At final forum on governance, residents say elected school board is best option for St. Louis

At final forum on governance, residents say elected school board is best option for St. Louis

Susan Turk Reports on 2nd Meeting of SAB Task Force: dismantling democracy (even more) in St Louis Public Education

St. Louis Schools Watch Does the SAB Have to Do This? For and Against By Susan Turk November 14, 2017--St. Louis--Approximately 90 people attended the second SAB Task Force meeting on appointed boards at Central VPA HS, Thursday, November 9, 2017. Since many of the audience speakers at the first Task Force meeting objected to the SAB’s decision to study alternative forms of governance, SAB Member Richard Gaines opened the meeting by stating that we want to address SB 781 and the task force review of alternative governance. The task force attorney, John Dalton from the Armstrong Teasdale law firm then spoke. He said that, “The SAB can do nothing more or nothing less than SB 781 says it can.  The SAB is just trying to complete their assignment.  They are duty bound to study alternative forms of governance.  Missouri Senate Bill 781 charges the SAB to study alternatives forms of governance” That was Dalton’s legal opinion. The editor/reporter of this publication wears several hats when attending these meetings. One hat is a journalist’s.  Another hat is a watchdog’s and another is an advocate’s hat.  During the audience comments section of the November 9th meeting, our watchdog hat mustered us to take off the journalist’s hat and put on the advocate’s.  The following was then said. “There have been a lot of references to the state law that empowers the SAB. Senate Bill 781 from the 1998 legislative session became RSMo 162.1100 which all of you can read at your leisure. Here is some of what it says. “The chief executive officer …,(of the SAB) shall be paid in whole or in part with funds from the district, and shall have all other powers and duties of any other general superintendent of schools, ….. His salary shall be set by the state board of education.” The SAB and state board decided not to enforce that provision. “4. The special administrative board's powers and duties shall include: (1) Creating an academic accountability plan, taking corrective action in underperforming schools, and seeking relief from state-mandated programs; (2) Exploration of alternative forms of governance for the district; (3) Authority to contract with nonprofit corporations to provide for the operation of schools; (4) Oversight of facility planning, construction, improvement, repair, maintenance and rehabilitation; (5) Authority to establish school site councils to facilitate site-based school management and to improve the responsiveness of the schools to the needs of the local geographic attendance region of the school; (6) Authority to submit a proposal to district voters pursuant to section 162.666 regarding establishment of neighborhood schools.” The SAB has not enacted all of these powers and duties. They have not contracted with nonprofit corporations to provide for the operation of schools and they have not submitted a proposal to district voters pursuant to section 162.666 regarding establishment of neighborhood schools. And, “The state board of education may cause the termination of the transitional school district at any time upon a determination that the transitional district has accomplished the purposes for which it was established and is no longer needed. …. The state board of education shall provide notice to the governor and general assembly of the termination … and the termination … shall become effective thirty days following such determination.” Which sounds like a transition of 30 days is allowed for. They have cherry picked their “shalls”.  They do not have to study alternative governance. To clarify, there are “shall” provisions in the law which the SAB has followed and “shall” provisions which the SAB has chosen not to follow.  The only thing that distinguishes some “shall” provisions from others is the SAB’s action or lack thereof. They have ignored some provisions but not others, which brings us to the conclusion that despite what Attorney Dalton said, they are not duty bound to study alternative governance.  They simply want to. And finally, just as Dorothy learned from Glenda at the end of the Wizard of Oz, that she had the power to return to Kansas all along, the state board of education has the power to return the elected board of education to power whenever it so chooses. They can find the power by reading SB 781 aka RSMo 162.1100.12. …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………. The editor encourages readers to forward The Watch to anyone you think would be interested. Our city and our schools need as much public awareness and public engagement as we can muster at this time. ....................................................................................................................................................................... Meeting Cancelled When SAB Member Richard Gaines initially spoke about the alternative governance task force at the October 10tth BOE meeting, he said there would be four public meetings, the three forums on alternative forms of governance which occurred between November 6th and November 13th and a fourth public meeting on November 20th for deliberations.  