At the first of three planned meetings seeking public comment on the future governance of St. Louis Public Schools (SLPS), supporters of an elected school board came out in force.
SLPS has been governed by an appointed Special Administrative Board (SAB) for the past 10 years, but now that the district has regained full accreditation, the state Board of Education must decide on the district’s future board governance. If the state board chooses to recommend an appointed or hybrid school board, the state legislature will need to pass a law allowing it.
To advise on the decision, the SAB has assembled an advisory committee of parents, teachers and community members. The committee is now seeking comments from the public in a series of informational meetings and on its website.
On Monday, November 6, the first of three public meetings focused on elected school boards. Two speakers from the Missouri School Boards Association (MSBA), Executive Director Melissa Randol and Janet Tilley, director of board development, along with Varjeana McCotter-Jacobs, a consultant in equity programming for the National School Boards Association (NSBA), presented on the benefits of locally elected boards.
McCotter-Jacobs said the primary mission of the NSBA is to ensure an equal education for all children. “You have our full support in whatever direction you decide to go,” McCotter-Jacobs said.
Across the country, she said, 59 percent of school boards are composed entirely of locally elected members. Only 4 percent are made up predominantly of appointed members, with another 8 percent of districts under mayoral control or with no school board.
Among urban school boards, elected boards are an even larger majority, with all-elected boards in 82 percent of urban districts.
McCotter-Jacobs presented several benefits to electing school board members. Such boards, she said, provide local and accountable government, are insulated from political influence due to their non-partisan elections, and receive training from school board associations.
Most importantly, she said, citizens who are displeased with the direction of their schools can express that opinion at the ballot box.
“The elected school board members have an increased responsiveness to their stakeholders,” McCotter-Jacobs said.
McCotter-Jacobs said that although school board elections often received drastically low turnout as low as 5 percent, St. Louis is different. In 2017, 30.1 percent of registered voters cast a vote for school board, despite its lack of governance powers. It was the same percentage of registered voters that cast a vote for mayor.
Only three school districts in Missouri currently have appointed boards, all in the St. Louis area. Riverview Gardens achieved provisional accreditation last year. Normandy remains unaccredited.
After taking questions from members of the advisory committee, the meeting turned to questions from the public.
Byron Clemens, a member of the American Federation of Teachers, questioned why urban school districts with predominantly African-American students seemed to be the ones whose elected boards were removed from control.
“What is it about our demographics that singles us out and makes us a great candidate for an appointed board?” Clemens asked.
Several members of the elected school board also spoke up. Donna Jones, an elected board member and former SLPS teacher, said the SAB’s governance was marked by a poor allocation of resources. Despite the large budget of the school district, Jones said, teachers and students were not provided with basic supplies.
“Politics has destroyed St. Louis Public Schools,” Jones said.
Other speakers raised similar concerns, with one calling the governance of the SAB “taxation without representation.” With a few exceptions, almost everyone who commented calling for an immediate return to fully elected governance.
Missouri state Representative Michael Butler, a Democrat from District 79, said that allowing Missouri’s Republican-controlled legislature to come up with a new form of board governance would hurt SLPS.
“State law is clear on this,” Butler said. “The elected school board should be in governance.”
Although the presentation focused on the benefits of elected governance, the presenters also cautioned the committee against viewing any board as a flawless solution.
“If you’re looking for a perfect model that will not ever have any challenges,” Randol said, “I think you’re going to be frustrated.”
The two remaining meetings – at 6:30 p.m. Thursday, November 9 and 6:30 p.m. Monday, November 13 – will feature segments for public question and comment and will be livestreamed on the district’s Facebook page. A survey for online public comment is available at slps.org/governance.
Jessica Karins is an editorial intern for the St. Louis American from Webster University.
Appointed Board Governance – 6:30 p.m. Thursday, November 9 at Central VPA High School, 3125 S. Kingshighway Blvd.
Hybrid Board Governance – 6:30 p.m. Monday, November 13 at Northwest Academy of Law High School, 5140 Riverview Blvd.
All meetings will be handicapped-accessible and have an interpreter for the hearing-impaired.
