This week on the Inside the Post-Dispatch podcast, education reporter Blythe Bernhard discusses a range of education issues with podcast hosts Beth O'Malley and Liz Miller, from a new state law causing concerns for school librarians to changes at ºüÀêÊÓƵ Public Schools.
Do you want a transcript? Keep scrolling.
Buses were up to an hour late Monday picking up students for at least eight schools in ºüÀêÊÓƵ.
The search is on for Kelvin Adams' replacement after 14 years in the role.
Bus service will be suspended for at least two weeks for six high schools and two elementary schools.
More than half of the programs have waiting lists this year, a 46% increase from 2021, according to the nonprofit Afterschool Alliance based in Washington.
A parent group in St. Charles County has posted links to file police reports against school employees.
A nationwide search for Adams' replacement has been announced.
This is a rough transcript of the Inside the Post-Dispatch episode:Â
(Sound of a typewriter)
Liz Miller: Inside the Post-Dispatch.
Beth O’Malley: Hi, Liz.
Liz: Hey Beth, how are you doing?
Beth: I'm doing great. How are you doing?
Liz: I'm doing well. I am excited to speak with our guest this week because I personally was someone who missed back-to-school season. And every fall I still miss, you know, buying school supplies and kind of that easing back into the school year. So talking about that topic today, I'm very excited.
People are also reading…
Beth: I am as well. We are joined by Blythe Bernard. She's the education reporter at the Post-Dispatch and she's been with the paper almost 15 years. Her first beat was a health and science reporter and she moved over to the education beat in April 2019. You might remember Blythe, she was a guest for us back in March. So welcome back.
Blythe Bernhard: Thank you. I'm excited to be here.
Liz: Yeah. Well, Blythe, as schools resume across the ºüÀêÊÓƵ area this week and this month, we wanted to chat with you about some of the challenges that area districts are facing this school year. So to start off, we wanted to chat a little bit about ºüÀêÊÓƵ public schools or SLPS.
Beth: You wrote recently that the outgoing superintendent, Kelvin Adams, visited a couple of schools on the first day, which was Monday. He started at the McKinley Magnet School, which is one of the top performing middle and high schools in the state. And then later in the day, he went to Hamilton Elementary, where only a handful of third graders tested proficient in English last year. I know that when he came in, addressing inequity like this was one of his goals. And it's definitely going to be a top goal for the next superintendent. But what are some of the solutions that are possible?
Blythe: Oh, we're starting off with a really easy question. Thank you.
(laughter)
I mean, this is the challenge. There's an old saying that goes, you know, superintendents can either be really, really good at turning around the financial health of a school district or the academic health of a school district. But it's really, really hard to do both. Kelvin Adams certainly put the district on the right track. They were nearly bankrupt. Just total chaos reigning in the leadership before he came. There were seven superintendents in the previous five years (this was in the early 2000s). As far as academics go — you know, it's really tough to compare a district like ºüÀêÊÓƵ public schools to the statewide average or, you know, other suburban districts. You know, the district 20-25% of kids are considered homeless. The mobility rate means the kids that you start off with in August, are not the kids you end up with in May and, you know, in the spring is when you're testing the kids. So you're not even testing the kids who've had your lessons or been in your classroom the whole year. There's poverty, there's trauma, there's just a lot going on — and the district is being asked to provide more and more wraparound services. I mean, they have clothes closets for families. They have food pantries, free grocery stores in some schools. They have health clinics in some schools. So it's a really tall order. And, you know, I'll also say this, that nobody's really figured it out. Nobody's really figured out how to help kids who are struggling at home or who are living in just generational poverty. No one's really figured out how to lift up their algebra scores. I mean, it's just — this is the challenge of our time.
And yeah, certainly Kelvin Adams, you know, wishes that things had gone better on that front for the majority of the kids in the district. And that will be the top challenge for the next superintendent.