Well, apparently the November 20th deliberations meeting has been cancelled At this time, it appears that any further task force meetings will not be held in public. They may meet in December to review transcripts, other comments, and other reports if available. An expected final committee meeting is tentatively scheduled for Thursday, January 11th at 4 pm. Task force members are unclear about whether those meetings will be open to the public. .................................................................................................................................................................................................................... About Contacting The Commissioner In the last issue of the Watch, we asked readers to contact DESE Commissioner Margie Vandeven about supporting the return of the elected board of education to governance of the SLPS. It is possible that Vandeven may not be the commissioner much longer.  Governor Greitins  would like to replace her with someone of his own choosing according to the Post Dispatch, "Greitens, who campaigned in favor of bringing more charter schools to Missouri, paid $1,596 out of his campaign fund in August to fly Atlanta charter school expert Kenneth Zeff to mid-Missouri as a possible replacement for Vandeven. Zeff and Greitens were White House fellows in the class of 2005-2006 under former President George W. Bush." Greitins has replaced five members of the eight member appointed state board of education since July. Until they are confirmed by the state senate in January, the governor can rescind their appointments for any reason. He has already rescinded one appointment for disagreement over his intention to replace Vandeven. The politicization of the state board of education has troubled many educators and politicians throughout the state.  A special meeting of the state board has been called for Tuesday, November 21 even though their regular meeting is scheduled for November 30th.  The meeting on the 21st is to be a closed session to deal with employment issues. So, when you write messages of support for the SLPS elected board of education, do not send them to margie.vandeven@dese.mo.gov.  Please use the generic commissioner@dese.mo.gov. That way, no matter who sits in the commissioner's chair, they will receive the message. ......................................................................................................................................................... The Alternative Governance Survey Is Now Available You can now leave comments at www.slps.org/governance or take the governance survey at https://slpsgovernance.metroquest.com.  The survey will be available until 11:59 pm November 28. ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………… Questions for the Watch? Letters to the Editor? Stories to contribute? News tips? Send them to SLS_Watch@yahoo.com …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….. Calendar November 28, 2017, Tuesday,  Board of Education Work Session, Carr Lane VPA Middle School, 1005 N. Jefferson at 6:30-8pm November, 21, 2017, Tuesday, Special Administrative Board meeting, 6:00 p.m., 801 N. 11th Street, room 108 December 12, 2017, Tuesday, regular monthly meeting of the Board of Education, Lexington Elementary School, 5030 Lexington Avenue, St. Louis, 63115, 6:30 pm ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………. Please Subscribe to the SLS Watch. If you have never subscribed because friends have forwarded The Watch to you, please consider subscribing now. Internet newsletter mailing and management services are not free. The Watch has always concentrated its efforts on getting you the news and analysis of the SLPS that you value rather than on keeping itself in the black. But in order to pay our bills, we do need your subscription. For a dollar a month, you will get news, opinion, and analysis that you won't see elsewhere in the media. Please write a check today. __________________________________________________________ Subscribe to the St. Louis Schools Watch. Name:____________________________________________ Street No.:________________________________________ City:_____________________________________________ State/Zip:________________________________________ Telephone:_______________________________________ Email:___________________________________________ I am enclosing:_____$12 for a 1-year subscription (make checks payable to Commonsense Publishing, and mail to P.O. Box 1983, St. Louis, MO 63118.) __________________________________________________________ The St. Louis Schools Watch was founded on the premises that parental and community involvement is needed for good schools to flourish, and that public participation is a cornerstone of democracy. St. Louis Schools Watch offers information and analysis that we hope contributes to a public debate over what changes are necessary to improve St. Louis public schools and what works. Our mailing address is: Common Sense Publishing P.O. 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Susan Turk Reports on the unfolding fiasco organized by the SAB to undercut democratic governance of St Louis Public School System - unparalleled reporting because Susan has lived and struggled this entire history.

