By Antonio D. French
Filed Thursday, June 14, 2007 at 11:40 PM
In less than an hour, a new appointed school board will be in charge of St. Louis Public Schools, its near half-billion dollar budget, its $3.3 billion in assets, and its 30,000 students. Labels: Schools
But the old elected board still claims to be in charge of at least some areas.
The new "transitional" school board will begin to operate tomorrow, but not without a challenge, according to the St. Louis Schools Watch, a watchdog newsletter founded by now-School Board President Peter Downs.
Many school board powers, the Watch argues, were given to the elected board after August 28, 1998, the date the legislation enabling the transitional board went into effect, and are not covered by that legislation.
The Watch quotes longtime school district counsel Ken Brostron as saying tonight, this latest crisis "has only just begun."
"Ken Brostron of Lashly Baer has served as counsel of the SLPS for many years. He has served whoever sat on the board with loyalty, including the mayor's slate," writes parent reporter Susan Turk.
"I have never seen him buck whoever was in charge. He is apparently bucking them now."
As so now in the name of providing stability to the troubled school district, the state apparently has given it two governing bodies — one elected, one appointed — both claiming leadership over parts of the district.
In the middle of the power struggle will be Superintendent Diana Bourisaw, who tonight said that she understands that she will now work for the transitional board.
While not much else is clear, one thing definitely is: the St. Louis Public Schools are no more stable Friday than they were Thursday.
9 Comments:
Bourisaw works for Slay?
6/14/2007 11:25 PM
Sullivan following the lead of Bourisaw and Brostron. Oh that means BillPurdy. Come on you guys how stupid would Sullivan be to do this.
6/14/2007 11:27 PM
Until the SLPS has its act together, the City will continue to lose talent, families and trust. Perhaps after solving this problem, leadership will still have to address arson and other crimes, lack of job creation, and budgeting problems. The SLPS is the easiest of this set to remedy... let's see what happens.
6/15/2007 8:52 AM
I do not understand the basis upon which the 7 member board will continue to challenge. (I was disappointed that their restraining order was not granted). I am not clear on what powers they still have which were granted after 1998.
I do not know how they will be able to write any more checks to pay the lawyers.
I do not know whatever happened to that lawyer from Yale who was to go to court on behalf of parents.
If it has only just begun----I would think the real question is---how nervous will Slay and Blunt be if Bourisaw and Sullivan start finding a lot of common ground and when they are told (by slay and blunt)to jump---they do not ask how high----they just return a cold icy stare.
I was immediately impressed with Gaines history of fighting for st. louisan's rights to vote.
What these three will do---how independent their judgements will be---I think is not very predictable.
6/15/2007 11:01 AM
The elected Board hasn't been using taxpayer money to pay their lawyers. Citizen donations are funding their lawsuit, Kjoe. That's the beauty of their position. The citizens are funding them because they want to. The transitional Board is the one trying to use taxpayer money to keep their power.
And the basis the elected Board has to continue the suit is the same one they had before--this was NOT a decision on the merits of the case, it was just a pre-trial motion about a restraining order. The actual case has yet to be heard by the judge.
6/15/2007 11:26 AM
Thanks for the clarification. I was struck by these words from the judge---
the Court finds that the [State Board of Education's] decision to declassify the District as unaccredited was not arbitrary or capricious, was supported by substantial and competent evidence, including a financial report on the District by Geraldine Ogle, the performance standards report by Becky Kemna, and the earlier report issued by the Special Advisory Committee. While the Court acknowledges that Petitioners'
I did not agree with him, but if that is what he thought---it is hard for me to imagine how he would change his mind in an "actual case".
I sometimes let lawyers sing on my karaoke system. They are awful.
And i would be terrible trying to do their job.
6/15/2007 11:56 AM
Because the case is not about whether SLPS should be accredited--it is about whether the transitional Board statute is constitutional.
6/15/2007 12:09 PM
kjoe,
I hope you sterilize it afterwards!
Sorry, attorneys, I couldn't resist.
6/15/2007 12:59 PM
One guy was so bad, I threw the mike away and had him sterilized.
He kept hollering "objection!"
We kind of "overruled" him.
that never really happened.
6/15/2007 3:00 PM
Post a Comment
<< Home