Ozark district welcomes new school board member

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Ozark School District welcomed two incumbents and a new member to the Board of Education.

At the start of the April 21 meeting, Superintendent Lori Wilson swore in Amber Bryant, Matthew Growcock and Cindy Baker.

Bryant, director of employee services for Christian County, was first elected in 2023. Growcock, president and general counsel of PMA Holdings LLC, was appointed to fill a vacancy on the board in early 2025.

Baker, elected to her first term, is a licensed professional counselor who owns multiple local businesses including Touchstone Consulting LLC.

They earned more votes than candidates Patrick Sullivan, a professor of mathematics at Missouri State University, and incumbent Christina Tonsing, a former educator who works as a legal assistant at a law firm in Springfield. Tonsing served one three-year term on the board.

“I want to thank Christina Tonsing for her dedicated service these last three years, and I want to welcome our newest member, Cindy Baker,” Wilson said, in a news release. “I’m grateful to all of our board members, past and present, for giving your time and working together to support our students and staff. I’m excited about the future and the work ahead for our district.”

This was one of the only contested school board races in the Springfield area. In many others, including Springfield, the number of candidates on the ballot were equal to the number of open positions so no election was required under state statute.

The board thanked Tonsing for her time and commitment.

For the past year, Bryant served as president and James Griffin, owner and president of JM Pro Consulting, was vice president. The new board elected to keep the board officers in the same roles for the coming year.

Other board members include Sarah Adams Orr, owner of Adams Funeral Home first elected in 2012; Dustin Kirkman, an insurance agent elected in 2024; and Rae-Ann Wade, a former educator, elected in 2025.