An election will be held Tuesday to fill three seats on the Neelyville Board of Education.
Seven candidates are vying for the three-year terms. Candidates in the running are incumbents Paul Petty and Robert Burgett, as well as Marco Gavino, Chuck Reinbott, Berley Wayne Willcut, Amanda Wolfram and Adam Couch.
Couch did not provide responses as of press time.
Robert Burgett
Age: 55
Spouse: Brandi Burgett
Children: Adult children Robert, Amber, Shayne and Lehanne, Wesley, 11, and grandson Noah, 10.
Occupation: U.S. Navy lieutenant commander, retired after 30 years.
Education: St. Mary’s College of Maryland.
Current Affiliations: Vice president, Neelyville R-IV School Board
Why are you running for school board? To continue to serve on the board to ensure our students have access to opportunities not previously available. We have accomplished great milestones working as a team. “Serving with Courage” will be the theme I’m running on. I will continue to use my leadership to ensure all voices are heard and solutions are reached through collaboration.
What are the characteristics that make you a good candidate? I live my life by Navy Core Values and the Ten Commandments. Moral courage allowed me to serve our country for three decades. (This includes during the time of the First Gulf War, military actions in Iraq, Kosovo, Bosnia, Croatia, Somalia and Afghanistan and Haiti’s humanitarian assistance operations.) I was on the ground for 15 months OIF Baghdad, Iraq. I am committed to our district and have devoted time and energy to improving our academic achievement, setting policies, evaluating executive performances and fulfilling my responsibilities.
What do you hope to accomplish? Continuing to hold myself and others to the highest standard of integrity and honor. When our community has concerns I’m the leader that has listened to both sides removing negative barriers.
Are there recent actions you agree or disagree with? Worked with the Department of Natural Resources to upgrade Hillview’s lagoon with concrete and UV lighting. I did not agree with the spending and continued to negotiate and we ended up saving the district $5,000. Agreed with writing an EPA Grant with Lion Electric securing $375,000, 77-passenger, 100-mile electric bus.
What do you see as the biggest challenges facing the district and how would you address them? COVID-19 has been hard on our students’ academics. Ensuring when the American Rescue Plan for elementary and secondary school ESSER funds stop in 2024, we have our budget proposal for the district on point. Ensuring salaries, tutoring through the Boys and Girls Club, textbooks, heating and air conditioning and cleaning supplies are properly budgeted.
Are there any needs you want to address? Working with the board to improve lunches. Currently, we are in our third year with OPPA food service with a five-year contract. I will continue to work to ensure better menus, a better variety of healthier foods that look and taste good while keeping our district in compliance with USDA regulations.
Berley Wayne Willcut
Age: 66
Spouse: Mary Willcut
Children: Marissa Shepherd, 40, and Michael Willcut, 37
Occupation: Retired self-employed saw miller.
Education: Neelyville High School
Current Affiliations: God
Why are you running for school board? To (ensure) current board and administration continue to make good sound decisions. I also want to be the voice for every student, parent and teacher in the district.
What characteristics make you a good candidate? My passion is to see this school do well. I will be dedicated to putting the students first.
What do you hope to accomplish? Transparency of the administration and the school board to the faculty and the public. To establish trust between all of the above.
Are there recent actions you agree or disagree with? There will be actions I will discuss with the board and administration that they have made, to avoid mistakes in the future.
What do you see as the biggest challenges facing the district and how would you address them? Financial challenges, everything is so much higher than it has ever been. Also, keeping enough teachers and other employees. Every need in every area of the school.
Chuck Reinbott
Age: 55
Spouse: Traci Reinbott
Children: Paige Reinbott, 25, and Payton Reinbott, 20
Occupation: Poplar Bluff area supervisor for Ozark Border
Education: Bachelor of science in electrical engineering, University of Missouri-Rolla
Current Affiliations: Living Word Baptist Church
Why are you running for school board? To help guide the district back to the basics, of reading, writing and arithmetic. This benefits 100% of the students.
What characteristics make you a good candidate? My extensive experience in supervision and working for a company that is run by a board has given me insight into how a board functions.
What do you hope to accomplish? To help refocus the school district toward academics. This is the reason the school was established.
Are there recent actions you agree or disagree with? At a recent board meeting, I witnessed a board member stand up and point his finger at a school employee and tell him to sit down. This is not how a board member should act. Nothing positive can be achieved by acting this way.
What do you see as the biggest challenges facing the district and how would you address them? Employee retention. The backbone of a school is its teachers. The teachers make Neelyville one the best districts in Southeast Missouri, so the district needs to find a way to increase their pay. The board needs to work with the teachers/employees and listen to their suggestions when making decisions, for example, the school calendar.
Marco A. Gavino
Age: 51
Spouse: Heather Gavino
Children: Jackson, 19, Jayedon, 18, and granddaughter Jamesyn, 3, and five foster children ages 9, 2, 1 1/2, 4 months, and 1 month.
