"The
St. Louis Schools Watch was founded on the premises that parental
and community involvement are needed for good schools to flourish,
and that public participation is a cornerstone of democracy. The
Watch offers information and analysis that we hope contributes to
a public debate over what changes are necessary to improve St. Louis
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While other urban mayors are fighting to take the reigns of their city's failing school districts, Mayor Francis Slay continues to push instead for the state's Republican governor to take over St. Louis Public Schools. And he's finding an ally in the woman he first appointed to the school board.
After denials four months ago by his aides, Robin Wahby and Ed Rhode, of secret conversations first reported by PUB DEF in July in which the mayor's office called on the state to intervene following the defeat of his hand-picked school board candidates, Mayor Slay, a Democrat, has grown more and more vocal about his desire for Gov. Matt Blunt to take control over St. Louis' beleaguered schools.
"A State takeover of the district is a needed first step," the mayor wrote on his website Saturday.
"If legislation is needed to make the law clear and to protect a takeover from legal challenge, the Missouri General Assembly should pass a bill the first month it is in session -- and the Governor should sign it."
The current school board president, who Slay appointed to the board in 2004 after former member Rochelle Moore was removed because of her erratic behavior, has joined Slay in calling for state intervention.
Veronica O'Brien said that while she doesn't yet support an all-out "takeover," she does think the state should do away with the superintendent's office.
"A state takeover in the truest sense would be disastrous and it would not help the children," O'Brien told KSDK this week. But she said she wants to see the position of superintendent completely eliminated and replaced by two positions; a chief operating officer and a chief academic officer.
O'Brien also has begun to undermine the credibility of the very woman she abruptly introduced as superintendent just four months ago.
"Dr. [Diana] Bourisaw does not have the experience to handle some things in this district," O'Brien told Channel 5. She said she once believed Bourisaw had the "potential to grow," but no longer.
O'Brien said she doesn't believe she personally deserves any of the blame for the current state of the district. "I don't think I bear the burden of many years of the district falling apart," she said.
In that regard, she and the mayor are again on the same page.
For three years, between April 2003 and April 2006, Mayor Slay enjoyed unprecedented influence over St. Louis Public Schools. Under the direction of his original slate of candidates -- Vince Schoemehl, Bob Archibald, Ronald Jackson and Darnetta Clinkscale, who later became the heavy-handed board majority -- the district embarked on an expensive experiment, overseen and co-directed from the mayor's own office, that turned control of the district over to a New York City-based corporate turnaround firm and a superintendent that had absolutely no prior experience in education.
When the dust settled, the district was left in debt, the community was even more divided, and the New Yorkers where back in New York preparing for their next adventure in New Orleans.
But Slay, like O'Brien, accepts no blame for his role in today's mess.
"It would be controversial to give up local control of the St. Louis Public Schools, but it would be plain wrong to allow the district to continue to betray the futures of thousands of students," Slay wrote today on his website. "It's past time for a state takeover. Why not just say that?"
If Slay and O'Brien get their way, it would put St. Louis City residents in the very unique position of being perhaps the only city population in America with no control over either its own police force or its own public schools.
Now the commentary:
It is not leadership to jump to the front of a steady march and join in the chorus. Indeed, it is cowardice for elected leaders to abandon their mission and turn over the power voters invested in them to outsiders -- whether they be from New York City or Jefferson City.
If Mayor Slay wants to be a good leader and if he truly wants someone to have the authority to "put the district in the hands of a strong administrator with a mandate to stabilize the district and start it on the long road to recovery," as he says, then he should ask for that power, not pass the buck to a governor who has repeatedly voiced his own insensitivity to this state's urban people.
Instead of giving our power over to the state, the mayor should ask for control over his city's schools -- as mayors have done in Chicago, Cleveland and Los Angeles, and as is currently being considered in Seattle and Washington D.C.
It would be controversial, but no more so than if a governor who is not directly accountable to St. Louisans was given control.
And at least there would finally be one person the voters of this city could hold accountable for the future of our public schools.
Jeanne Weber, president of the Parent-Teacher Organization (PTO) at Metro High School, told the members of the St. Louis School Board that they are not being very good role models for SLPS students.
She also said they should support Superintendent Diana Bourisaw's efforts, as she and her family does.
VIDEO: Board Hears Report on Sodexho, O'Brien Refuses to Hear Public Comments
By Antonio D. French
The St. Louis City School Board heard a report tonight by Chief Operating Officer Deanna Anderson on the costs and benefits of ending the district's contract with Sodexho and bringing back in-house many of the maintenance operations that the contractor oversees.
