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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.
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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.
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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.
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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,
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.
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The Alternative Governance Survey Is Now Available
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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
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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.
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