Transportation officials and leaders of St. Louis Public Schools shared plans Tuesday evening to begin the 2024-25 school year on a positive note.
The district has been under fire in recent months over student transportation, hiring and financial questions. Board of Education President Antionette Cousins said at a Board of Education meeting Tuesday it is “working tirelessly, tirelessly to change. And we can’t do this alone. It takes a city to change the game.”
While there have been calls for her and another board members’ resignations, she stated, “To be clear, I will not step down from this position.”
Board member Emily Hubbard has called for Cousins and board Vice President Matt Davis to vacate their positions, citing a lack of transparency from leadership. Hubbard said her concerns about now-suspended Superintendent Keisha Scarlett’s hiring practices went unheard.
The Missouri State Auditor’s office began its investigation of the district on Tuesday. Kelly Davis, a representative of the office, said staff members will begin by meeting with SLPS acting Superintendent Millicent Borishade and other district leaders about logistics.
Then they’ll conduct surveys to gain a broad understanding of the school district, Davis said. From there, they’ll focus on specific areas they find to be significant.
The state auditor will review the district’s 2023-24 school year through July 31, but staff members are not limited to that time frame, Davis said. She said they will work closely with the board throughout the process but try not to overlap a separate third-party investigation that is currently in process into a personnel matter.
SLPS will not have to pay anything for the state audit, she added.
Scarlett is on a temporary leave of absence. The third-party investigation is expected to be completed in September, and until then, no decisions will be made about her employment, Davis has previously said.
Transportation
Square Watson, the district’s chief operations officer, reported that nearly half of the roughly 14,000 St. Louis Public Schools students who need transportation to school will now ride yellow school buses provided by First Student when classes resume on Monday.
He noted Tuesday that more than 6,400 students will ride yellow school buses and over 6,200 will utilize alternative vehicles. More than 630 families voluntarily opted out of receiving transportation from the district, he said, and fewer than 1,600 students will take public transit.
“As we get more buses and they become available, we’ll make adjustments, which means that we’ll continue to communicate to families, and we’ll be able to take them off of the public transit, or Metro, and we’ll be able to remove them from our cabs, vans, sedans and SUVs,” Watson said Tuesday.
Information on how to ride the Metro Transit is on Metro Transit’s website and the school district’s site. SLPS purchased Student Semester Passes and is distributing them to high school students who need rides to and from school.
“Some of the students and parents may never have taken MetroBus for transportation until now,” said Metro Transit Chief Operating Officer Charles Stewart.
“We want them to be prepared so we have teams ready to help parents and students plan their bus trips, to determine what MetroBus route to take, where the closest bus stop is to their home, and what time the bus arrives at the stop and at school.”
Watson and SLPS Transportation Director Toyin Akinola said all vehicles will be door-to-door and will have an identifier number on the windshield. Drivers will make contact with parents before arriving, he said.
Parents can visit the school district’s FAQ page to leave questions and concerns and receive updates on transportation.
Board member Hubbard appears to be a bit confused. It is my understanding that is voted to not place Scarlett on leave, yet Hubbard says she was concerned about Scarlett’s spending all along. You cannot have both ways Mrs Hubbard! I personally believe she is part of coup by anti democratic forces to turn the school district over to the mayor. The same mayor who can not fix our potholes, empty our trash or keep us safe from violence in our city. Everyone knows our mayor supports public school privitizers from the philanthropic community whose goal is to turn our district into all charter schools. NO THANK YOU board member Hubbard and Madame mayor I am sure the voters will determine your fates by voting you both out of office!