Jefferson City Board of Education candidate interview: Trent Vallandingham
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 Trent Vallandingham, a candidate for the Jefferson City Board of Education. He is one of seven candidates seeking three seats.
LUCAS GEISLER: Welcome everyone to the ABC 17 News, Your Voice, Your Vote voter guide for April 2026. I'm Lucas Geisle,r joined here by Trent Vallandingham. Trent, thank you so much for joining us today. Would you mind by starting to introduce yourself to our viewers and what it is you're running for?
TRENT VALLANDINGHAM: Thanks for, first, for having me and for the viewers for tuning in. Again, my name is Trent Vallandingham. I'm a candidate for Jeff City School Board. There's three open positions. We're losing some really quality board members from the board, some of which have been there for over a decade. So, I think that our public schools are important.
A little bit about myself: I'm a 2002 Jefferson City graduate. I went K through 12 through Jeff City. My wife is, she taught at Jeff City. She was a principal at Jeff City. She's in education. I have two children in public education. Both my parents were teachers in the Jeff City Public School District most of their career... They spent a few years in little towns before that, but, I think that, you know, when we're younger, we take things for granted. I think that one of those things for me is really that -- what public education did for me. So when we get older, we start to realize how important our education was, whether it's the connections we made, the skills we learned, the activities we did, how they made us stronger. So when I see people that are leaving the school board, there's three spots open. It was really a call to action for me. 'Hey, let's try to help out the community.' So that's why I'm here.
GEISLER: And what do you do for a living in Jefferson City, Trent?
VALLANDINGHAM: So I'm, I'm actually in medical device sales. I've been doing it for 15 years. It's been a great career for me... When I have success, sales-wise, people are getting on their feet quicker after surgery. It's meaningful work, and that's important.
GEISLER: You went into a little bit about your background with the school district and what inspired you when it came time to file for candidacy. What inspired you to want to run for school board? Why do you want to be on it?
VALLANDINGHAM: More than anything else, it's just, I think that it's my children, to be honest.
When you're younger, you don't, when you have children, it changes your perspective on things, so as I watch my children, and the success they have in public schools and in the support they have and how much they've grown, it kind of made me go back in time and and think about all the educators that I had that had a big impact on my life. I just want to run. I would love to be on school board so that I can give back to that. I can try to help those educators if they have issues. I need to make sure that we don't lose great educators and that public education gets the credit it deserved and that also we keep JC Schools in a good spot where our constituents feel like their taxpayer money is going to a good thing that helps kids and helps their community.
GEISLER: What do you think is the biggest issue facing Jefferson City schools right now?
VALLANDINGHAM: I think teacher shortage is probably the easy answer, and it's probably the right answer. I think sometimes the most obvious thing is the right thing, so I think that teaching is, it's incredibly difficult to be an excellent teacher. I know firsthand through my parents, through my wife, that the work doesn't stop when you leave school, you know, you bring a lot of baggage home with you. You have kids that are struggling to meet basic needs at home, so a lot of times teachers become that support that they get during the day. There's a lot of teachers that deal with that kind of stress on a day-to-day basis while they're trying to deliver great education so, you know, obviously, things like salary things aren't getting cheaper, there's a lot more pressure financially on school districts these days. So I think that I'd say teacher retention is the most important thing right now.
GEISLER: In regards to pay, the district is offering some raises in their next budget year, but you kind of mentioned that districts, including Jefferson City, are really probably looking at rising costs for running the district and lots of questions on where the money is going to come from in the future for the schools as well. What do you bring to the table that you think when it comes to help forming the budget ... like helping oversee the money being spent by the school district, and that it's, you know, doing so responsibly.
VALLANDINGHAM: I don't think there's any magic bullet when it comes to budgeting and being financially solvent and making sure that things are being done correctly. I think that every decision we need to make, we need to say, 'Is it good for students, and is it good for our students? Is it good for our teachers to help move our district forward?'
But we also need to make sure the budget is balanced. We need to make sure that every decision we make is, when we talk to our constituents about it, it's defendable. We need to make sure that we are being very good stewards of the taxpayer money that we receive. Pay is certainly one way of trying to deal with teacher recruitment and retention.
GEISLER: Is there anything else come to mind that you'd like to do if you're on the school board to help keep staff around?
VALLANDINGHAM: Well, you know, I think a lot of it, a lot of it depends on the process when someone leaves ... I think it's important that we reach out and get, you know, 'Hey, shoot me straight, why are you leaving the profession, are you leaving the district for another school? Are you leaving the profession altogether?' I mean, I think unless, until you know what the issues are, I don't think there's a good solution. So I think that we absolutely have to be getting that feedback, good, bad or indifferent.
GEISLER: I feel pretty comfortable saying that school safety is pretty top of mind for a lot of people no matter what school they go to, no matter where they're at in the country. And school safety takes on a lot of different kind of aspects, a lot of different forms. What's something that you're hoping to get done if you're elected to the board, as far as keeping schools safe?
VALLANDINGHAM: I think that Jeff City schools have a, there's a very good relationship with the JCPD [Jefferson City Police Department] right now. I know some officers, and they don't, they send their best to protect the kids at school, you know? Obviously that, that's front line, we're talking about security. Also our counselors in the schools, they do a fantastic job. The teacher, and it, and it really starts with the teacher, like I said earlier, when a kid's struggling, if a kid's being bullied, teachers are, they're very perceptive, and they're very good about getting these children the support they need to where they don't feel depressed, they don't feel threatened, they feel safe. So I think that a good unit is, it's all things coming together to protect the children.
GEISLER: You think more like, in that vein, do you think more SROs [school resource officers] are needed? Do you think more counselors are needed? Anything that you'd like to, on the board, be encouraging on school safety?
VALLANDINGHAM: I don't want to say that without being in those meetings and getting that feedback from the schools themselves. I think, when you ask counselors, they'll tell you if we need more support. I think the important thing is, in my job, a lot of what I deal with is feedback, right? If I'm in a medical procedure and a device doesn't work correctly, that feedback is, I have to listen. I have to listen. I have to take in the feedback and then try to help make a decision based on that. I think that being on the school board would be the same way. 'Hey are you supported enough? Do you have enough resources, or what specifically is a problem?' And then you go from there. I've never felt like there aren't enough SROs in our district. I think they do a good job. They're, those officers are a fixture in the schools, and they know the kids as well as the teachers do. So, it's really a neat relationship that they have, so I think. I don't, I don't want to take the easy way out, but I think a lot of these things, it's, 'Hey, do, do we have the information we need to make a decision?
GEISLER: What do you think, speaking of relationships, what do you think is the is the current relationship between the school board and the public in Jefferson City? Is it something you think there's a good open communication and relationship there, or is there something if you're elected you'd like to improve on that?
VALLANDINGHAM: I think the residents should always feel like they ... all the school board information is on the district website, and I would encourage anyone if they have any concerns whatsoever, reach out to the school board members. I always think that, if it's an issue with, if it's a question about a teacher or a school function, I think that I would say it's always best to go through the chain of command, reach out to the school if a parent has an issue. Reach out to the school, but if it's when those things are, it's when they're elevated to school board level that you would get involved. I mean, my email will always be checked, my phone will always be checked if there's issues. I want to hear about good, bad, or other. But I think that's how things need to be handled.
