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.
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.
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.