West Plains, MO. – The West Plains R-7 School District Board of Education will elect three board members in this coming election on Tuesday, April 4th. Three members of the board are up for re-election (Jack Lee Freeman, Jr.; Christena Silvey Coleman; and Warren Reid Grigsby) and, there are two newcomers (Jodi Purgason and Scott Tuma) running for the open position.
News Team 7 will be releasing our interviews with each of the candidates throughout the week.
Today, we release the last, but certainly not least, of the five candidates: Lee Freeman:
Transcription by Rev.com
Nate Hudson: This is Nate Hudson with Ozark Radio News and News Team Seven. We are talking with Lee Freeman, who is up for reelection on the West Plains School Board of Education. He will be up for reelection. The election is on April 4th, and good morning.
Lee Freeman: Good morning. Thank you.
Nate Hudson: So starting off our interview, why are you running for school board yet again, and what are your qualifications?
Lee Freeman: Okay, so I’ve been on the school board now for 12 years at the end of this term. I enjoy working with others for the betterment of our children, the staff that work at the school, anything I can do to help that school, and help our community as well.
Nate Hudson: And as far as your qualifications outside of the 12 years on the board?
Lee Freeman: So I had an American Family Insurance office here in West Plains for 20 years. Just recently retired, and went right back to work two days after I retired for Ozark Hills Insurance. So I’ve got a little business background.
Nate Hudson: So obviously, you have participated in past board meetings. That would normally be my next question, but moving on from that, are you a parent and if so, do your children currently attend the district?
Lee Freeman: I am a parent, yes, but all three of my kids have gone through the West Plains school system and have since graduated. I do have a daughter that is a preschool teacher here at West Plains.
Nate Hudson: It’s good to see that they want to come back and teach here.
Lee Freeman: Exactly. Yes, sir.
Nate Hudson: So what do you believe are the top needs for the school district as it stands now?
Lee Freeman: Funding for teacher pay, number one. Our teachers, we have the best and teacher pay is just not high, but we have to work within our means. We do everything that we can to find funding. That’s number one. Safety is another thing. It’s an ongoing, we’re always learning about safety things, and that’s the best way to improve our safety. So those are the two major things right now.
Nate Hudson: So when it comes to all of the different kinds of students that we have across the district, from special needs to pre-K, all the way up to seniors looking to graduate and move on, how do you plan on addressing the needs of all of these different types of students?
Lee Freeman: That’s a collaboration between school board members, administration that we have put in. I’ll just say right now our administrators from building level all the way up into the administrative office, that’s what’s in their heart is what’s best for kids. And when we work together, we can achieve that.
Nate Hudson: So on the issue of boards, have you worked with any other boards to make budgetary or policy decisions outside of the school board?
Lee Freeman: Not really. I was on a park board for a while, but that’s the only other board that I’ve been on.
Nate Hudson: So I know you had mentioned teacher salaries. What were your budget priorities at the moment?
Lee Freeman: Obviously, we want to be able to pay our teachers what they deserve so we can retain. We’re fighting pay right now. We just have to find funding. The Missouri State legislature’s going to have to step up. And we do the best with what we’ve got.
Nate Hudson: So on the issue of funding, where does funding for the schools come from?
Lee Freeman: It comes from all over the place. We have county revenue that comes in. We have state revenue that comes in. We have federal revenue that comes in, and it’s limited each year. So we’re asked to do more and more with the same amount of money, or less sometimes. So it’s difficult. It really is. So we’re always looking for other avenues.
Nate Hudson: Well, you have already explained what would have been my next question, which would be educators’ salaries. Is there any benefits, do you think, that the teachers should get more than what they currently have?
Lee Freeman: We do have healthcare for them. Teachers’ salary in Missouri are low, it’s plain and simple. They are just low. And so we all are trying to put our heads together to find other ways for income.
Nate Hudson: Now moving on to some of the spicier questions. What is your view on school choice? That’s a very big topic right now in the legislature and everywhere else.
Lee Freeman: It’s very huge. It’s been on the ballot for years and years and years now. If it passes, we’re going to have to be careful because we’re going to be, you can’t just take them all in at one time. You’re going to have to limit it somewhere, you’ll have to, so we can have the adequate teacher classroom space.
What’s my view on that? It’s kind of mixed. I’ll just be honest with you. It’ll be interesting to see because it’s passed the house already and it’s in the Senate, but it’s going to change in the Senate. They’ll bring it back to the house. So we’ll just have to wait and see what comes of that.
Nate Hudson: So how do you feel about public funding for private and religious schools, tax money going to those types of schools, as opposed to public schools?
Lee Freeman: That’s a state mandate. There’s nothing we can do about it. So it’s interesting. It’s a hard topic. It really is.
Nate Hudson: All right. Well, moving on, another hard topic, but one that I’m aware that the school board is fully aware of is critical race theory.
Lee Freeman: Yes, sir.
Nate Hudson: And do you think that critical race theory is currently being taught in the school district?
Lee Freeman: Absolutely not.
Nate Hudson: All right. And my next question on that is, can you define what critical race theory is?
Lee Freeman: In my opinion, it’s the teaching of bad things that have happened to people, and the people that have caused those things to happen. And it’s, to me, it is just trying to drive a wedge further and be more divisive than what we are right now. And we don’t need that. We just don’t need that.
Nate Hudson: So another big thing that has been talked about in the legislature, I believe it has passed, is the senate bill that enacted a parent’s bill of rights. It goes further than what the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education currently has. I don’t know if you’ve seen it, or what are your thoughts on an expanded parents’ program?
Lee Freeman: I’m not very versed in that subject. Sorry.
Nate Hudson: Okay. Well we’ll go ahead and move on to my last question in that case. Last year Missouri passed SB 775. Now this dealt with banning books from school libraries. Usually, or mostly, on the depictions of sexual intercourse, genitalia, other material that these books might contain. My question is what are your views on book bannings, and have you read any books that have been banned from the schools recently?
Lee Freeman: I’m going to go back to something I said earlier. We have people in place from administrative down to building levels, to teachers, to librarians. We hire those people to do the day-to-day business of the school. School boards don’t micromanage. I don’t, that’s just me. I don’t. If we can’t trust the people that we put in those positions to make those decisions and bring recommendations to us, that’s the way it should be. School boards are, in my opinion, not micromanagers. That’s not what a school board is for.
Nate Hudson: All right. Well, I do believe that is all the questions that I have. Thank you so much, Lee, for coming in and speaking with us. Is there anything else you would like to add?
Lee Freeman: No, sir. I appreciate the opportunity to come in, and thank you very much.
Nate Hudson: And good luck to you on your election on April 4th.
Lee Freeman: Thank you.
