School district responds to Basye lawsuit

The district received legal documents this afternoon related to a suit filed by Chuck Basye regarding filing to be a candidate for school board.

On Monday, January 9 the Columbia Board of Education approved the notice of election and sample ballot for the April school board election at its regularly scheduled monthly meeting.

The deadline to file for Board of Education candidacy in the State of Missouri was December 27, 2022. Notice of the filing procedures were publicly posted and advertised well in advance of the filing period through multiple avenues.

This year the state and federal Christmas holiday fell on a weekend. As such, the district had three designated district holidays on its calendar, December 23, 26 and 27, when the administrative offices would be closed in observance of the holiday.

Because the district offices were officially closed on December 27th, the district provided notice to the public as part of its posted and advertised filing procedures about how to schedule a filing appointment for that day.

If an individual wanted to file as a Board candidate on December 27th, the individual was required to contact the Board secretary by December 22nd. Specifically, the public notice stated: “Due to the last day of filing, December 27, 2022, being on a District holiday, candidates who wish to file on the last day must make an appointment by 4:00 p.m. on Thursday, December 22, 2022.”

Please see Board of Education / Board Candidate Filing Procedures & Hours (cpsk12.org) for a full copy of the advertised and posted procedures.

Similar filing procedures were provided by school districts across the state.

Service to our community, especially as an elected volunteer, is important to the success of our society. We want individuals to run and to serve on our community’s school board. We welcome discourse and discussion through the Board of Education because it makes us all better. Boards of Education and the individuals that serve as elected board members play an important role in school district governance, ensuring strong schools, and a strong community.

In Columbia, seven individual candidates filed when the district was open to the public to accept filings or made arrangements to do so when the district was open, in accordance with the district’s published procedures. The district cannot create an unfair process for candidates that did file using the posted procedures as required by law. From our perspective, it’s important that during an election process we remain consistent in practice, including our filing procedures.

Please note that one of the candidates who filed in accordance with the district’s published procedures, has requested to have his name removed from the ballot. The Board of Education will meet in on Monday, January 23 in a special session meeting to consider a revised sample ballot to remove Dean Klempke’s name from the previously approved ballot. A meeting notice has been published and is posted on our website.