Grandview Residents to Vote on $9 Million in Bond Debt, School Board Candidates

Image credit: marinini / 123RF Stock Photo

Voters in the Grandview School District will have choices to make in the April general election. Four candidates — including one incumbent — are campaigning for two open seats. In addition, voters will decide whether to allow the district to take on an additional $9 million in school bond debt.

Candidates

The incumbent is Cindy Bastian. Challengers are Larry Lewis, Michelle Shackelford and Geoff Gerling.

Bastian, Lewis and Gerling have responded to an invitation to complete the KC Education Enterprise candidate survey.

Gerling is the only one of the four to have a Facebook campaign page.

Lewis is the only one to have a campaign website.

And information about Bastian is available on the district website.

School board members are citizens who volunteer without pay to determine the policies the superintendent uses to administer the district. The superintendent works for them, and they are responsible for tasks such as long-range planning, establishing the salaries and benefits of certified teachers, approving the annual budget and calling elections for tax levies and bond proposals. 

School Bond Question

In addition to selecting two board members, voters will decide whether to allow the district to take on an additional $9 million in school bond debt.

According to the ballot language, the money will be used “for the purpose of completing renovation, remodeling and repair improvements to the existing facilities of the District including, without limitation, security upgrades with entrance modifications, heating, ventilation and air conditioning improvements, window and roof replacement where necessary, parking lot improvements, classroom and restroom renovations, auditorium and athletic facility upgrades, musical instrument replacement … .”

Sample ballots for the Grandview election are available from the Jackson County Election Board.

Elections will take place Tuesday, April 2, on both sides of the state line in the Kansas City metropolitan area.

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