To say that East St. Louis School District 189 has become an administrative train wreck is equivalent to saying that actor Charlie Sheen is a little crazy. The difference is that taxpayers don’t pay for the erratic behavior of Sheen.
While the ineptitude of Superintendent Theresa Saunders, School Board President Lonzo Greenwood and certain ESL School Board members has become a running joke in my column (and among media in general), there was nothing funny about a special school board meeting which resulted in the layoff of 287 teachers (40 percent of all District 189 teachers) and the closing of three schools (Edgemont, A.M. Jackson and Donald McHenry) at the end of the 2010-2011 school year.
The cuts and closures were needed to eliminate a $9 million hole which District 189 systematically dug for itself since emerging from state oversight back in 2004.
How did they do it? According to School Board member Carl Officer, the school district had a $39 million surplus when he was elected to office in 2009. Since that time, the district has “blown through” $26 million in unnecessary spending and hook-ups for “consultants,” excessive travel by Saunders and other board members, with little to show.
Other instances of ineptitude include a scathing seven-page letter (dated March 4) from the Illinois superintendent of education, Christopher Koch, citing District 189 for being in “extreme ongoing non-compliance” in terms of failing to hire the required staff and failing to properly evaluate the disabilities program for nearly 1,000 children.
And for the fifth straight year, the percentage of ESL high school students failing to meet state standards dropped – now, to 10.75 percent.
Adding insult to injury, KMOV-TV reporter Craig Cheatham reveals that Saunders, after holding the job of ESL school superintendent for six years, claims that her primary home is in Ypsilanti, Mich. and has received a tax exemption as a result.
It was also discovered that Saunders is being investigated for possibly owing personal property taxes for the city of St. Louis, because she has paid zero personal property taxes while residing at her south city loft.
I’m sure Saunders wonders who blew the whistle. When one drives around East St. Louis in a Cadillac sporting Michigan license plates, it does set you up for scrutiny.
The only thing that can save this sinking ship is state oversight. State oversight and the leadership of individuals like Richard Mark regulated spending, created millions in surplus and prevented District 189 officials from going on the spending spree they engaged in following the exit of oversight back in 2004.
Officer gave credit to Saunders for being qualified but indicated that, for whatever reason, she appears to be shielding certain individuals from implication in the malfeasance which has become evident in the operation of ESL public schools.
The solution is obvious. Saunders must go ASAP and state oversight should be reinstituted before another school year is wasted.
Email: jtingram_1960@yahoo.com.
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