Columbia Board of Education candidates focus on transparency, policy improvements when addressing bullying

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

Three seats are up for grabs in the Columbia Board of Education election with all four candidates highlighting bullying as a major issue in the district that needs to be addressed.

Four people are running for three spots. Board President John Lyman, Vice President Paul Harper and Boardmember April Ferrao are trying to retain a spot on the board, while Dr. Keary Husain is looking to get on the board for the first time.

According to a survey for the 2025-26 school year, About 65% of students surveyed say bullying is not tolerated, but that enforcement was not consistent. The survey says 63% of responding students said their school atmosphere was mostly encouraging, but wanted more inclusiveness and fairness.

Lyman considered the bullying policy as "one place I'd like to see the district get better at." Lyman added that he wants to make bullying reports more accessible and make the process of following investigations clearer.

"It's moving the bullying report that's kind of hidden right now on our website to and up front and top of mind," Lyman said. "Something that's easier to access for our families so that they know, 'hey, if this is happening, this is where you go, this is what you do, these are the next steps, these are the things that happen after you've done that report, so that there can be resolution."

LINK: Full interview with John Lyman

Husain similarly wants clearer ways to report bullying and more transparency in reporting data. He says this would be to make sure policies are being enforced equally across buildings.

"If you are reporting everything in a transparent fashion, you can see that, maybe 20 incidents were reported, but we're only seeing data on the outcome of two," Husain said. "Not everyone comes to the board meeting, not everyone streams the board meeting, not everyone is privy to the data or has a computer at home, just making this, 'this is what's happening in CPS.'"

LINK: Full interview with Keary Husain

Ferrao said the district's bullying policy is something the Board of Education wants "to get right." Ferrao adds she wants to make sure the policy is enforced and is well-documented

"Making sure that parents are informed, also making sure that there's resources given to both the victim and the accused bully, making sure that we have data, making sure that if something is reported, it is written, it is documented it, so we can make data-driven decisions on that," Ferrao said.

LINK: Full interview with April Ferrao

Harper said that he believes bullying isn't being reported on as well as it should be. He similarly wants to make sure the district has adequate resources for student and parent support. Harper added that along with improving the policy, operations and district culture should also be addressed.

This includes setting clear expectations for staff and adding more procedures to clear up confusion.

"Making sure students who are bullied are supported, ensuring that the staff is doing what they need to do to process those things," Harper said. "We need to make sure we're supporting them [students] whether or not it actually fits under the definition of bullying, so we're we're making a policy so that all of those things happen."

LINK: Full interview with Paul Harper