The following report is by Nick Clement of the St. Louis Schools Watch:
St. Louis School Board President Veronica O'Brien again has found a way to divert attention from students and teachers to herself. In a bizarre performance before the Desegregation Monitoring Task Force, O'Brien called on the state to intervene in the school district to remove the superintendent.
Only two months ago, O'Brien engineered the removal of the word "interim" from Diana Bourisaw's title, making her "superintendent" instead of "interim superintendent." Now she is relentless in her attacks on the superintendent. The reason for the attacks lies in a disagreement over O'Brien's role.
In recent weeks, O'Brien has been telling anyone who will listen that administrators in St. Louis Public Schools do not respect her authority as president. She complains that administrators are holding meetings without inviting her and making decisions without running them by her first. In short, she is confirming the truth of board member Bill Purdy's claim that she is trying to micromanage the district.
Sources familiar with O'Brien say Bourisaw's reluctance to let O'Brien make up jobs and salaries precipitated split. The disagreement between the two came to a head over the hiring of Anthony Bonner.
Sources say O'Brien promised Bonner's family, with whom she is close, that she would give Bonner a job and pay him $125,000 a year. She ordered Bourisaw to hire Bonner as a "special assistant" and pay him $125,000. Bourisaw reportedly refused. She is said to have told O'Brien that Bonner could apply for whatever openings were advertised and if he was qualified, she would hire him at the advertised salary. He qualified for a job in the community information office and was hired at a salary of $72,000 a year.
Many people in the school district were outraged that someone with just a bachelor's degree could come off the street and waltz into a $72,000 a year gig to make more than many principals with doctorate degrees are making, but O'Brien was outraged that her order to pay him $125,000 was ignored. She reportedly ran around school board headquarters ordering one person after another to code Bonner in the payroll system for $125,000. Person after person refused, and her grudge against Bourisaw grew.
People who know O'Brien say she has become obsessed with getting rid of Bourisaw, to the point where nothing else in the school district matters to her. That obsession has led to the strange speech reported in the Post-Dispatch yesterday.
As upsetting as her speech is to supporters of St. Louis public schools, it at least indicates that she does not have the support of the majority of the board. She would not be calling on the state to remove the superintendent if she had the votes on the board to do it.
The Saint Louis Board of Education will hold a Special Board Meeting Work Session and a Board Meeting on Tuesday, November 21, 2006 at Carr Lane VPA Middle School. The Special Board Meeting Work Session will begin at 5:30 p.m. and is open to the public. The Regular Monthly Board Meeting will begin at 7:00 p.m. and is also open to the public. The executive session will be held at the end of the Regular Board Meeting and is closed to the public. The agenda is as follows:
WORK SESSION AGENDA 5:30 P.M. 1. Call to Order 2. Roll Call 3. Sodexho Presentation 4. Discussion 5. Adjournment
REGULAR MEETING AGENDA 7:00 P.M. 1. Call to Order 2. Roll Call 3. Pledge of Allegiance 4. We Are Up To Good Things 5. Public Comments 6. Approval of Minutes a) Regular Board Meeting October 10, 2006 b) Special Board Meeting October 16, 2006 7. Superintendent’s Report a) Business Items – Information Only i) Financial Reports ii) Superintendent’s Goals and Objectives b) Consent Agenda 8. President’s Report a) Report on Council of Great City Schools Fall Conference b) Board Committees 9. New Business a) Resolution to authorize inclusion of Saint Louis Board of Education in MSBA Intensive Assistance to Districts Program. b) Resolution to authorize the Board’s adoption of the MSBA Superintendent Evaluation Form and Process for Evaluating School District Superintendents. 10. Information Requests a) Dr. Fowler: Update on air conditioning projects. b) Mr. Jackson: Update on transportation. 11. Announcements 12. Motion to go into closed session 13. Adjournment
EXECUTIVE SESSION AGENDA 1. Call to Order 2. Roll Call 3. Legal Matters 4. Personnel Matters 5. Adjournment
Kristen Hinman has a very good article on Superintendent Dr. Diana Bourisaw's new directive to her staff to ensure that all participants in the district's basketball program are eligible to play according to the state's guidelines.
From the article:
"I believe they'll do an excellent job checking into that," Bourisaw says. "If [the students] are not eligible, whether it's because of grade-point average or residency, they will not be allowed to participate."
