Independence school board candidates spar over building needs, funding and student safety at student-run forum

A student-moderated forum at Independence High School brought candidates for the Independence Board of Education together to discuss school facilities, funding, student retention, safety and classroom policies ahead of the Nov. 4 election.

The forum, led by AP government students and introduced by IHS Principal Mike Janitovich, focused on whether to pursue new construction or continue repairing aging buildings, how the district should respond to long-running funding shortfalls, and operational issues including bussing, campus safety and cell-phone rules.

Candidates and incumbent board members repeatedly returned to facilities as the most urgent long-term question. Kathleen Virgilla, a candidate who said she has reviewed past levy proposals, said the district is “dangerously close” to a point where deferred capital maintenance would make continued operation unreliable and argued that a new-build option makes fiscal sense given the age and inefficiency of current systems. “If you don’t do regular capital maintenance … your buildings will decline to a point where you can no longer reliably keep them operating,” she said.

Incumbent board member Carrie Sears, who said she is completing her…