Beth: You wrote recently about the One U City model which basically pooled the various — I'm going to call them a PTO, even though they renamed it, but that's what our listeners are familiar with — it pooled the PTO resources. My son, when he was in elementary school, was in a magnet school and we held a trivia night. And I believe we raised tens of thousands of dollars in one day. And I know that not all the schools in the public school district — in the city where my son was at — have that capability or even a PTO. Do you know if SLPS has discussed that kind of pooled model for PTOs and would that be something — I mean, obviously giving teachers a gift certificate to spend in their classrooms isn't going to solve inequity in one swoop — but would that be something that would help?
Blythe: For sure. And there have been discussions about this and SLPS, there's a group called Equity Bridge that formed a couple of years before the pandemic. And so their work kind of got waylaid in the last couple of years. But you hit it. There are schools that are raising tens of thousands of dollars. And this is just parents, you know, parent fundraising. And then there are schools that don't even have a PTO at all. I mean, it just doesn't exist.
And so while all the schools are funded, equitably, on paper, you have schools where the parents are funding, say a Spanish teacher. You know, they're funding field trips, they're funding extracurriculars. I mean, all these things that really — you know, help create — you know, help build the whole child.
And it's been tried in other places around the country. It's one of those things that you hear about. Well, it makes — it's common sense. It's just it's just the right thing to do. I mean, you're part of the community or part of the same district. And so, you know, sharing that fundraising just makes sense. But in practice, there's been a lot of pushback from parents who say — and business owners who say — No, I — you know — I'm giving this money for my own kid’s school. You know, I don't want to give to every school. I want it — you know — this is — I want it to benefit my kid.
And so while that's understandable, it's just it's a whole culture shift. And, I think, easier in a district like University City where they only have four elementary schools. But at the same time, you have, you know, a city that's really divided. And so the wealth is concentrated in one or two of those schools. And so, you know — what they're doing, like I said, it sounds like common sense and it's hard to believe it's never succeeded anywhere before. But it's a tough ask for the community to really kind of reshape their thinking, you know, beyond my child and think of this as, you know, our children. So while these conversations haven't started, I — I don't really think we're — we've gotten very far. However, we'll see how things go in U City this year and it might just catch on.
Beth: Is that a story that you're planning already on, kind of circling back and seeing how they did?
Blythe: Definitely. Definitely. Because they're not just it's not just fundraising sharing. They're also sharing volunteer time. So if you sign up to be a volunteer, you might get assigned to a school that's not your kid’s. All of their big events are going to rotate among the campuses. So you're not just — you know, going to — not always have the trivia night at the school with the nicest gym.
It's really trying to tap into this idea that we're all one community and, you know — like I said — it's, you know, what's good for my child is good for all children. And what's good for all children is also good for my child. So.
Liz: Yeah.
Blythe, as you were saying that I kind of got back to thinking, about a line in your story — one of your recent stories on SLPS, which was that without, you know, really broad change, that the school district that serves the city may not make it past another 20 years. And so you know, students who are entering kindergarten now, in theory, could be one, you know, that last class, one of the last classes. And I wonder, you know, when you talk about that community focus, if there's any kind of conversation within SLPS or within parent groups about how the lack of community focus could lead to the end of, you know, schooling in their community.
Blythe: Yes. I mean, I'm glad you touched on that. I think that line from the story really stood out. And I'm glad because, you know, we have — there's a lot of debate, there's a lot of discussion. But ultimately, this is not philosophical, this is existential. So the city is losing population and it's losing families. The population loss is concentrated in families and it's concentrated in North City. It's concentrated in the black community.
I mean, what does this mean? What are our priorities? Where do we go from here? And when I you know, I tweeted out, like, well, what kind of city do you want? Do you want a city that attracts and keeps families and is welcoming to all lifestyles? Or do you want to attract 20-somethings who are more transient, but they're going to, you know, have tech jobs and make more money and have fancy lofts and and have season tickets to soccer and hockey and baseball? You know, where do — where are we going?
