Apparently administrators at St. Louis Public Schools were the last to hear that the we’re in the middle of a winter ice storm. Less than two hours after school started this morning, they’ve announced kids will be sent home two hours from now, possibly making a dangerous situation even worse.
St. Louis Public Schools
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
February 21, 2008
Media Contact: Deborah Sistrunk, 314-345-2254 officeSLPS Announces Early Release Day for February 21
St. Louis – Due to inclement winter weather, all of the St. Louis Public Schools will dismiss classes early today. Schools will follow normal early release procedures.
The dismissal time for schools will vary, depending upon each school’s start time.
Start Time……………Dismissal Time
7:20 a.m………………10:50 a.m.8:15 a.m………………11:45 a.m.
9:10 a.m………………12:40 p.m.
All after-school activities and tonight’s town hall meeting are also cancelled. The district will continue to monitor weather conditions in regards to Friday’s schedule.
UPDATE: Officials say that St. Louis Public Schools will be making accommodations the parents of For the parents of elementary school students who cannot be at home when their children are dismissed.
Students who are not picked up within one hour of dismissal will be transported to one of two schools:
Sigel Elementary, 2039 Russell Avenue (63104), 314-865-5050
Yeatman-Liddell Middle, 4265 Athlone Ave (63115), 314-261-8132
Parents must pick up their children by 6 p.m. Many students will be transported to Sigel. However, it is strongly suggested that parents call to confirm which school is caring for their children. Students are being provided with a meal.
February 21st, 2008 at 10:04 am
The farther removed from the child that decisions are made concerning what is in the child’s best interests, the more innacurate, uninformed and often counter-productive the decisions will be.
I suspect that by the time the IMPOSED UPON ST LOUIS PUBLIC SCHOOLS chain of command got the question all the way to the state board of education to find out what to do, the children were already standing at bus stops in the freezing rain waiting for busses that would not come on time, and someone in Jefferson City looked out the window and said, “What ice storm?”
My first statement goes DOUBLE for FEDERAL programs like NCLB.
February 21st, 2008 at 12:19 pm
All the schools across the metropolitan area were faced with this same dilema. Don’t put it off on the St. Louis Public School - my kids go to school in North County and I dropped them off and had to go back to get them at 8am. So, lay off on this one. It’s just how things happen. No one can predict the weather perfectly.
On another note, where is your info on McCain? Not interested or somethin? I want to hear what you have to say about his “Affair”. Interesting that the repub’s swear that he didn’t do it - but when we democrat’s run to our candidates side they say we’ll fall for anything.
February 21st, 2008 at 1:12 pm
That decision was made by the CEO. CEO’s care about money, not people.
February 21st, 2008 at 1:29 pm
Cons Dem,
No way. A dumb decision is a dumb decision (or lack of decision) no matter how many districts do it. That only shows that the desire to make that buck is not limited to the SLPS. Shame on all administrators who endangered the students, wasted who knows how much energy, fuel, etc. because they didn’t use common sense. No excuses for the mess they contributed to and the danger they put the kids in (not to mention employees and parents).
February 21st, 2008 at 5:05 pm
Doesn’t Bourisaw still have enough authority to be blamed for this?
February 21st, 2008 at 9:39 pm
kjoe: As to your question regarding Bourisaw having authority to be blamed for this, you have to ask if she had enough authority to make the decision to close the schools, and the answer is HELL TO THE NAW!
When the SAB was put in place, what essentially happened is that the CEO of SLPS was given authority to make decisions that never would’ve been made by the elective board. These decisions used to be made by district administrators after confering with building and grounds, transportation, and all of the effected departments. I am not saying the superintendent did not have these conversations, but I am saying that it is pointless when the CEO has executive priviledge to dictate decisions.
This is also a factor in the recent firing of Bourisaw because she has implemented changes that bring cohesion and consistency within the district. There is no way that she can continue to do so with a dictator at the helm.
February 22nd, 2008 at 5:10 pm
Po Righteous Teacher —I appreciate your answer.
These are 2 of 5 questions I posted this in January.
4. What will Joan Bray do regarding Sullivan now that Mission accomplished Blunt is a lame duck? If she does anything, will it be reported anywhere other than pubdef?
5. Does Bourisaw still have anything to do with running slps? Nice article on her in the pd a while back(personal life, only)—but nothing much about running the schools—in fact—there is not much of anything regarding who and how the schools are being run.
1/24/2008 12:55 PM
and today—Giegrich parroted the party line in the pd—not really saying, just hinting—- “”the board clearly found Bourisaw lacking: a superintendent who better understands the use of performance data to improve achievement.”"
No reporter seems willing to ask the nasty question—how much did Bourisaw’s skeptical attitude—backed up by research—regarding charter schools have to do with her unfitness?
Maybe Bourisaw should just say so herself—unless she has come to realize that they are right—she does not understand the use of performance data.
February 23rd, 2008 at 10:53 am
I find it hard to believe Dr. Bourisaw doesn’t understand how to evaluate/use performance data. Give me a break. Maybe (just a possibility) she understands that no matter how much data is provided, its use is limited by the lack of resources/staff to make those improvements.
With the SAB in charge St. Louis is guaranteed to have the best documented failure in the region…but still a failure.
(Can’t teach Johnny to read while his friends are yelling in his ear)
February 23rd, 2008 at 12:40 pm
My posts get so tangled when I add too much stuff.
1. Bray did not know that the sab was going to fire Bourisaw when she sponsored Sullivan. More than one legislator was taken by surprise.
2. It is my opinion that issues regarding charter schools had much more to do with Bourisaw being told to reapply than the issue Giegrich parroted about performance data. Maybe he believes what he wrote might be true.