Tiffany Mathis is seeking her first full term on the school board for District 186. | Adobe Stock
Tiffany Mathis is seeking her first full term on the school board for District 186. | Adobe Stock
Tiffany Mathis has a simple message for the parents in the Springfield Public School District 186.
"Help me help you," Mathis, who is seeking reelection to the board in the April 6 consolidated election, said in a video posted to Facebook April 1. "I just want you to know that I'm here to represent you and know you cannot afford to have a school board member that does not understand what you need. What the complexities are your family may face on a daily basis. I'm here to champion causes that matter to you."
Mathis thinks that it all starts with getting students back in the classroom on a full-time basis.
"Look what's happened since January," she told the State Journal-Register. "Our percentage rate is low. We knew a vaccine was going to come out. We knew following the guidance available to us worked. The whole point of school being open was to mitigate the number of congregant settings that kids would have to find themselves in."
Mathis, who is seeking her first full-term after being appointed in 2019, said the board owes it to senior and junior students to have a system in place that makes it simple for them to know where they stand academically.
"I've kept saying since like November, at what point are we going to start engaging these parents to let them know their kid is not progressing to the next grade because it's going to be an issue," she said. "It could be hundreds and hundreds who have not hit certain benchmarks, or you're going to have some uncomfortable conversations with parents we could have had a quarter ago."
Mathis will face challenger Buffy Lael-Wolf.
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