It’s revolving doors for African-American directors of Communications in St. Louis-area public school districts.
Anthony Kiekow is switching from director of Communications for the Riverview Gardens School District to the same position in the Hazelwood School District, a position that Kimberly McKenzie is vacating to take the same position in the Ladue School District.
Before Riverview Gardens, Kiekow worked as a public relations manager for the St. Louis Symphony and spent seven years as a television reporter for media outlets across the country, including News 4 and Fox 2 in St. Louis.
“As a long-time North St. Louis County resident, I view this as an extraordinary opportunity to serve the community I love,” Kiekow said of his switch to Hazelwood.
McKenzie has an extensive background in communications and public relations in both the public school and corporate environments. She earned a master’s degree in Management and Leadership from Webster University and her bachelor’s degree in Organizational Management from Concordia University. She is an active member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc.
Interestingly, both Hazelwood and Ladue school districts have an assessed tax valuation of $1.9 billion, according to the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE), but Hazelwood educates almost four times as many students on the same tax base. Hazelwood enrolls 17,449 students, according to DESE, while Ladue enrolls 4,493 students. Riverview Gardens educates about as many students as Ladue (5,522) on about one-ninth of the tax base ($214 million).
