What to know about your Center School Board candidates

By Ben McCarthy

Four candidates vie for three open seats on the Center School Board. They spoke about their qualifications, perspectives, and agendas for the 2026-2027 school year. 

Melissa Bellante, Marsha Brown, and Kristin Stokely seek to join the Center School Board, while Ira Boydston IV seeks re-election (Dr. Ronald Fritz and Board President Marcie Calvin are not seeking re-election)

Ira Boydston IV (incumbent)

Ira Boydston IV grew up in south Kansas City and moved to the Center School District in 2007. He has a bachelor’s degree in finance and management from Park University. Boydston was elected to the School Board in 2023.

“I think the Board has started some really good work, and we’re stabilizing things. I want to make sure I can pass on [information] to new board members.”

Boydston believes there has been some disconnect between the Board and the administration. “But we’ve brought in new leadership, and are now more aligned in our academic priorities and strategies,” he says of the recent hire of Superintendent Troy Hogg.  

He says the Board needs to focus on basic competencies rather than firing principals and giving teacher evaluations. “We have to know our role.”

Boydston acknowledged that his children attend nearby private schools. The Board position only requires that a candidate live in the school district. 

Teacher retention remains a hard reality for Center, which consists of 2,500 students. “Everyone around us is three times our size.”

A subject close to his heart is the effect of Covid on education in the school districts. Students lost years of learning due to Covid. “My kids went through that, and we homeschooled them,” he recalls.  “Our kids, like many others, fell into a quagmire. It’s very disheartening.” 

Melissa Bellante

Melissa Bellante is a third-generation alum of the district with a son soon to be fourth generation graduate. “I’m the 11th graduate of the district in my family.”

Bellante has worked in public education the last 15 years in special service and as a Medicaid Specialist. “I can bring insight into students’ success and understand how it is complicated by a limited budget.”  

Bellante was urged to run following a letter she wrote last year on the transfer of credits from middle school to Center High School. “I was advocating for changes to the existing policy, and was able to receive a response within an hour that my recommendations would be enacted.” 

She believes students should be held more accountable for their classroom actions. “They can’t feel like they’re running the class.” She also feels the administration should be more open to listening to teachers on this topic. “Teachers…. feel like the issue is being brushed off, or worse, will face repercussions,” says Bellante who once worked as a Para at Center. 

She says Superintendent Troy Hogg has made advances toward reviving the “family feel” of Center. “Ultimately that’s how we keep kids in the district.”

Bellante stresses the importance for Center to stay abreast of technology including AI. “It’s hard to know where to draw the line with all of this, but we must make sure kids are using their own brain.”

Kristin Stokely

Kristin Stokley is a licensed attorney who worked for the State of Missouri for 11 years.  She and her husband, a Center alum, moved to the district in 2017 to raise a family. They have two children.

She believes the most urgent issue facing the district is funding. “The first thing I want to do is a deep dive into the budget. Everything falls from the money, and we can learn, building-to-building, what’s working and what’s not.” The Board is critical in approving and holding the administration accountable. 

Stokely says it is disheartening that so many teachers quit each year, according to a Missouri School Board Associations’ report.  “Support for them must be a priority. We can’t match the salaries in the districts around us, but we can do more elsewhere.” She stresses more teacher training is needed for violent threats in the classroom. “There’s been a hesitancy out there to take direct action, fearing they will get in trouble. The safety officers are a piece that need to be looked at, as well.” 

She says bullying should be addressed. “A 5-day suspension doesn’t work if students don’t want to come to school anyway. We need to focus on mental health and other behavioral services because traditional punishment doesn’t often work.”

Stokely supports the changes in cell phone policy but more consideration is needed on what is too much technology in the classrooms. “I’m encountering elementary students just wasting time on Google Chromebooks and not able to focus on their assignments.”

Marsha Brown  

Marsha Brown began her teaching career in 1978, and was an educator for nearly 50 years. She taught in the Hickman Mills School District for eight years, and as a para educator for children with special needs before retiring from Center Middle School last October.  Brown has lived in the Center School District for the past 37 years. 

She feels safe at Center schools. “I’ve always felt safe at our schools and feel like they’re working to keep them safe places.” 

Brown also appreciates that the school works hard to accommodate teachers and their classrooms.

She recognizes that Center is trying to be competitive with salaries. “We have to be able to keep highly qualified teachers in our classrooms.” She thinks the tax levy and bond will help. 

Brown says the Board needs to prioritize where money is spent and where cuts need to be made. 

She applauds the cell phone policy change. “It is the best thing they’ve ever done. We need to acknowledge the computers haven’t helped the kids learn [as promised].” She says students are more focused on devices than the classroom. “AI is also dangerous. We need to prepare the kids for that.” 

Brown says she brings a school teacher’s perspective to the Board. “I don’t know politics, but I know how schools should operate.”