Rick Sullivan, the CEO of St. Louis Public Schools, appointed by then-Gov. Matt Blunt
The Special Administrative Board of the St. Louis Public Schools will hear recommendations by MGT of America, Inc. on the future use of district schools during the board meeting on Thursday, January 29, 6:00 p.m., at Vashon High School, 3035 Cass Ave.
All community members are invited to attend this open meeting to hear this much-anticipated report firsthand. However, due to the anticipated length of the MGT presentation, there will be no public comments taken at this meeting.
The District will hold two special community forums for public comments – Wednesday, February 4, from 6:00p.m. – 8:00p.m. at Roosevelt High School, 3230 Hartford St., and Saturday February 7, from 10:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. at Vashon High School, 3035 Cass Ave.
Public comments may also be submitted via the Internet starting Friday, January 30, by visiting www.slps.org. The District will accept comments on the MGT presentation via the Internet through February 8.
A fourth of St. Louis Public School students missed the first day of school (7,000 out of a projected enrollment of 28,000). Governor Matt Blunt and the man he put he put in charge of turning the district around, CEO Rick Sullivan, made that announcement at a press conference today.
Of the students that did show up a school today, four at Nance Elementary reported finding bone-like chips in the cheeseburgers they were eating at lunch today. As a precaution, the St. Louis Public School District removed the frozen food item from all of its elementary school cafeterias. The chips were sent to a lab for identification and analysis. The St. Louis Health Department was also contacted to further assist in the investigation.
According to district officials, the pre-packaged cheeseburgers were distributed from Preferred Meals Systems, Inc. The Chicago-based food service company agreed to investigate the product’s manufacturing process.
The following letter was sent home with students on Wednesday. No signs of illness were reported.
Dear Parents:
What appear to be white-enameled objects were found in some lunch meals at Nance Elementary School. The objects resemble bone chips and are being sent to a laboratory for identification and analysis. In the meantime, all meals with the same identification number and the same processing function will be pulled from the schools. An investigation of the entire manufacturing process will begin immediately. The St. Louis Health Department will be contacted to further assist in the investigation.
If you have any questions or concerns, please contact me at (314) 867-0634.
Sincerely, Monica T. Miller
Principal
Earl Nance Sr. Elementary
Retired employees of St. Louis Public Schools have made a third request for the $20 million owed to their pension fund for 2008.
In a letter dated August 6, Andrew Clark, executive director of the Public School Retirement System, also asks the governor-appointed CEO of the district Rick Sullivan for a cost-of-living-adjustment (COLA) for retirees.
If a 2.8% COLA is awarded, the SLPS annual regular contribution for 2008 is $20,538,258 (10.17% of covered compensation). If a COLA is not awarded, the minimum SLPS contribution for 2008 is $19,091,518 (9.45% of covered compensation). Neither amount includes reimbursements due for payments under the SLPS Sick Leave Conversion Program.
In his letter, Clark says this is the third request since January that he’s requested for SLPS to address this matter. To no avail.
Public notice is hereby given that a meeting of the Special Administrative Board of the Transitional School District of the City of St. Louis will be held in the District’s Administration Building, 801 North 11th Street, St. Louis, Missouri, at 6:00 P.M., on August 14, 2008, to consider and act upon the matters on the following tentative agenda and such other matters as may be presented at the meeting and determined to be appropriate for discussion at that time:
Resolution authorizing the defeasance and redemption of approximately $4,385,000 aggregate principal amount of the District’s outstanding General Obligation Bonds, Series 2006A, and authorizing certain other actions in connection therewith
Other matters
The meeting will be open to the public.
DATED: August 11, 2008.
RICK SULLIVAN,
Chief Executive Officer of the
Special Administrative Board
The Special Administrative Board of St. Louis Public Schools has selected a firm to head the search for district superintendent. At its regular board meeting Thursday night, the SAB approved the hiring of ProAct Search Inc., a Milwaukee-based company.
Back in February, the Special Administrative Board announced that it would conduct a search for a new superintendent of schools. The current superintendent, Diana Bourisaw, said she would not re-apply for her position, but will continue in her job during the search process.
