How the Springfield NAACP scored school board candidates on the issues

A recently released scorecard from the Springfield NAACP showed only two school board candidates on the April 2 ballot — Kyler Sherman-Wilkins and Danielle Kincaid — fully met the group's expectations.

All seven candidates responded to questions about five topics: student academic achievement gaps, improvement plan, banned books, safety and diversity, equity and inclusion efforts.

The scorecard was set up to record answers with the same colors as a stoplight. Those that met expectations were green, those that raised concerns were yellow and those that did not meet expectations were red.

The Springfield NAACP chapter posted the scorecard March 21 on Facebook.

The News-Leader reached out to the Springfield NAACP to seek an interview and president Kai Sutton responded with a statement.

"As the school board election approaches, it's crucial to make an informed decision when casting your vote," she wrote Monday. "We consider a variety of factors when assessing candidates. Our comprehensive scorecard evaluates candidates based on past board votes, interviews and question responses."

Kincaid, an attorney, is president of the school board. Sherman-Wilkins, an associate professor of sociology at Missouri State University, is vice president and education chair of the Springfield NAACP.

Other candidates on the ballot include Chad Rollins, a pharmacist; Susan Provance, a retired Springfield teacher and coach; Landon McCarter, a business owner and entrepreneur; and incumbents Scott Crise, manager of gas plant operations at Associated Electric Cooperative Inc.; and Maryam Mohammadkhani, a retired pathologist.

The three candidates with the most votes will be sworn in April 9.

The Springfield NAACP did not provide the specific questions asked of each candidate or their answers but at least three candidates — Rollins, McCarter and Mohammadkhani — posted the questions, along with the detailed answers they provided, on the Facebook pages for their campaigns.

In the posts, the three said they posted their answers for transparency.

Here are the questions:

h Achievement gap: Do you support the input of teachers in recommending policies/procedures to close the achievement gap?

h Improvement plan: What is your idea of an improvement plan for behavior and teacher gaps, and does it include teachers, students, and parents?

h Banned books: Do you support the banning of books in school libraries?

h Safety: How do you plan to address concerns related to the safety of students in schools, both physically and emotionally?

h DEI: How do you plan to address concerns related to the safety of students in schools, both physically and emotionally?

A look at how the Springfield NAACP scored the answers:

h Achievement gaps: All were green except Mohammadkhani, who was yellow.

h Improvement plan: Provance, Sherman-Wilkins and Kincaid were green; Rollins, McCarter and Crise were yellow; and Mohammadkhani was red.

h Banned books: Crise, Sherman-Wilkins and Kincaid were green; Provance, Rollins and McCarter were yellow; and Mohammadkhani was red.

h Safety: Provance, Crise, Sherman-Wilkins and Kincaid were green; Mohammadkhani was yellow; Rollins was red.

h DEI: Provance, Sherman-Wilkins and Kincaid were green; McCarter and Crise were yellow; and Mohammadkhani was red.

The Springfield NAACP shared its scorecard on Facebook and received both strong support and pushback, with some commenters asking to see the questions and answers for all seven candidates. The answers were not provided.

In the statement, Sutton wrote: "We remain committed to ensuring that our evaluations are fair and unbiased. We stand behind our scores and find it enlightening that our scores are being targeted for justification based on the values of our NAACP chapter."

Sutton, who encouraged all registered voters to exercise that right, added: "We will continue to work hard to ensure that our evaluations remain impartial and reflect the best interests of the community."

Founded in 1909, the NAACP is an organization created to work for the abolition of segregation and discrimination in housing, education, employment, voting, and transportation; to oppose racism; and to ensure the constitutional rights of African Americans.

Springfield is one of more than 2,000 local chapters. Shurita Thomas-Tate, who is serving her second term on the school board, is also a member of the Springfield NAACP.