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Chris Bamman is the only incumbent seeking reelection for the Grain Valley Board of Education. He is the facilities director at the University of Central Missouri in Warrensburg, Mo. He has served as a leader in both the Cub Scouts and Boy Scouts programs and has coached several youth sports teams. He and his wife Christy have three children.
| 1 What do you feel like is the most pressing state issue impacting education right now? |
I believe the most pressing issue is funding. Funding reductions have occurred over the last few years and it appears that this will continue for the foreseeable future. |
| 2 What, if anything, do you think she be done to assist students in the failing Kansas City School District? Do you believe suburban school districts such as Fort Osage have any responsibility to helping Kansas City? |
I believe that the Kansas City School District has a higher obligation to the patrons of that community and the students than is being delivered. Their school district lacks continuity of leadership, which I believe is important to any successful organization. If the students in the KC School District are going to attend school in neighboring school districts, I believe the KC School District has an obligation to provide the timely and proper funding, transportation, student records, etc. that they appear to be reluctant to provide. Imposing these kinds of penalties to the neighboring school districts will only cause hardships to these neighboring school districts. |
| 3 What do you hope to accomplish during your term? Do you have any goals for issues you would like to see addressed? |
The issue of space and a growing student population continue to be a concern. Due to our limited bonding capacity, we struggle to maintain classroom space and provide the facilities such as an appropriate baseball and softball facility, an adequate wrestling room, adequate seating at the football stadium and adequate parking at the high school to name a few. |
| 4 What do you believe is the best way to deal with Grain Valley's growth and what do you think will be the next facility need for the district? |
The economy and the subsequent impacts to property values has had the biggest impact to our bonding capacity. We use our bonding capacity to build and expand existing buildings to maintain adequate classroom space and appropriate class sizes. Since property values don't appear to be recovering any time soon, it would be helpful to see our bonding limits increased so larger bond issues can be passed which would allow for larger sized projects to meet the priorities that exist. We hope that our Patrons will support the $3 million bond issue on the April ballot that will allow for the next phase of the new North Middle School to be completed. From there, I believe our focus will turn toward the high school for some needed expansion. |
