Jacob McMillian pushes for smarter spending, mission-focused budgeting in school district

ST. JOSEPH, Mo. (KQTV) -- Jacob McMillian has been a St. Joseph resident for 15 years, and said education has always been a big part of his family’s life.  

His wife has spent their entire 15-year residency teaching first grade at Pickett Elementary, giving him a close-up view of how schools impact students and families. 

Because of that, McMillian said he’s long understood the value of education—especially after seeing how much it has shaped his own children.  

“To make sure every child has a successful future and that learning is being empowered everyday,” McMillian said.  

McMillian has already been involved in the district, serving on the academics committee and Vision Forward. He believes such experience has prepared him to take on a larger role. 

He said his goal is to help ensure the district’s mission and vision are actually carried out and he’s ready to make school board service a top priority. 

“I want to make sure that we are talking about how we can help students to have a successful future, how we can empower learning. I want to make sure the classroom is good and have helpful curriculum resources,” McMillian said.  

Student conduct is another area he emphasized, particularly the importance of healthy relationships—both between students and teachers, and among students themselves. He pointed to bullying and similar issues as things which need consistent attention. 

McMillian also acknowledged financial challenges facing the district. He said the district is dealing with a “new financial reality” after mistakes in recent years.  

“We are where we are and all we can do is look forward and one of biggest things I would like to see our district do is commit to writing budgets that can increase our reserves,” McMillian said.  

Right now, he noted, reserves are around 10%, but he’d like to see that grow to 20–25%. To get there, he said the district needs more accurate revenue forecasting and tighter spending.  

McMillian said the district needs to build smarter budgets—ones that allow for savings while also keeping spending in check. At the same time, he emphasized that every dollar spent should align with the district’s mission.  

“We got to ask the question of how does this enhance or how does this advance student success and so I really want to see us getting away from deficit spending and growing our reserves to where we don’t have to borrow money,” McMillian said.  

Another top concern for him is staffing. McMillian stressed how strong schools depend on strong people and how the teacher-student relationships and staff morale are critical. 

Recruiting and retaining high-quality teachers is a major priority, he said which includes offering competitive pay.  

“We have the tax base here in St. Joe, we have the money so we should be able to be very competitive in compensation,” McMillian said.  

He also believes teachers shouldn’t have to supply their own classroom content and the district should ensure they have the curriculum resources they need. 

Looking ahead, McMillian said the district needs to be more proactive. Too many decisions, he said, are made at the last minute. 

“So we can have time to have committees to talk about things, town hall meetings and surveys but you can’t do those things with community if you aren’t working far enough ahead,” McMillian said.  

As the interview wrapped up, McMillian reflected on his own experience in public education and mentioned how it played a major role in shaping who he is today—not just academically, but as a citizen.