ST. LOUIS — Parents can give their opinion on whether Saint Louis Public Schools should consolidate at six community workshops hosted by the district.
SLPS Superintendent Dr. Kelvin Adams will use feedback from the workshops to make a recommendation with the board of education, who will then decide whether the district will close or merge some of its schools.
The first workshop will be held Saturday at Clyde C. Miller Career Academy starting at 10 a.m.
SLPS spokesperson Carl Mitchell said a decrease in population and increase in schooling options has left many of the district's schools underutilized, and it's expensive to maintain 68 school buildings.
"Consolidating some buildings could free up dollars that could be put back into the classroom," Mitchell said.
At the meetings, there will be a large group presentation followed by small group breakouts where residents can give their input.
Mitchell said there have been positive developments in the school district recently, but "it will take more work with input from the community to get to the next level."
If the district consolidated, class sizes would still meet state guidelines, Mitchell said. No teachers are expected to lose their jobs since there are more than 100 teaching vacancies.
The American Federation of Teachers (AFT) Local 420 union is anxious to take part in the discussion and has released its own five-point plan to improve the academic outcomes of SLPS students:
- A "sanctity of instructional time" discipline policy
- Targeted quality professional development
- Smaller class sizes
- Smaller social-emotional learning communities
- Full access to preschool at age 3
"We're on a positive path now," said Byron Clemens with Missouri AFT. "We've regained accreditation, we've gained a little money from that tax increase. It is time for us to have a dialogue but let's have full-service community schools. Let's have pre-K. Let's have nurses and counselors and social workers at every school."
The district will provide child care during the workshops. Each presentation will be the same, so parents are encouraged to only attend one.
For more information on the workshops or to register for one, click here.
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