ST. LOUIS — The unions that represent St. Louis Public Schools faculty and staff came out with a joint statement ahead of the first school board meeting since the superintendent was placed on leave.
The joint statement came from the five unions that represent thousands of workers in St. Louis Public Schools: St. Louis Association of School Administrators, Local 44, AFL-CIO; American Federation of Teachers, Local 420, AFL-CIO; LiUNA Laborers’ Union, Local 42; Missouri National Education Association; and SEIU Local 1 Missouri Division.
Byron Clemens with the American Federation of Teachers, Local 420, said they are committed to working together for the good of the district.
“We are laser-focused on the opening of school, first. And number two, we want this whole due process for the superintendent to work out,” Clemens said.
SLPS Superintendent Keisha Scarlett was placed on administrative leave last month pending an investigation, and Millicent Borishade was named interim superintendent.
At her previous district, Borishade received a vote of no confidence from the teachers union. Clemens said they do have confidence in Borishade.
“She's there on an interim basis, but she's run the day-to-day operations and will continue to run them. I can't say seamless, but we always have glitches at the beginning of the school year, but I feel confident that we're going to do well, and so do our other union leadership folks,” Clemens said.
Clemens said as they get closer and closer to opening classroom doors, things seem to get incrementally better, including glitches in payroll that affected 12-month employees.
“We have rectified it. Everybody's gotten every raise, and all these unions are looking forward to those same issues,” Clemens said.
He said the unions have received updates about the transportation issue. The district has secured about 20 more buses to transport students, and AFT has solidified before- and after-care programs.
“Before- and after-care really is a relief valve for parents and the transportation issues. If we have any glitches, this will help, particularly for the younger kids,” Clemens said.
The SLPS Board of Education is scheduled to hold a meeting at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday.
Find the joint statement from the unions below:
"This statement is intended to make clear to parents, the public and taxpayers our position representing SLPS employees - our members and our unions are focused like a laser on making the opening of the 2024-25 school year a success!
"We will work together for the good of the district, the children of SLPS, their parents/caregivers and our members. We are unified in our mission, our job #1, is providing a quality education in a healthy and safe environment for all of the district’s children. That is what we do every working day. We are truly Professionals!
"Superintendent Scarlett was suspended pending investigation of allegations regarding spending and hiring irregularities. Union leadership supports the investigation and timely resolution of these matters. We believe that every person in this nation deserves a right to due process, ‘a day in court,’ including a superintendent and school board members. None of these investigations or audits should impact day-to-day operations of the district as they do not impact any agreements between our unions and management. Our collective bargaining agreements remain in place.
"We look forward to the new school year working with the St. Louis Public Schools to serve our students, parents/caregivers, and our Community."