New JC school board members say administration needs transparency

ABC 17 News reached out to Jefferson City school officials after we were alerted to a closed-door school board meeting Friday afternoon.

The meeting was apparently scheduled last week knowing there could be two new board members elected by the voters.

We sat down with new board members Pam Murray and Michael Couty, and asked them why they think voters elected them with overwhelming margins.

“Our administration needs to back our employees.”

Those words have been said time and time again at school board meetings over the past year.

We spoke to Murray and Couty separately Friday, but the conversations were similar when we asked them about why voters handily put them in these positions.

“I think the voters are looking for transparency, they are looking for better support of our teachers.”

“I think from the very onset, I was wanting to talk about transparency and accountability.”

Backing teachers and handling discipline responsibly tops concerns for Murray.

“I think the attitude has certainly been presented, there is a feeling that problems are not to be brought to the board office and yet they are not being resolved at the school level,” said Murray.

The closed meeting Friday was about a behavioral audit, and an outside attorney from Kansas City was retained by the district. However, it’s still unclear why the board couldn’t wait until the new board was seated this Monday.