The following is by Nick Clement from the most recent SLS Watch e-newsletter:
At the St. Louis School Board administrative meeting Tuesday night, Bob Archibald and Ron Jackson objected to Diana Bourisaw's plans to make a presentation to the Missouri State Education Board on Thursday November 16. They were joined in their opposition by board president Veronica O'Brien.
Bourisaw intended her presentation as a snapshot of the district at present. (You can get a copy of the presentation through the St. Louis Public Schools home page, www.slps.org.) She said it was important to dispel the myths and misconceptions state board members may have and to present factual information about the reality of the district so that the state board could make an objective decision about what actions, if any, to take regarding the St. Louis Public Schools. She also said she hoped her presentation would encourage a dialogue with the state about further improvements to the St. Louis Public Schools. Archibald, Jackson and Mayor Slay have been demanding since July that the state take over the public schools.
Archibald came close to calling Bourisaw a liar, saying he didn't believe parts of the presentation were accurate, such as the balanced budget. Bourisaw referred Archibald to Leonard Westbrook who is a state education employee working closely with district treasurer Enos Moss. Westbrook reports directly to the Danforth Advisory committee about the financial condition of the district. The implication was that if the budget were not accurate, Westbrook, who was in the audience, would have brought it to the attention of the Advisory Commission.
Both Archibald and Jackson protested that they were given no advance notice of the presentation. Bourisaw told me after the meeting that she routinely makes presentations to groups of all kinds (as have all district superintendents) and does not provide notice to board members because it is not an issue of policy. In fact, she was making a presentation to the Clergy Coalition the next day. No one objected to that presentation. She said this is the first time she had ever had board members object to her making a presentation in support of the St. Louis Public Schools.
Bourisaw readily acknowledged that student test scores were not where they need to be, but her presentation included stunning statistics which showed the St. Louis Public Schools were outperforming Charter Schools, and since 2001, SLPS African American students have consistently outperformed their counterparts in county schools on the MAP. For some reason, no one seems to be calling for a state takeover of the charter schools, however.
Archibald's and Jackson's real objections have nothing to do with being notified of Bourisaw's speaking engagements. They object to the superintendent making the case before the State board that the district is stabilizing and improving in spite of 3 years of destruction; and there is support among the stakeholders for Bourisaw and the new school board because of that stability. If the district is improving, then there is no pretext for a state takeover.
Here's the upshot: If some of you don't step up, this website will shut down.
Can you help?
CONTRIBUTOR F.A.Q.
How do I become a contributor? Call Antonio French at (314) 518-2364.
I work for the district. Do I have to use my real name? No, you can have a pseudonym.
Do I have to write something everyday? No. Hopefully several people will step up, thereby spreading the workload. Antonio French will still be the editor and will sometimes ask you to cover a particular event.
I'm not the best writer, but I know a lot about what's going on in SLPS. How can I help? Contact Antonio French (use the number above). You feed him the info, he'll write the stories. He might even give you a cool code name.
I have a video camera but I have no idea how to edit videos or post them to the Internet. How can I contribute videos of school board meetings and school events? If you're willing and able to record an event all you have to do is get us the DV tape. We'll copy it and return the tape when we're done.
The school board will meet Tuesday, Nov. 14, at 7:00 p.m. for their monthly administration meeting.
At next week's regular meeting, Superintendent Diana Bourisaw's report to the board will include her office's evaluation of controversial contractor Sodexho.
Here is the complete agenda:
1 - Call to Order / Roll Call
2 - Placement of Items on the November 21, 2006 Regular Board Meeting Agenda
A) Call to Order/Roll Call B) Pledge of Allegiance C) We Are Up To Good Things D) Public Comments E) Approval of Minutes F) Superintendent's Report
Finance Report
Presentation by Superintendent
Sodexho Evaluation Report
Consent Agenda
G) President's Report H) New Business I) Information Requests J) Announcements
Some St. Louis City public school officials are tossing around the idea of establishing school board committees to focus on specific areas, such as facilities or finance. One board member says he wants to see parents involved in those committees.
"Last I heard, nothing had been formalized yet for presentation to the board," said board member Peter Downs. "As the discussion moves forward, however, I would like to advocate for parent involvement on any such committees."
Downs asks any parents interested in working on a committee to contact him.
"If you are a parent interested in working on a committee to help the district move ahead in such areas as facilities, finance, or instruction, or you know of a parent who is interested in serving in that way, please let me know," said Downs.
