Alex Ring
Contributing Writer
Voters will fill three school board seats, choosing from four candidates: David Addison, Amy Clendennen, Steven M. Dioneda and Michael C. Shipley. The election will take place on April 8.
Addison is seeking reelection to the school board on which he has served for three years. During his time on the board, he managed district finances. Over the years, he has served as PTO President at Clark, treasurer of the Clark and high school PTOs and in other roles.
About how he could improve the school board, he answered, “The challenges facing the board over the next three years are no less important, and I believe that my experience serving on the board, the 15 years I have volunteered in the district and my business and professional experience allow me to bring a unique set of skills to the board.”
Clendennen, along with Addison, is an incumbent. Clendennen has served on the Board of Education since 2011. She currently serves on the Policy Advisory and Issues committee.
Clendennen said about the board’s future, “I am really looking forward to being more involved in activities at the high school, as two of my children will be freshmen next year. Regarding the district as a whole, my goals are to honor our traditions, to solicit and respond to feedback from our students, teachers and community members, and to strive toward continual innovation and improvement.”
Clendennen earned a bachelor’s degree from Truman State University, a master’s degree from Ball State University and a law degree from Washington University in St. Louis.
Dioneda is seeking a second term as a Director of the School Board. Dioneda has served the district as a member of the district’s Strategic Planning Committee and represented the board as part of the Meet and Confer committee.
Since leaving the board, he has remained active in the district as a member of the district’s finance committee which recently completed an analysis of increases in enrollment and its impact on the district. In addition, he is a Foundation Board member.
Dioneda said the keys to success and how to improve the school district are “I believe that my prior experience as member of the board of education coupled with my professional skills equip me to be a decision maker helping to guide our school district in the ongoing process of meeting challenges as opportunities.”
Shipley has had many different job experiences; he has held corporate business marketing positions at Anheuser-Busch and Liberty Media. He has worked as assistant to the Chief of Human Resources in the St. Louis Public Schools. In 2013, he was a sustainability teacher at Northside Community School and a coach at MICDS and The College School.
About how these jobs in both public and private school and the volunteer positions would help on the school board, Shipley said, “I bring the perspective of an educator to the board,” and his philosophy as a coach. He said, “I’ll be a team player.”
Shipley said he is currently a stay at home dad and wants to volunteer his to time to better the district’s future by running for election on the school board.
The League of Women Voters will moderate a forum for the candidates on March 26, at Hixson Middle School.
