Ballwin's Steve Banton Seeks VP Spot with State Ed. Association

Stephen Banton, a Ballwin resident and Rockwood Board of Education director, was nominated by his fellow board members at their Feb. 2 meeting to run for vice president of the Missouri School Boards' Association (MSBA) board of directors.

The association is the governing group for Missouri's 524 school districts.

"We appreciate Steve stepping up and being willing to serve in that capacity," said Rockwood Board President Janet Strate.

Board member Keith Kinder asked Banton at the meeting why he was not running for the association's presidency. Banton said two people are elected each year:  one as a vice president and the other as president-elect. He said the progression on this state board typically is for officers to move from president-elect to president, then past president.

MSBA board of directors establish the vision for organization, according to the group's website. The board consists of the president, president-elect, vice president, and immediate past president, as well as 17 regional leadership development chairs and 17 regional governmental relations chairs.

In addition, four school districts—because of their large size—have designated seats on the MSBA Board, as well as one K-8 representative. Rockwood is one of those four districts, and Banton is serving MSBA in that role. The other three districts that have direct representation are:  St. Louis Public Schools, Kansas City 33 and Springfield R-XII.

Banton, who was elected to the Rockwood board of education in 1998, is a partner in the law firm of Quinn and Banton LLP.

MSBA Chief Communications Officer Brent Ghan said a nominating committee will assemble a slate of officers to be voted on at the June 15 Delegate Assembly. All MSBA board of directors' officer nominations have to be submitted by Feb. 16. Banton then will have until March 1 to return nomination materials. Banton and any other nominees will be interviewed, and a short video interview will be taped at the MSBA headquarters in Columbia, MO, on March 12.

Banton's term with the Rockwood board of education expires in April 2013.