Jefferson City Board of Education candidate interview: Cierra Griffin
COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)
ABC 17 News is talking to candidates in select April election races about their positions on key issues.
Below is the transcription of the full interview with Cierra Griffin, a candidate for the Jefferson City Board of Education. Griffin is one of seven candidates seeking three seats.
LUCAS GEISLER: Welcome, everybody, to the ABC 17 News, Your Voice, Your Vote voter guide for April 2026. I'm Lucas Geisler here with Cierra Griffin. Cierra, thank you so much for joining us today. Would you mind just by starting introducing yourself to our viewers and what it is that you're running for?
CIERRA GRIFFIN: Yes, my name is Cierra Griffin. Um, I am a parent of a student in Jefferson City School District. I am running for Jefferson City School District school board.
GEISLER: Do you mind giving us just a little background about yourself? How long have you been in Jefferson City, and what do you do around town now?
GRIFFIN: Absolutely. I've been in Jefferson City for 16 years now. I started off, early childhood, and so I've been there since then. I've done 14 years of service and education, and I'm willing to serve, so I decided why not step up and serve.
I also am a state education leader at DESE [Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education], and so I've been there for five and a half years now. Before then, I have a mental health experience and some early childhood and school counseling experience as well.
GEISLER: What inspired you to want to run for school board?
GRIFFIN: Well, my son has been in the school district since he was in preschool and we moved here. We never left and we've seen the ups, the downs, the growth, and I am happy to be running. I think that the school district is in a pretty good, you know, decent area, and I think that they are striving to make better efforts, so I am um happy to step up and serve.
GEISLER: What do you think is the biggest issue facing Jefferson City schools right now?
GRIFFIN: As of right now, like many districts, there's always going to be hiccups, and there's always going to be things that we can improve on, but I think that pimary mental health, I would say, and behavior right now would be one of the things. That and of course in retaining our teachers, but I think the district is doing really good work toward retention efforts, and so I think that if elected and with me being on board, I'll be able to contribute in some aspects for student mental health and behavior.
GEISLER: What are some, because you have an interesting background in this field, as well, so what are some of the issues you see when it comes to sort of mental health help with schools? What do you think the Jefferson City Schools maybe specifically needs in that regard? And as a board member, what would you like to do to sort of help in that regard, to sort of make things, make that issue better?
GRIFFIN: Absolutely. I think that the school district partners with community agencies around Jefferson City, and which I will, if elected, I would want to continue doing, but I think that there's a lot of resources out there for mental health that maybe the Jefferson City School District could benefit from. And with working for the state department we're able to kind of see at a broader lens what might the districts might need or resources that the district might be missing. And I think that me being elected on board, I'll be able to give some perspective or provide some insight on what issues might be concerning, you know, within our school district.
GEISLER: Sure. We also brought up retaining teachers as well. I know the district has made a push this year and for next year's budget to offer raises. With that of course comes also the health insurance costs as well... Pay is certainly one way of retaining teachers. Is that the only way in your mind, or are there other ways that, if elected, you'd like to look into to help retain some of the staff and faculty at Jefferson City Schools?
GRIFFIN: Absolutely. I think that, even when we talk about mental health, it's just not about students. I think we think about our teachers and their mental health, too, as well. And I think some retention incentives like would be beneficial, it wouldn't be just salary, you know? You have professional development opportunities, you have some leadership opportunities out there. And if funding allows, some of those things we could look at, and we can see what efforts we might make and what direction we might go toward. But because I'm not in seat, I don't know exactly what they've already put in. Well, I know some of the things they're putting in place because I've spoken to some of the district leaders, but then I also know that there's still room for improvement and growth too, as well, and I would like to look at the EAP and how we're using that and if there is something that we can shed light on that might help the growth and the teacher retention numbers too.
GEISLER: The district, like many districts across the state, are looking at how they're spending money. Costs are going up for every district, and there's certainly lots of questions on how schools will even get funded in the future and where money might be coming from in the years to come. How do you plan to approach a budget every year if you're elected -- it's one of the big jobs of the board members, is to oversee the budget -- make sure that it's set responsibly? What's your approach to handling that issue if you're elected?
GRIFFIN: If elected, I think that it would be a group effort. I think that it's not a one-person decision on how we approach the budget, and I would think that, with other candidates, I would be able to look at the previous budget and kind of see what gaps we might have in the budget and what could we use less of or what we can put in place. What do we have money and resources for? What are we not using money for, and you can see that gauging the previous budget and seeing what money, where money was spent and what might be missing, too, as well.
GEISLER: I want to ask you about school safety because it's huge for anyone in school. Parents, students, faculty, staff, a lot of people really are worried and interested in school safety. What's your approach, if elected, to ensuring that schools are safe? And this could be lots of different ways, for lots of different reasons, but what are your priorities as far as school safety goes if elected?
GRIFFIN: I think safety is a really big, big, big one right now. As you can see, all around, other states, safety is a big concern of a lot of parents and families out there, and I think that there's many ways we can approach safety, of course. And the first one is like making sure that kids want to come to school and they feel safe in their environment that they're in, and I think the school district is doing a pretty good job with that. I have a student in the district and he comes home, and he doesn't share any concerns about his safety, and I think that is a pretty good start there.
GEISLER: Anything that you see other districts doing? I know some schools introduce weapons detection systems. I mean there's lots of different ways that districts handle this. Anything specifically that you've seen that you'd like to maybe just have the district consider if you're on the board?
GRIFFIN: I think that other school districts also have other safety concerns, and so if we don't have those safety concerns in our school district, I wouldn't want to kind of, you know bring some of those. I would like to kind of see what they've already kind of been doing and take initiative on looking into that, as I was saying, if I was elected on board, because I don't want to speak too soon because when you get in there you get to realize some things and you get to like understand why they make certain decisions. And I, I wouldn't want to speak on ahead of myself, but I do know that safety for my student is a top concern as a parent, and I would want it to be a top concern of other parents, and I want to make sure that I ensure every family is safe and feels safe and every student feels safe to come to school and teacher as well, of course.
GEISLER: What do you feel like the school board's relationship is with the public right now, and if elected, is there something that you'd like to do to either improve the relationship, if you think it needs improving, or continuing the good relationship if you think there's a good open relationship there between the public and the school board?
GRIFFIN: To be honest, because ... I work for the state department, and I see from a broader lens. One of the reasons why I wanted to step up and run because I think that people in the education sector of every level, I think they need to be seen in the community and I think that is very important. And I think that the work that I do, in my work every day, I'm sure just like anyone else in education. We can do more, we can do more public service, we can do more engagement in a community, we can do more, but are we at a good spot? I think so. I think just visiting some PTO meetings and just coming to some of those things and seeing all the things that they're doing for family engagement and how engaged families are, and looking at that data, like it shows in the data, and it shows that it reflects on what the district priorities are. So I think if elected, those are things that I would want to continue doing.
