SIX VYING FOR THREE SEATS ON JACKSON R-2 SCHOOL BOARD

JACKSON -- Six candidates are running for three seats up for election Tuesday on the Jackson R-2 School District Board of Education.

They include incumbents Vicky McDowell, Dr. T. Wayne Lewis and Darrell Hanschen. Also running are Mark Baker, Susan Farrow and Jewell Beauchamp. Each is competing for a three-year seat on the board.

McDowell is a community health nurse and communicable disease coordinator for the Cape Girardeau County Health Department. She has served on the board six years and has achieved the highest level of certified board training. McDowell and her husband, Harold, are the parents of two grown sons.

She says the board must keep contending with the issue of growth while learning to work with the district's new superintendent. "Any time a new leader takes over there are changes," she said. "I personally am looking forward to working with Dr. Anderson."

Lewis is a Jackson dentist who was first elected in 1987 and is the board's longest-serving member. He and his wife, Linda, have five grown children.

He thinks the Jackson schools' recent construction activity has put it in a good position to handle the city's surging growth and says a new high school is not yet needed. "I think any new high school facility would be way in the future," he has said.

Hanschen has served on the board since 1990. He is employed by Medicap Pharmacy and lives in Fruitland. He and his wife, Cheryl, have three children. She is a teacher at Jackson Middle School.

He says drugs are a problem in the schools. "I think we have to do whatever is necessary to improve the safety of our schools," he has said.

Baker is a journeyman lineman at Ameren UE. He and his wife, Mary Kimberly, have three young children.

Despite just having built three new schools, he thinks voters will support whatever expansion may be required in the future. "We have no problem in our community with getting support for our bond issues," Baker said.

Susan Farrow is running for the board for the first time. She is a registered nurse at Southeast Missouri Hospital, working in the foot care clinic.

She and her husband, Stanley, have lived in Jackson for 15 years. They have one daughter, a seventh-grader at the Jackson Middle School.

"I'm interested in being sure the school district maintains its excellence in education," she said. "I want to make sure the students are able to do well on achievement tests and the exit tests that are being state-mandated."

The final candidate, retiree Jewell Beauchamp, could not be reached for comment.