and Thomas wanted strict prohibition.
- Candidates universally expressed opposition to tax increases as a first resort, preferring to use existing reserves and evaluate administrative costs.
- The forum was informational; no decisions or votes were made. The election is April 8, 2025.
Meeting Transcript
Welcome to the Missouri Southern State University KGCSTV candidate forum. I'm Lisa Oligus, your host. And tonight we welcome four candidates vying for two positions on the Joplin School Board. The election takes place April 8th. The candidates include incumbent school board member David Weaver, an instructional professor of managerial accounting at Pittsburgh State University. Lori Musser, a former teacher, counselor, and principal at Joblin Schools, recently retired from MSSU as an academic success coach and coordinator of disability services. Then we have Derek Gander, a former two-term school board member elected in 2017 and 2020, and the owner of Premier Home Inspections in Joplin. And Thomas Ross, the business owner and former City of Joplin employee. Our forum will begin with each candidate having one minute to introduce themselves and tell us why they want to serve on the Joplin School Board. Then they will each be asked six questions prepared with input from local teachers, MSSU teacher education staff, and project state coordinators. Each candidate will have 90 seconds to answer. We will work our way down the line of candidates, giving each a chance to be the first to answer a question. After candidates have answered the prepared questions, we will open the forum to questions from our guests here in the council chambers if time permits. Questions can be directed to all candidates or to an individual candidate. But once answered, other candidates can offer an answer to the question posed by our audience. Now it is time for you all to tell us about yourselves and why you want to serve on the Joplin School Board. We begin with David Weaver. Good evening. My name is David Weaver, and uh I'm happy to be here tonight. Appreciate the invite. We uh I have served in a variety of roles in Joplin, longtime owner of Weaver Photography, uh long time with Quinnania Christian Campus Ministry out at Missouri Southern State University, and then also uh an accounting and finance instructional professor at Pittsburgh State University. Uh lived in the Joplin School District for a little over 40 years with my wife. We've been married 38 years, my wife Laura and I. We have four children, two grandchildren, and uh I want to serve on the school board, I believe, because it makes a difference in the lives of children. It impacts economic development and workforce development in Joplin, and I remember seeing those kindergarteners come into class the first day, the excitement, the anxiety, and it seems like no time, and they're graduating and they're sitting out an on-in's with 550 students with their cap and gown on, and you think how did that go by so quick. My son uh will graduate in this graduating class at Joplin High School. Uh my oldest granddaughter will start preschool. They live in the Joplin School District in the fall, so I've got a lot at stake. And I I love the children, I love our teachers, I love what they do for Joplin and developing and making this a great place to live. So excited to see a second term. Thank you, David. Now, Lori Musser. All right, thank you so very much. So, first of all, I just want to say I love my community and I'm willing to serve in this capacity. Not everyone is, and I wanted to take just a minute to commend all the candidates that you see up here that they are willing to serve and sacrifice time from their families. So thank you guys for that. Um, so as it was mentioned in my introduction, I have 38 years experience in education, so that passion kind of guides me in what I want to do as far as on the school board. First, first of all, I want to make sure that all students receive the best education that they can that we that can be be provided, and then also to support um teachers and staff, making sure that they have all the resources, um, the support, everything that they need to be able to do that job, and then also to allow parents to have that voice so they can share their input, share feedback, uh, make comments or ideas, and be able to listen to them and share that voice with others on the board. Um, and just do the best that I can for the kids of Joplin. Thank you, Lori. Thank you. Derek Gander. Um, my name is Derek Gander, my wife Kenna and I have two children in the district, uh, Briggs and Bailey. Um Briggs will be a senior next year, and Bailey will be entering uh high school next year, so I'm kind of excited for that. Um I'm running for the board. I think uh there's changes that need to be made. Um we're gonna see some things, some shortcomings. Uh with different financial uh I think there's some uh we're losing some money, or there's the possibility of losing some money. So I want to get back in there. Um my first two terms we were fiscally responsible or you know, and transparent and things like that, and I served Lori with you.
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