St. Louis Schools Watch The First Alternative Forms of Governance Task Force Meeting Was a Night to Remember By Susan Turk November 6, 2017—St. Louis—Approximately 300 people attended the first meeting of the SAB’s task force on alternative forms of governance meeting tonight.  The crowd was diverse but there was a large contingent of SLPS principals and senior staff for whom attendance was mandatory.  All seven elected board of education members were also in attendance. There was a change of personnel on the task force from what had been published in the Post Dispatch.  Better Family Life’s James Clark declined his appointment due to being appointed to another board that would take up a considerable amount of time. He was replaced by SLU and Lindenwood Law School Professor Stephanie Hudson. After the meeting we learned that Rolanda Gladden, the teacher who had been appointed to the board and attended the first meeting resigned due to the level of controversy involving the task force. Another teacher, Kaylan Holloway, was appointed to take her place. The haste with which the SAB put this together has not worked so well. The three experts who presented at the meeting were Verjeana McCotter-Jacobs, Esq., Executive Strategic Advisor in Equity Programming for the National School Boards Association, Melissa K. Randol, Esq., Executive Director, Missouri School Boards Association and a former school board member from Prince George County in Maryland and Janet Tilley, Director of Board Development at Missouri School Boards Association.  Tilley presented the background information on elected boards. In summary, elected schools boards are the most common form of school district governance in the country. They represent democracy in its purest form because they are non-partisan and their members are not paid to serve. They work for the children and are directly accountable to the community at the ballot box. In our 40 largest cities 82% of the school boards are locally elected, 15% are appointed and 3% are hybrids with both elected and appointed members. Nationally school boards were originally appointed but 100 years ago during the Progressive Era there was a movement to transform them to democratically elected boards. They were meant to provide local control and to be insulated from political influence by having their elections off cycle and by being non-partisan. They are models of democratic process.  They increase stakeholder and community engagement in schools by being directly accessible and offering greater independence from political influence. There has been criticism that there is low voter turnout for school board elections. The national average is 7% turnout. St. Louis is different. Our most recent school board election had a 30% voter turnout, the same percentage as voted for our mayor.  Even though our school board is not governing the district, the voters are committed to the board.  Elected school boards represent the entire community and serve as gateways for minorities to enter elected public service. Direct election ensures the public in public education. They are the most accountable form of governance to stakeholders. Four key studies which showing a positive correlation between academic performance under elected boards were referenced. The ability of the board to work as a team with the superintendent and staff contributed to that success.   Other factors were communication with all stakeholders and continuous training. A conclusion of the 2010 Danforth Freeman committee’s report was repeated that there is no perfect or proven board model.  The model that best reflects the values of your community should be implemented. Task force members asked questions for about half an hour. During that time, former elected school board member Bill Monroe disrupted the meeting.  He attacked SAB member Richard Gaines by name stating that Gaines was doing a disservice to the community by not allowing the audience to speak.  Then he stormed out. Since time was allotted for the audience to speak, Monroe’s brief melodramatic interruption served no purpose other than to remind people about a deficiency of elected boards, sometimes demagogues like Monroe succeed in getting elected.  But then the electorate corrects that mistake at the next opportunity.  Monroe, after all , was the reason the state board of education terminated the transition planning discussion last year. He crashed a meeting forcing its abrupt cancellation. It would not be unreasonable to surmise that his behavior was scripted then and now to handicap the elected board. His many performances during public comments at SAB meetings over the years always seemed designed to embarrass the elected board. But he lost his re-election bid earlier this year.  Democracy took care of the problem he presented. Twenty-five audience members were able to address the task force.  Each was allotted 3 minutes.  Among them were retired SLPS teacher and Local 420 Vice President Byron Clemens, Twenty-second Ward Republican  Committeeman Robert Vroman, Board of Education Member  Donna Jones, Board of Education Member  Dorothy Rohde Collins, Board of Education President  Susan Jones, UMSL Professor of Education and former Board Of Education Member Rebecca Rogers, Daryl Smith, SLPS teacher Nick Metropolis, Fifteenth Ward Democrats Chairman Richard Buthod, Bill Reardon, Jessica Payne, Fifth Ward Committeeman Rasheen Aldridge, State Representative Michael Butler, Coalition of Black Trade Unionists former President Lew Moye, SLPS students Jane and John Gillespie, Board of Education Member  Bill Haas, SLPS parent Katie Berry, State Representative Bruce Franks, Bill Gruhn, SLPS parent Megan Betts and SLPS parent Clara Holmes. The speakers consistently expressed support for the return of the elected board of education to governance. Some of the highlights of their remarks were Donna Jones’ mention of the ambition of the business community to control the millions of dollars in the SLPS general operating budget and how money has not been spent wisely to renovate and resource our schools.  She called it “stealing”. Dorothy Rohde Collins mentioned that our city is hurting because people’s voices are not being heard.  “We need more democracy, not less.” Rebecca Rogers pointed out the accumulation of white privilege and white supremacy by denying the citizens the right to elect their school board. Darryl Smith’s emphasis was on the importance of the children in the city and that the best way to help the children and hold the school board accountable was the elected board. Nick Metropolis spoke about modeling democracy for his students. High school teachers are trying to teach students about civic engagement. Richard Buthod said the disenfranchisement of the citizens of St. Louis was paternalistic. Bill Reardon questioned how we could call this a democracy id we don’t have the right to vote and elect our leaders. He also objected to asking the legislature to change the law about SLPS governance because they had taken our minimum wage increase away from the city and showed they did not have our best interests at heart. Rasheen Aldridge said that trying to take away our right to vote for our school board is beyond disrespectful. He further criticized the SAB for their disrespectful behavior at the October elected school board meeting. Michael Butler said that the law is clear that since the district is fully accredited the elected board should be returned to governance. He asked whether if the citizens make their support for the elected board clear would the task force recommend the return of the elected board to governance.  Richard Gaines combatively responded that the task force and SAB could not tell the state board what to do (which is laughable)  and would not commit to what they would recommend. Lew Moye said we should not be debating giving up our right to vote. He was followed by a teacher named Evelyn who emphatically stated that you shouldn’t have the right to take my vote away.  Glenda Thornton asked Gaines why there were no black parents on the task force. Bill has erroneously stated that having served for 15 years, he was the longest serving board member since Dan Schafly when John Mahoney served for 24 years, reiterated the history that lef us to this moment, the repeated misinformation in the Post-Dispatch, Haas called it a canard that the excuses that have been put forth for the installation of the SAB, the unstable leadership and low academic achievement was caused by Mayor Slay’s slate and the financial problems were caused by the state.  Haas continued that the appointed board is not the solution.  They are the problem because test scores have been flat for the ten years they have been in power. Haas concluded that it is a disgrace. SLPS parent Katie Berry  expressed fatigue about Jefferson city’s overreach.  “They’ve taken away our pay increase and women’s rights.  I’m not ready to give them my schools too. These people are taking away my voice about the things that most impact me.” she said.  Bruce Franks expressed support for the elected board.  He said if it is not returned there will be issues oin our city and promised to protest for the children.  SLPS parent Megan betts asked how much this process cost.  Ricard gaines told her $75-80,000.  He insisted that no one on stage was being paid.  But he declined to tell her what the money was being spent on.  He then went on to say that, “We, (meaning the task force and the SAB) don’t make decisions, we make recommendations.  He told her that you can make recommendations  yourselves”.  While that may be technically true, the recommendation that the SAB sends to DESE will carry weight that our recommendations not have.  Nevetheless, everyone who is concerned about the future governance of the SLPS, should endeavor to contact DESE Commissioner Vandeven and the state board of education to express your opinion. It is worth a try. The state board can be reached at 573-751-4212 sbe@dese.mo.gov The commissioner can be reached at 573-751-4446 margie.vandeven@dese.mo.gov commissioner@dese.mo.gov If you do send emails, please copy them to sls_watch@yahoo.com so that we can tally communications. The survey the SAB is hosting will be available on slps.org from November 14-28 and there is also a link for public comments on https://www.slps.org/governance now. Voice mail comments can be left at 314-435-5755. There will be one public forum on hybrid boards, Monday, November 13 at 6:30 pm at Northwest Academy of Law HS.  Public comments can be on other types of board.  Almost all speakers thusfar have emphasized support for the elected board of education and the right to vote for them. Democracy matters. ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………… Correction:  The date of the meeting where the task force members were chosen was misprinted in the last issue of the Watch.  It was October 27, 2017 ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….. The editor encourages readers to forward The Watch to anyone you think would be interested. Our city and our schools need as much public awareness and public engagement as we can muster at this time. …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………… Questions for the Watch? Letters to the Editor? Stories to contribute? News tips? Send them to SLS_Watch@yahoo.com …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….. Calendar November 13, 2017, Monday, Special Task Force on Alternative Governance for SLPS Meeting, 6:30 pm, Northwest HS, at 5140 Riverview Blvd, St. Louis, 63120. November 14, 2017, Tuesday, Board of Education regular monthly meeting, 6:30 p.m., Mann Elementary School, 4047 Juniata St., St. Louis, 63116 November 20, 2017, Monday, Special Task Force on Alternative Governance for SLPS Meeting, 6:30 pm, location yet to be determined November, 21, 2017, Tuesday, Special Administrative Board meeting, 6:00 p.m., 801 N. 11th Street, room 108 ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………. Please Subscribe to the SLS Watch. If you have never subscribed because friends have forwarded The Watch to you, please consider subscribing now. Internet newsletter mailing and management services are not free. The Watch has always concentrated its efforts on getting you the news and analysis of the SLPS that you value rather than on keeping itself in the black. But in order to pay our bills, we do need your subscription. For a dollar a month, you will get news, opinion, and analysis that you won't see elsewhere in the media. Please write a check today. __________________________________________________________ Subscribe to the St. Louis Schools Watch. Name:____________________________________________ Street No.:________________________________________ City:_____________________________________________ State/Zip:________________________________________ Telephone:_______________________________________ Email:___________________________________________ I am enclosing:_____$12 for a 1-year subscription (make checks payable to Commonsense Publishing, and mail to P.O. Box 1983, St. Louis, MO 63118.) __________________________________________________________ The St. Louis Schools Watch was founded on the premises that parental and community involvement is needed for good schools to flourish, and that public participation is a cornerstone of democracy. St. Louis Schools Watch offers information and analysis that we hope contributes to a public debate over what changes are necessary to improve St. Louis public schools and what works. Our mailing address is: Common Sense Publishing P.O. Box 1983 St Louis, MO 63118

