When St. Louis school board member Bill Purdy teamed up with school board President Veronica O’ Brien to orchestrate the forced resignation of Superintendent Creg Williams and firing of Vashon basketball coach Floyd Irons last summer, he did not express any concern about O’Brien’s micromanagement of the St. Louis Public Schools. Purdy’s only apparent concern was to retain Lashly & Baer, the law firm that Williams wanted to cut out of the action by hiring in-house counsel for the school board.
Purdy had no problems rendering public criticism of Williams’ management style and providing his own advice. It is only now that the new superintendent, Diana Bourisaw, is under attack from O’Brien that Purdy is expressing angst about the management style of O’Brien, his former ally and colleague. O’Brien also is a former ally and colleague of Bourisaw – she is reportedly the person who brought Bourisaw to the table,
Unfortunately, this latest conflict among school board members will not have any consequence on O’Brien or Purdy, who were elected to their positions. But Bourisaw may be shown the door, because that is life as superintendent of an urban district with elected school board positions – your job is only as secure as the latest round of tempest-in-a-teapot board politics.
Sadly, the people who continue to suffer from these power plays are the 30,000-plus children who attend the St. Louis Public Schools – not to mention the civic leaders and employers, who are desperate to see the city schools produce an educated and employable workforce.
It is clear to anyone who has been paying attention that O’Brien is unstable. She has never taken responsibility for her actions. She almost always talks about what other people need to do. Purdy and Downs appear to have exploited O’Brien’s personal problems to retain Lashly & Baer and to hire a superintendent they thought they could control. Then Bourisaw proceeded to do her job without fully consulting the person who considers herself the puppetmaster, and it was back to more disaster in the public schools. The degree of frustration with this district – which will need comprehensive reform of its governance, pedagogy and operations – is unprecedented. At this point, Mayor Francis G. Slay could pitch the district at the state and almost nobody would blame him. It definitely ain’t working for anybody.