Francis Howell students hosted a school board candidate forum. Only half the candidates showed up 42%
By Hiba Ahmad0%
4/2/2026, 10:00:00 AM
BS Summary: This article contains 26 faulty reasoning types, including Framing Effect, Ambiguity (Equivocation), and False Dilemma, with Negativity Bias as the most egregious example at 26.6% saturation with 291 hits. Analysis detected 1,658 faulty-reasoning hits from 1,092 analyzed words, generating a BS Score of 45.7% and a BS Rank of 42% (9,884 of 16,813 articles). This article is better (less manipulative) than 58.80% of the article peer group.
Francis Howell School District student journalists held their annual school board candidate forum ahead of the April 7 election on Tuesday.
Six candidates are running for three seats on the board, but for the first time in almost a decade of forums, three candidates declined to participate.
Jane Puszkar, Lauren Greenwood and David Jaworksi, who are running as a slate, told the students they could not attend the event due to a prescheduled meet-and-greet at the McClay branch of the St.
Charles County Public Library.
The three candidates have been endorsed by Francis Howell Families, a conservative political action committee.
Candidates Jason Adams, Sara Dillard and Kevin McGuire attended the forum.
All three have been endorsed by Francis Howell Forward, a progressive political action committee, and the Francis Howell Education Association – the district’s teachers union.
The student journalists from Francis Howell High School and Francis Howell Central High School said they extended invitations to all of the candidates in February.
Francis Howell High student reporter Michael Purcell, co-host of the forum, said he was disappointed by the candidates’ decision to not attend.
“I think it is, honestly, extremely irresponsible for the other half of the candidates to feel that it wasn't important enough to present themselves in front of the broader constituency, and I believe, in turn, to go to a different event where they felt like they could rally their own supporters,” Purcell said.
Malu Biju, a junior at Francis Howell High and forum co-host, said she was hopeful the candidates would change their minds.
“I think that it only deepens the divide, and as a student, it's concerning because we don't need division, we just need unity,” Biju said.
“Just the fact that they aren't able to listen to the questions from their own constituents, like students, is concerning to me, and I hope voters also realize that.”
Lillian Richter, a junior at Francis Howell Central and editor-in-chief of the school’s newspaper, said the students sent a list of questions to each of the candidates ahead of the forum.
Puszkar responded with written statements on behalf of herself and her running mates.
Richter said she and her classmates decided to publish each of the candidates’ responses in student publications.
“It's really hard to get this equal representation on the election as a whole when we have one side refusing to participate in all these community events and all of this coverage,” Richter said.
STLPR could not reach Puszkar, Greenwood or Jaworski for comment.
April 7 election
This year’s school board race has been dominated by discussions of responsible financial stewardship, increased transparency and debate around policies regarding book challenges in the district.
There are three seats on the ballot.
Puszkar is running for a second term.
Board members Ron Harmon and Mark Ponder are not seeking reelection.
The winners will be sworn in on April 14 and join President Steven Blair, Vice President Amy Gryder, Treasurer Carolie Owens and Sarah Oelke on the board.
If the progressive-leaning candidates manage to win two or more of the seats, it will be a complete reversal of a board that swung more conservative after the COVID-19 pandemic and protest for racial justice in 2020.
Candidates call for more financial accountability
The district has faced increased scrutiny for the lack of transparency around a payout of about $230,000 to Mike Dominguez, a former superintendent who was hired and then later dismissed right before the start of this school year.
School officials declined to speak publicly about Dominguez’s dismissal because it was a personnel matter.
Missouri Auditor Scott Fitzpatrick said his office would look into what went wrong.
The state auditor gave Francis Howell a "poor" rating in December 2024 after it found that school officials had not been transparent about growing costs to construct the district’s newest high schools.
Puszkar, Jaworski and Greenwood have denounced what they say is wasteful spending in the district.
“Previous boards allowed costly overruns due to ad hoc additions to already budgeted projects — David will work to prevent these mistakes and protect taxpayer dollars,” states Jaworski’s candidate description on the district’s website.
During Tuesday’s student-led candidate forum, Kevin McGuire said he would work toward more transparency.
“The best thing we can do for all fiscal responsibility is make sure every decision we make as a board, every budget we approve, is not looking at the budget for next month or when I might be reelected,” McGuire said.
“It's for looking at what will happen five years from now or when the kindergartner who enrolls today is graduating 12 years from now.”
Candidates differ on book challenge policies
Another debate that has recently resurfaced is how the district navigates book challenges after one community member filed over 50 of them in December, claiming the books were age-inappropriate.
Superintendent Mark Delaney has said the sheer number of challenges proved to be too onerous and asked for the school board to weigh in.
The board in response has recently revised its book challenge policies in an attempt to make it easier for district officials to navigate.
It also voted to remove 16 books as age-inappropriate.
Puszkar and her supporters have said the policy changes have made the process less clear for parents who wish to opt their children out of reading books that may contain age-inappropriate content.
“What we’re doing now is making it harder to take a book out of the library and making it easier for kids to be exposed to it,” Puszkar said during the March 19 board meeting.
Dillard said that if she’s elected to the school board next week, she’ll lean on teachers and librarians to help guide them on book challenges.
“Our students really benefit from a wide range of access to materials right, as long as they're age appropriate.”
Dillard said.
“I feel like the current policy, even as it's been rewritten, is still kind of poorly written.
If and when I get to serve on the board, I'd like to revisit it.”
Adams echoed a general sentiment among the candidates who attended the Tuesday forum that there was support for parents’ input alongside guidance from school and district staff.
“I'm a believer in parental choice.
If you do not want your kid reading something, just contact the teacher, the librarian,” Adams said.
“But book challenges should only be made after you have done your due diligence and have spoken to people without going straight to the extreme.”
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