Sarah Hough (Springfield Board of Education At-large, Missouri, candidate 2025)
Sarah Hough (Nonpartisan) is running or ran for election to Springfield Board of Education At-large in Missouri.[1]
Elections
2025
Ballotpedia survey responses
See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection
Sarah Hough completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2025. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Hough's responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.
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Sarah is a mom with two kids in Springfield Public Schools. She currently leads Community and Outfitter Engagement at Bass Pro Shops, where she is responsible for employee engagement and community outreach programs that impact the company’s 35,000+ employees across North America. Previously, she worked at the Downtown Springfield Association, a non-profit focused on cultivating a vibrant culture and business community in Downtown Springfield. Originally from Valley Springs, Arkansas, she has a Bachelor of Arts from Missouri State University. Sarah has been a faithful, dedicated community leader serving in many roles including on the board of Care to Learn, Springfield Innovation Inc, City Utilities Advisory Council and more.
Public education has played a large role in Sarah’s life. Her parents were both public school educators and her sister currently works as a high school college and career advisor. As a family, they were active in their local school and were involved in public school advocacy at a statewide level. Even after moving to Springfield, Sarah started a nonprofit foundation to support the school in her hometown of Valley Springs, AR. It still supports the school today with scholarships and funding for special projects. Her experience has given her personal insight into how important it is to have a high-functioning, supportive public education board.
- Protecting students and educators The safety of our students and educators will always be my top priority. I’ll do everything I can to ensure our schools are equipped with the safety measures needed to keep them safe.
- Promoting student learning I will work to ensure every student has access to a great education in the Springfield school district and that we are achieving the academic excellence that our students deserve.
- Preserving tax dollars I’ll use my business experience to ensure we are spending your tax dollars wisely. I’ll work to promote innovation, invest in our schools and reduce waste to ensure long-term student success.
I bring a unique combination of personal experience, professional leadership, and deep community involvement that positions me to be an effective and thoughtful school board member. First and foremost, I’m a parent of two children in Springfield Public Schools. That means I’m living the day-to-day experiences of SPS families and deeply invested in the district’s success—not just as a leader, but as a mom.
Professionally, I serve as the Senior Manager of Community & Outfitter Engagement at Bass Pro Shops, where I lead initiatives impacting more than 35,000 employees. I manage complex programs focused on philanthropy, employee support, and engagement. I’ve learned how to make strategic decisions with multiple stakeholders in mind, how to listen carefully, and how to bring people together to solve problems—skills that translate directly to school board service.
Civically, I’ve spent years working to support students across Missouri, serving on a number of non-profit boards including Care to Learn, where we’ve helped meet more than 3 million health, hunger, and hygiene needs. I’ve also worked through the Springfield Chamber Education Task Force and Springfield Innovation, Inc. to connect schools with workforce development and innovation opportunities.
Above all, I lead with empathy, collaboration, and a commitment to doing what's right for all students. I know how to listen, how to ask the right questions, and how to keep students at the center of every decision. I believe in public education, and I have the leadership experience and heart to serve it well.
Elected officials must lead with integrity, passion and a vision for the future.
Springfield NEA (teachers and school support staff) Springfield chapter of MSTA (teachers) United Springfield (non-partisan community leaders) Teamsters Union Local 245 Southern Missouri Professional Firefighters Association IAFF Local 152 (firefighters)
School Board members are the community’s voice in shaping our public schools. The Board is made of volunteer leaders whose role is to hire and evaluate the superintendent, adopt the mission, goals and strategic plan, monitor performance on the strategic plan, provide fiduciary oversight, adopt and review policy and serve as a community liaison. Each board member has a responsibility to represent the public interest in their service.
Having served on multiple non-profit boards, I understand the role of a good board member is to work with the other board members in supporting and advancing the organization while empowering the staff to do the daily work of the organization. As a school board member that means serving with the best interest of students and educators in the district, while allowing the superintendent and administrators to lead the day-to-day operations of the school district such as recruiting and retaining high quality personnel, implementing strategies and measuring progress, recommending budgets and policies and collecting feedback from stakeholders.
Note: Ballotpedia reserves the right to edit Candidate Connection survey responses. Any edits made by Ballotpedia will be clearly marked with [brackets] for the public. If the candidate disagrees with an edit, he or she may request the full removal of the survey response from Ballotpedia.org. Ballotpedia does not edit or correct typographical errors unless the candidate's campaign requests it.
External links
[1] ↑ Submitted to Ballotpedia's candidate survey in 2025.
