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

Share your own First Day stories in the comments section.

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.

So much for stability.

After being authorized to continue its reign over St. Louis Public Schools for three more years, the appointed Special Administrative Board announced yesterday that superintendent Diana Bourisaw had turned in her resignation two weeks ago. They then voted to appoint Dr. John A. Wright as the new interim superintendent to serve while they search for the district’s seventh leader in just 5 years.

This isn’t the kind of “stability” the public was expecting when the state took over the city schools, not that the public was asked their opinion or anything.

Recent Superintendents

John Wright (May 2008)
Diana Bourisaw (July 2006-May 2008)
Creg Williams (April 2005-July 2006)
Pamela Randall Hughes (Dec 2004-April 2005)
Floyd Crues (July 2004-Dec 2004)
William Roberti (July 2003-June 2004)
Cleveland Hammonds (1996-2003)
David J. Mahan (1990-1996)

St. Louis Public Schools’ statement on the appointment of Dr. Wright:

Tonight, the Special Administrative Board of St. Louis Public Schools engaged John A. Wright, Ph. D., to serve as interim superintendent until a permanent superintendent is hired this fall. Dr. Wright has worked as an educator for nearly 35 years. Most recently, Dr. Wright served as interim superintendent in the Normandy School District in St. Louis County.

According to Rick Sullivan, president and CEO of the Special Administrative Board (SAB), Wright is being brought on to oversee day-to-day-operations over the summer and help facilitate the transition between Dr. Diana Bourisaw, the outgoing superintendent, and the hiring of a permanent superintendent.

Sullivan said, “Dr. Wright’s interim appointment will be effective July 1, 2008 to allow some overlap before Dr. Bourisaw leaves at the end of July. At that time, Dr. Wright will then step in and guide the district through the start of the next school year. He will oversee all pending actions, ‘back-to-school’ efforts, and all other projects designed to ensure the smooth and successful start to school year 2008.”

Dr. Bourisaw tendered her resignation in a letter to the SAB on May 15, 2008. Sullivan explained that this latest move was necessary to ensure that the district maintain control of the timing of the next transitions.

“We believe it is in our students’ best interest and in the best interest of the district that we keep more control over the timing as best we can,” Sullivan said. “Contracting with a new interim at this time ensures that there will be no interruption in that office during the very critical back-to-school planning efforts.”

Wright holds a bachelor of science in elementary education from Harris-Stowe State University in St. Louis, Missouri. He earned a master’s in school administration and a doctorate from St. Louis University. Dr. Wright also holds a number of specialized certifications on all grade levels and has served in an advisory capacity to the Governor’s Advisory Board under Kit Bond as well as to schools of all formats including private and parochial. He has served as an elected member of the board of education for University City. He retired in 2004 but returned to education last year as an interim at Normandy. Now he will help see the St. Louis Public Schools through this latest transition period.

Sullivan said, “Dr. Bourisaw stepped in at a very critical time and she has done a great job of implementing education initiatives and moving those programs forward over the past two years. The superintendent search is presently in the hands of an outside search firm and a broad-based community committee headed by SAB member Melanie Adams.”

I’ve been slammed this week with other work so I apologize for letting this slip pass me, because this is a very big deal.

KWMU reports:

The Missouri Board of Education has voted unanimously to continue state oversight of the St. Louis school District for three more years.

Last year, State Board members voted to give authority over St. Louis schools to an appointed transitional board, for failing to meet financial and academic standards.

Dr. Kent King, Commissioner of the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE), says he believes progress has been made on how the school district is being run.

“Part of that is trying to get consistency among expectations for teachers and for kids…so, do we have the world solved? No, but I just feel like there’s some stability going on now that wasn’t before,” King said.

Katherine Wessling is a member of the old, elected school board. She says one year later, the SAB has done little to improve education in St. Louis.

“I frankly haven’t seen any. In fact my hope was at least they would do no harm and then when they decided to dispense with Dr. Bourisaw I think they lost that status and are now actively doing harm,” says Wessling.