Thursday Meeting On Future of Elected Public School Board

Thursday Meeting On Future of Elected Public School Board

Editorial: State-appointed leadership works best for St. Louis Public Schools

This is disappointing, basically makes the Post-Dispatch the mouthpiece of the white corporate class.  Hopefully they get some advertising revenue out of selling out democracy in the name of questionable "progress.".:



Editorial: State-appointed leadership works best for St. Louis Public Schools

Speakers tell task force that elected school board is best option for St. Louis

Speakers tell task force that elected school board is best option for St. Louis

Update on St Louis Public School System: The 'Task Force' to decide whether or not democracy will return has been named

St. Louis Schools Watch    Susan Turk Editor, Alternative Governance Studies Update -- And The Committee Is…. November 5, 2017—St. Louis—So on Friday, November 27th at 7:30 a.m., the SAB met to decide who would populate their Special Task Force on Alternative Forms of Governance for the SLPS. At this hastily called meeting, they finally approved the $80k they planned to spend on the alternative governance study. SAB Member Richard Gaines, who has been chosen by his fellow SAB members to chair the task force, reported that DESE had given them the authority to indicate what form the future governance of the SLPS should take. They want the process completed before the start of the 2018 legislative session in January.  Gaines spoke about the elected board of education’s suggestion that a presentation on the history behind the state takeover of the SLPS and institution of the SAB be presented at the task force meetings.  The SAB decided that they did not think such a presentation was necessary.  The SAB did take into consideration the elected board’s concerns about the speed with which the SAB was moving forward and so they decided to change the date of the first meeting from October 30th to November 6th. Richard  Gaines also reported that elected Board Member Bill Haas had phoned him and offered to serve as the task force’s vice chair. Gaines declined Haas’ offer.  The SAB had written to the elected board on August 26th offering the EB the opportunity to select one of their members to serve as vice chair of the task force but not allowing that EB member to have a say in the planning for the task force. So the EB decided at their September 26th work session that they would not appoint a vice chair from among themselves.  Haas was the only EB member who disagreed with that decision.  They reported their decision to the SAB and at their October work session, the EB decided to recommend to the SAB that Board of Education Member Charli Cooksey be selected to be a task force member, not a vice chair.  They thought it important to be represented on the task force but not to give the idea that they had anything to do with the formation and planning for the task force.  Haas had asked to be selected to represent the EB on the task force but he had left the meeting before the time when selection of the EB rep was addressed on their agenda.  Cooksey also volunteered and being the only member present at the time of discussion, was selected. For better or worse, Haas, who is currently running for congress in the second congressional district, does not take “No” for an answer when he disagrees with a decision made by his fellow EB members. In declining Haas’ offer to serve as vice chair of the task force, which would have given the SAB’s project the appearance of EB approval, and the community the impression of EB complicity, it appears that the SAB thought it more important to limit EB involvement to one of its members than having the appearance of their approval of the proceedings. Names that were suggested but did not make the final cut were John Moten, former EB Member and Editor Emeritus of the Watch Peter Downs, Alexis Bates, Jamala Rogers, U City Public Schools Deputy Superintendent Ian Buchanan, SLPS Principal Brenda Smith, Kwame Building Group CEO Tony Thompson, Attorney Bill Douthit, St. Louis City License Collector Mavis Thompson and James Treadwell. These are the people who were selected to serve on the task force. Adolphus Pruitt, chairman of the St. Louis City chapter of the NAACP Addie Bond, in-coming president of the SLPS Parent Advisory Council Ray Cummings, AFT Local 420 James Clark, Better Family Life VP for Community Outreach Charli Cooksey, SLPS Board of Education Member Rich McClure Ferguson Commission Co-Chair and a St. Louis Chamber of Commerce member David Merideth, SLPS Parent Advisory Council member Rev. Michael Jones, Friendly Temple Missionary Baptist Church An SLPS teacher not yet named and of course, SAB Member Richard Gaines as chair. These are all reasonable choices.  But it is noteworthy that neither of the parents who were chosen are African American.  