Occupation: Retired military
Education: Bachelor of Arts in religion
Current Affiliations: None
Why are you running for school board? Now, more than ever, parents should be intimately involved in their children’s education. I decided to run for school board to ensure as a team the board would continue to maintain the quality education provided. Additionally, I would like to influence the school board to improve life-skills education, to better prepare students beyond core classes. Moreover, my desire as a board member would be to ensure school policies and regulations are adhered to and be fiscally responsible with the school budget.
What characteristics make you a good candidate? As a 30 (year) military veteran, I’ve been assigned to various leadership roles. In addition to multiple deployments in combat zones, I was assigned as a recruit division commander at the Navy’s Recruit Training Command in Illinois. My mission was to transform civilians into sailors by challenging and motivating them. Moreover, as a certified substitute teacher at Neelyville and Hillview, I’ve come to appreciate the hard work and dedication that teachers put into their students.
What do you hope to accomplish? As a representative for the parents in the district, I will be transparent, only presenting factual data to the board when making decisions. I believe that as a board member, my views and values align with many parents and teachers. Additionally, I hope to inspire parents to be involved to ensure educational needs are being met.
Are there recent actions you agree or disagree with: The action that I disagree with does not pertain to the Neelyville R-IV district. Critical Race Theory is an instruction that should not be taught in any of our schools. Anything that teaches our children to hate their country, another person or themselves is dangerous.
What do you see as the biggest challenges facing the district and how would you address them? One of the biggest challenges the district faces is the COVID-19 pandemic. The latest Annual Performance Report has revealed shortfalls in student performance, therefore as a board member, I would seek to hire educators that are committed to higher standards for their students. Though much of the responsibility is placed on teachers, I hope that parents stay informed and seek avenues that will also contribute to the educational success of their children.
Are there any needs you want to address? A specific need I would like to see addressed are the aging buildings and room for expansion. As a member of the school board, we’d have oversight on the budget that affects maintenance and building projects.
Paul Petty
Age:51
Spouse: Christy Petty
Children: Caela, Chelsea and Carter
Occupation: construction/carpenter/furniture maker
Education: Three Rivers College
Current Affiliations: No response given.
Why are you running for school board? I have served on the Neelyville school board for nine years and I care about the future of this school. My wife and I, our parents and our three children all graduated from Neelyville and now many nieces and nephews and soon grandchildren will attend as well. I want this school to continue to provide high-quality education for the success of all students.
What characteristics make you a good candidate? I strive to approach situations with patience, operating with truth in a caring, respectful way.
What do you hope to accomplish? I want to help explore ways to help support our administrators and teachers in ways that will provide greater success for all students.
Are there recent actions you agree or disagree with? No response given.
What do you see as the biggest challenges facing the district and how would you address them? Dealing with the need for improvement projects such as expanding classrooms, facilities and teachers’ salaries, at a time when inflation is taxing everyone heavily. Improving efficiency at all levels, conservative budget planning and continued grant exploration, and hopefully, at some point in the future, the public will support a grant/bond issue on the ballot.
Are there any needs you want to address? “Needs,” I have been asked several times “Why do you want/need to be on a school board, it’s a thankless burden of a job that costs you time and money and pays nothing.” While most “needs” require money, other important needs escape us sometimes. So my “Need” is to say thank you to all the other board members, administrators, teachers, coaches, bus drivers, janitors, cafeteria workers and many parents and local businesses that have worked so hard to keep a successful school running strong. Thank you all God bless.
Name: Amanda Wolfram
Age: 42
Spouses name: Chad Wolfram
Children: Kye, Camden and Collins
Occupation: Children’s Ministry Director at Fellowship Church
Current Affiliations: Booster Club
Why are you running for school board? My husband and I have 3 kids that attend school in Neelyville School District. I want to be a part of the decisions that are made that will ultimately affect their education. I also believe that we have an amazing school and I would like to see that continue for years to come.
What characteristics make you a good candidate? I love our district. I love our faculty, teachers and kids! I believe that any and all decisions made should be in the best interest of them. I am fair. I think that our board should be made up of a group of people that can make the right decisions for our faculty and staff without bias and/or favoritism.
What do you hope to accomplish? I would love for our board to be a united front. To be able to agree to disagree and to always keep what is most important in the forefront of minds.
Are there recent actions you agree or disagree with? No response given.
What do you see as the biggest challenges facing the district and how would you address them? Retaining our teachers.
Are there any needs you want to address? I would love to look at ways to better our security for our children. We live in a scary world and we need to be sure that our school is safe. School lunches are something that need to be adressed. This is the only meal some students may have in a day and we need to be sure that it is the best we can provide for them. Retaining teachers and staff.
This article has been updated with a correction of occupation for one candidate.
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