Former Rams Tight End Roland Williams will speak to students at Williams Ninth Grade Academy about the importance of academic achievement and goal setting.
The pep talk will begin at 1:30 p.m., Thursday, November 9 at the school, located at 3955 St. Ferdinand.
“We not only want to prepare our young people for tenth grade but we want to encourage them to attend college,” said principal Amy Phillips. Williams, a member of Youth Lifeline Foundation, will speak for 30 minutes and sign autographs. Youth Lifeline Foundation’s mission is to teach youth valuable life skills necessary to become productive citizens. The foundation includes celebrity athletes, entertainers and business professionals.
A 17-year-old collapsed and died yesterday at Vashon High School. According to KMOV, authorities say it appears Cortez Riney suffered a seizure.
School officials said disctrict security guards tried to revive him until an ambulance arrived. The boys mother told KMOV he had a cut on his chin and a bloody nose after apparently falling out of his classroom desk. He apparently had a history of seizures.
The St. Louis Public Schools’ Division of Community Education will celebrate Community Education Week, Sunday, Nov. 12 through Friday, Nov. 17. St. Louis will join other school districts and communities from across the state of Missouri to highlight community education programs during this special week in November.
The week-long celebration begins with a Gang Violence Town Hall meeting on Saturday, Nov. 11, from 10:00 a.m. until noon at Waldbridge Elementary, 5000 Davidson Ave. Circuit Attorney Jennifer Joyce, St. Louis Police Department’s Gang Unit, and Circuit Judge Angela Turner Quigless are guest speakers.
“Our community education centers have been apart of the St. Louis Public School district for nearly 40 years,” said Superintendent Dr. Diana Bourisaw. “We welcome all of the activities that are going to take place during this festive week.”
Here’s a list of activities that are scheduled for Community Education Week:
St. Louis leaders and community education supporters will take part in a kick-off program Sunday, Nov. 12 at 3:00 p.m. The “Showcase Celebration” featuring several performing artists will take place at Mullanphy ILC in the school’s auditorium, 4221 Shaw Blvd.
Tuesday, Nov. 14, is National Community Education Day. All SLPS Community Education Centers will celebrate with an Open House at each location, starting at 6:00 p.m.
Thursday, Nov. 16, the District will host a New Community Council Member Orientation. The orientation will begin at 6:00 p.m. in the SLPS Administration Building , 801 N. 11th St . , Conference Room 108.
The week will conclude with the Community Education Student Ambassadors’ visit to City Hall. Student Ambassadors will talk with aldermen, tour City Hall, and participate in a breakfast reception with community council members and the aldermen. The event will take place at 10:00 a.m. at City Hall, 1200 Market St.
All events during this week are free of charge and open to the public.
It’s Election Day on Tuesday, Nov. 7, and St. Louis Public Schools students will exercise their right to vote in a mock election. Students will be casting their ballots for candidates in key state and local races as well as several ballot issues.
The election is part of Kids Voting USA, a nationwide, nonpartisan program where students in grades K-12 are taught the importance of citizenship and voting.
“This is a great lesson in civics for our students,” said Superintendent Diana Bourisaw. “The program teaches the responsibilities of being an informed citizen and encourages students to acquire the voting habit,” she added.
Every school will also have at least two students to be junior poll workers, students who will oversee the election process for their school. Volunteers from several organizations, including Americorp, the Young Lawyers Division of the Missouri Bar Association, and law students from St. Louis University will also be assisting in the election process.
According to Sandy Diamond, the Director of Kids Voting Missouri, this is the third election that all St. Louis Public School students have had the opportunity to cast mock ballots. “During the 2004 elections, 64% of students in St. Louis voted. In addition to learning how to cast a ballot, the students learn valuable lessons about the roles and responsibilities of elected officials and the government,” Diamond said.
Voting results will be available on the Kids Voting website, www.kidsvotingmissouri.org, beginning late in the evening on Nov. 7. Complete results will be posted the day after election.
Kids Voting Missouri is administered by the College of Education at the University of Missouri-St. Louis through its Citizenship Education program.
The following is a repost of an SLS Watch article by R.E. Porter:
In recent weeks, St. Louis Public Schools Superintendent Diana Bourisaw has presented a detailed plan for raising student achievement in St. Louis to one community group after another. The foundation of her plan is the philosophy that compassion for children from difficult backgrounds meant holding them to high standards. There can be no excuses, she said, for accepting less than their best.