In a school district whose student body is 88% African American this is a remarkable oversight. The Watch polled throughout the community after this information was announced and found universal dismay that African American parents are not represented on the task force. Moreover, this is unprecedented. Whenever a task force or committee has been appointed in the past there was always equal representation by black and white parents. There are African American parents who participate on the Parent Advisory Council so it is difficult to account for their omission.  But there it is. The SAB had publicized that the public could comment on the district website at https://www.slps.org/governance.  There had been a comments box on the page but it has been removed.  Now there is a link on the left hand menu to a Public Survey but if you click on it there is only message saying that the survey will be available after all three task force meetings occur. Survey questions can be skewed to achieve particular answers so it will be interesting to see how this one is designed.  We will have to wait until after the November 13th task force meeting to see it.  Meanwhile, the meetings begin tonight  at 6:30 at Vashon HS, focusing on elected boards. Please plan to attend.  If you can’t make it, they have said video will be available on slps.org.  Let us all be reminded that The Danforth Freeman Special Advisory Committee on the SLPS concluded after a comprehensive study of the extensive  research that has been done on alternative school district governance across the country in 2010, that no type of school board is more successful than any other type of school board. The defining factor that contributes to a school district’s success is community engagement. Danforth Freeman recognized that in St. Louis an elected board is what would be accepted and supported by the community. The SAB is hoping that community opinion has changed in seven years.   For those of us who wish to see the democratically elected board of education returned to governance of the SLPS, let’s hope it hasn’t ……………………………………………………………………………………………… The editor encourages readers to forward The Watch to anyone you think would be interested. Our city and our schools need as much public awareness and public engagement as we can muster at this time. …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………… Questions for the Watch? Letters to the Editor? Stories to contribute? News tips? Send them to SLS_Watch@yahoo.com …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….. Calendar November 6, 2017, Monday, Special Task Force on Alternative Governance for SLPS Meeting, elected boards, 6:30 pm, Vashon HS, 3035 Cass Ave., St. Louis, 63106 November 9, 2017, Thursday, Special Task Force on Alternative Governance for SLPS Meeting, appointed boards, 6:30 pm, Central VPA HS, 3125 S. Kingshighway, St. Louis, 63139 November 13, 2017, Monday, Special Task Force on Alternative Governance for SLPS Meeting, hybrid boards, 6:30 pm, Northwest HS, at 5140 Riverview Blvd, St. Louis, 63120. November 14, 2017, Tuesday, Board of Education regular monthly meeting, 6:30 p.m., Mann Elementary School, 4047 Juniata St., St. Louis, 63116 November 20, 2017, Monday, Special Task Force on Alternative Governance for SLPS Meeting, 6:30 pm, location yet to be determined November, 21, 2017, Tuesday, Special Administrative Board meeting, 6:00 p.m., 801 N. 11th Street, room 108 ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………. Please Subscribe to the SLS Watch. If you have never subscribed because friends have forwarded The Watch to you, please consider subscribing now. Internet newsletter mailing and management services are not free. The Watch has always concentrated its efforts on getting you the news and analysis of the SLPS that you value rather than on keeping itself in the black. But in order to pay our bills, we do need your subscription. For a dollar a month, you will get news, opinion, and analysis that you won't see elsewhere in the media. Please write a check today. __________________________________________________________ Subscribe to the St. Louis Schools Watch. Name:____________________________________________ Street No.:________________________________________ City:_____________________________________________ State/Zip:________________________________________ Telephone:_______________________________________ Email:___________________________________________ I am enclosing:_____$12 for a 1-year subscription (make checks payable to Commonsense Publishing, and mail to P.O. Box 1983, St. Louis, MO 63118.) __________________________________________________________ The St. Louis Schools Watch was founded on the premises that parental and community involvement is needed for good schools to flourish, and that public participation is a cornerstone of democracy. St. Louis Schools Watch offers information and analysis that we hope contributes to a public debate over what changes are necessary to improve St. Louis public schools and what works. Our mailing address is: Common Sense Publishing P.O. Box 1983 St Louis, MO 63118