Sean Betts bleeds maroon and white.
“From 1959 to 2006, that’s how long Sumner has been in my family,” said Betts, a 1994 graduate and the youngest of eight children. “From myself, to my sisters, to my brothers, my nephew and even my mother.”
Betts, now 32, vows to make successful a school he says gave him his foundation.
“I will do all that is needed, even if I have to help tutor some kids, even if I have to tutor some parents to get their GED to inspire their kids to get their diploma,” Betts said. “I can’t afford to allow my eyes to see that school close.”
St. Louis 4th Ward Alderman Samuel Moore and Harold Crumpton, president of the Greater Ville Neighborhood Preservation Commission, organized a meeting on Saturday at Kennerly Temple Church to discuss a plan of action in case district officials try to close Sumner High School.
Crumpton said closing Sumner would be “a slap in the face” to other developments in the Ville.
Moore said, “We’ve got $55 million worth of work coming down Martin Luther King Boulevard, such as the business incubator. In one year’s time, in ’07 and ’08, we built 35 new homes, and already sold those homes. The Masonic Order is coming on Sarah and Martin Luther King. The open-air market, a Soulard-type market, a new gas station, most of our businesses will be faced with a façade program. We’re making history.”
Graduates of Sumner High School, groomed in their maroon and white, were quick to point out that Sumner is more than just a building.
“We’ve lost the hospital,” Crumpton said, referring to the former Homer G. Phillips Hospital. “And that took not just medical services, but it took jobs. Now we’re beginning to dismantle the basic educational infrastructure that this community was built around: Sumner High School, Stowe College, Simmons Grade School, etc.”
In a telephone interview Tuesday afternoon, Richard Gaines, member of the district’s appointed administrative board, stressed, “There has been no discussion about Sumner High School being closed.”
But still, even the idea of closing Sumner has caused anguish in many alumni.
“To even consider closing Sumner will be a crime,” Eric Oliver, a member of the Sumner Alumni Association, told MGT of America on Saturday morning at a public meeting used to gather comments about the district’s facilities.
The administrative board hired the Olympia, Wash.-based consulting firm to research the building needs of the district.
Bill Carnes, project director with MGT, assured the group that the firm is still analyzing its findings to determine which schools would be recommended for closure or repair.
Criteria on MGT’s checklist include the age and overall condition and capacity of each building, the status of heating and air conditioning, and the structure’s technological capacity.
Betts recalled his freshman year when he was bussed to McKinley High School as he waited for Sumner’s building to be renovated.
The $7 million facelift, from 1989 to 1991, included new windows, new doors and hardware to comply with fire safety regulations and more interior work, including painting and plastering, plumbing and electrical work.
Upkeep has been largely maintained, but there is still work that needs to be done, said Principal Sherman Curtis as he pointed to missing wood panels on the gymnasium floor. A 2003 bond issue will allow the building to be fully air-conditioned by this summer.
Established: 1875
Sumner is a symbol of the struggle of black people to be educated in America.
Established in 1875, Sumner High School is the oldest black high school west of the Mississippi.
Only a decade before, teachers were punished for teaching blacks n whether free or slave n to read or write.
For more than 100 years, Sumner provided a core of educated black people for St. Louis and the nation. Arthur Ashe, Tina Turner and Wendell O. Pruitt are among the long list of notable alumni.
“I’ve had alumni knock on the door at 6 o’clock in the evening asking me to see the building,” said Curtis, who also plans to redesign Sumner’s Wall of Fame.
The present Sumner building, 4248 Cottage Ave., is also a symbol of another struggle by blacks n to get an appropriate school building near the homes of the students.
Before 1906, the school had been moved into school buildings no longer used for white students. The last of these n at 15th and Walnut streets n was crowded and surrounded by taverns and brothels.
The school board finally responded to petitions from black leaders and directed the school architect, William B. Ittner, to design a new high school in the city’s Ville neighborhood, an enclave of the black middle class.
In its heyday Sumner High School had well over 2,000 students. Today, enrollment stands at less than 50 percent of capacity with 700 students.
Graduation rates and test scores have also suffered in recent years.
Curtis hopes that efforts to improve Sumner will continue well into the future.
“Yes, I want us to stay here, but why do you want us to stay here?” Curtis said. “If you want that history to stay here, then you have to do something to support that history.”
Sumner’s building in the Ville will turn 100 years old in 2010. Curtis likened Sumner’s condition to an aging relative.
“The grandfather is on life support,” he said. “If we don’t do something to improve his health, then he will pass.”
The SAB will present MGT’s findings 6 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 29 at its regular board meeting in Room 108 at the Administration Building, 801 N. 11th Street.