The Montgomery County R-II School Board will have two new members for the 2022-2023 school year.

Three county residents – Mike Cobb, Micah Hans and Kali Salazar – are school board candidates in this year’s general municipal election, scheduled for April 5. Two of them will be elected for a term of three years each.

Cobb and Hans grew up in Montgomery County, while Salazar has been living in the county since 2012. The three candidates have a combined five children in the R-II school district.

Hans was born and raised in Jonesburg. He graduated from Montgomery County High School in 2001 and is currently a church council president at St. John’s United Church of Christ in High Hill.

“I had several people asking me about running for school board,” Hans said. “One of the things that I always felt was it’s always important that Jonesburg has a good representation on the school board. With Gina Hartman stepping down, I thought it was an opportune time for me to run.”

Salazar, who lives in Jonesburg, has a son, in kindergarten. She said if elected as school board member, her mission will be helping the R-II school district continue to grow.

“I had a lot of opportunities growing up for education,” Salazar said. “I think I had a pretty good education. It opened up a lot of doors for me and I wanted to take them. Seeing my son entering school made me want to be part of giving him the best opportunities out there. I love Jonesburg and our community. I kind of want to keep the values that we have in our small town. But at the same time, we want to continue giving all of our kids the best opportunities out there and bring in any programs that would benefit the school because our kids are our future.”

Cobb graduated from MCHS in 1986. He had eight brothers and sisters who also attended the R-II School District.

Cobb, who works in Columbia, said public education has changed since he graduated from high school.

“My perception was they focused on reading, writing and arithmetic,” Cobb said. “It’s kind of where I thought public education or any education ought to be for matter.”

Cobb said adding air conditioning to the classrooms was huge for the school district.

“I remember back in my high school days that when it got to be August and you started going to school, you pretty well didn’t like going to school because when you got to those classrooms with 20 other people, it was hot,” Cobb said. “One of the best things they did was put air conditioning in a lot of the rooms. That’s an improvement. The children need to be comfortable when they’re learning.”

Hans said he’s happy with the improvements the district has made since last year. Among the projects were revamping the Montgomery County Middle School multipurpose room, replacing the boiler and window air-conditioning units in Jonesburg Elementary and replacing the tile floors at the middle and high schools.

“I think they have a lot of good things in progress,” Hans said. “I think the improvements they made in the buildings themselves have been huge. I think those were things that needed to be done.”

Born in St. Louis, Salazar lived in different places in Missouri and Indiana before moving to Jonesburg 10 years ago.
“Ever since I was young, I always wanted to go back to a small town,” Salazar said. “It makes it feel like home. But I can’t picture myself leaving the Jonesburg area. Everyone has accepted me really well and I love it here.”