At the third forum on public education from the self-styled St. Louis Children's Agenda, for example, Bourisaw said that raising student performance was the key to regaining accreditation. She said that the district is committed to raising student test scores on the Missouri Assessment Program (MAP) tests and on American College Testing's (ACT) college entrance exam.
"We will improve academic achievement by focusing on people, not programs," she said. The district has begun providing professional development geared to classroom practice. The curriculum is being aligned to state standards as measured by the MAP test, and children will be tested every six weeks to see how they are progressing towards what the state education department expects them to know at the end of the year. Teachers get the assessment results back almost immediately and have a week to review if the children need it. Principals have the power to assign more resource to classes that consistently have trouble meeting expectations.
Every aspect of the district's efforts will be driven by data, she said. In addition to the benchmark tests, each school will report quarterly to the board on how they stand in relation to their targets in several different areas, including attendance and discipline. Principals participate cluster study groups for additional support, and 36 low performing schools get help from performance teams to target academic achievement. Bourisaw also said that the district is going to refocus on reading instruction, and it will continue to teach reading beyond the 4th grade where it traditionally had stopped.
The motivation underneath all those hard-headed initiatives is the realization that permitting students from poor backgrounds to fail just condemns them to a lifetime of failure. Bourisaw recount how, when she was a young teacher working with juvenile delinquent boys, she initially had made excuses for them out of a misplaced sense of compassion, and forgave them for not handing in assignments on time due to chaotic conditions at home. She said that over time she came to understand that it was more compassionate to demand that they hand in their assignments despite the chaotic conditions at home, and the more demanding she became, the better her students did in school. She developed a "no excuses" policy towards her students that drove them to raise their level of achievement.
"What they really needed," she said, "was someone to care, someone to demand that they do the work. When you did that, they delivered."
Strangely, former school board member Hattie Jackson, who is the wife of current school board member Ron Jackson, said after hearing the same presentation that all she heard was "excuses and demographics, plenty of excuses, but no strategic plan to to inform each individual school (and improve student achievement)."
Perhaps the fact that her husband is hostile to Bourisaw affects her ability to hear what the other 60 people in attendance heard: a sensible, comprehensive approach to raising student achievement.
The following is from an email from Superintendent Dr. Diana Bourisaw:
SLPS employees, along with several community partners, continue to collect new or gently-worn coats, and new hats, mittens and gloves, which will be given to students in the district. Washington University ’s Center for Advanced Learning (Cornerstone), St. Louis University , St. Louis Community College-Forest Park campus, the St. Louis Public Schools Foundation, and local churches are also helping to reach the goal of collecting 3,000 coats by Nov. 16.
Items may be dropped off at St. Louis Public Schools Central Office, 801 N. 11th Street , weekdays between the hours of 8:00 a.m. and 4:45 p.m., or at any of the following Community Education Centers between the hours of 1:00 p.m. and 8:00 p.m. (with the exception of Veteran’s Day on Nov. 10):
Sigel Elementary 2039 Russell 865-5050
Vashon High 3035 Cass Ave. 652-9961
Stevens Middle 1033 Whittier St. 531-6160
Walbridge Elementary 5019 Alcott Ave. 261-8282
Mullanphy Elementary 4221 Shaw Ave. 772-9550
The district will accept new or gently-used coats for boys and girls with sizes that will fit students ranging from preschool to high school. Donated hats, mittens, and gloves must be new in order to be accepted. All donated items will be distributed to students in the St. Louis Public Schools by district social workers.
Financial gifts may be made to the St. Louis Public Schools Foundation/Coats for Kids, 1415 Olive St., Suite 100, St. Louis , MO 63103.
The St. Louis Public Schools today rolled out a redesigned website which is highlighted by improved graphics, more user friendly navigation tools, and information for all audiences.
"Our Information Technology department worked very hard redesigning the website, making sure that it includes all of the information needed for our students, parents, and community members. The redesigned website includes press releases on the home page, a master calendar of events for the entire district, along with information on all of our 93 schools," said Dr. Diana Bourisaw, Superintendent of Schools.
Some of the features of the new website include:
Drop-down menus with specific information for students, parents, and community members;
A newly designed Calendar of Events;
The ability for community members to sign up for e-news, such as press releases and the district's School & Home newspaper, which will be sent directly to the user's e-mail address.
"Our goal is to continue to expand our online services in an effort to communicate better with our students, their families, and the community," Dr. Bourisaw.
The website continues to list all district job postings, information on contracts that are available for bidding, and a phone directory listing all St. Louis Public Schools employees.