Because the trajectory right now is toward a childless city. And, you know, there are those kids — it's when we talk about school choice and this is what I'm trying to get across, you're really deciding on what public education is going to look like.
And there is — you know — there is a conversation, there's a citywide plan that the St Louis School Board is spearheading that will look at, you know, where do kids live? Where do they go to school? Where do we need schools?
We know there are too many school buildings in the city. We know that there hasn't been any sort of strategy for opening new charter schools, closing public schools — there just hasn't been any long term strategy. And what's resulted is just, you know, families are giving up on the city or never coming here in the first place because, you know, the school system is just really complicated and hard to navigate. And so, yes, I think those conversations are happening. I don't know if they're happening fast enough.
And so when I put it in stark terms, if ºüÀêÊÓƵ public schools keep losing students at this rate in 20 years, it won't exist because there are, you know, approximately 20,000 kids in the system and they're losing a thousand kids a year.
So I hope — I hope the city comes together, the city leaders, school leaders, parents, you know, all the stakeholders come together and figure out: OK, what do we want and how do we get there?
Liz: To turn from ºüÀêÊÓƵ City to a broader issue — like you recently wrote about a new state law that goes into effect on Sunday that would ban, quote, explicit sexual material, unquote. So any visual depiction of sex acts or genitalia, with exceptions for artistic or scientific significance. School employees, primarily librarians, as we can imagine, who have specific graphic novels in their school libraries, could be charged with a Class A misdemeanor under this law. So just to kind of, you know, paint a broader picture for our listeners, if you could tell us a little bit about this law and then also then we'll get into the nitty gritty of how it is already impacting schools in the ºüÀêÊÓƵ area?
Blythe: Sure. So as you said, the law addresses images. So not the written word, but explicit images, and they give that definition. But this would affect, like you said, graphic novels. I mean, there are — you know, “The Diary of Anne Frank†has been made into a graphic novel. It depicts nudity. So, you know, it's gotten on to some lists of conservative parents who consider it illegal under the new law.
Other, you know, “Gender Queer†is another one, “Fun Home.†These are specific examples of graphic novels that we're expecting to be challenged under this new law.
I think there are two really important points to make. The first one is that these books and materials in school libraries and classrooms have been approved for this age group by professional organizations.
Now, no librarian is reading and signing off on every book in the library. That's impossible, but that's why they have these professional groups that do that. So there are librarian associations that put out recommended books — lists of books for librarians to choose from to curate their own library. So I think that's the first point that these books have already been filtered.
We're not talking about pornography. That word gets thrown around. It is inaccurate.
I think the second important point to get across is that parents already have the right to know what is in the library and they have the right to restrict their own child's access to those materials. So you tell the librarian that here are the books that are off limits — I want to be off limits to my kid. Librarian will go ahead and, you know, make those restrictions. And so those are the two important points, I think: these books are vetted and there's already a process in place in every school district for parents to have a say over what their kid is reading.
Now, the debate comes in where some parents are trying to decide what everyone's children has — what everyone has access to. So I think that's the push point. So this new law goes into effect Aug. 28. We are expecting complaints or police reports to come in, you know, very soon after. There's one particular group, the St Charles County Parents Association, that has created lists of books, again, that they believe would fall under this law. And they've listed where these books are in, you know, what schools and what school districts.
But interestingly, this is a new development because I just heard back from the St. Charles County Police Department. They said they will not be pursuing any investigations of any complaints about books, and they will refer those complaints back to the school district. Now, the school district has — each school district has their own process for book challenges, and those have been going on increasingly over the last year.
So I'm not sure how much, you know — what — how much action we're going to see out of this new law. However, we know it already has a chilling effect. We know librarians are pulling books as we speak. So they are just — they're being proactive. And I think they don't want to have to endure these challenges, or at least some district administrators have advised their librarians: Go ahead and pull these books. And if you have any question about a book, pull it.
So — so that's concerning. I think that's where the law is going to have an effect. While we might not see librarians and teachers prosecuted under this new law, where we will see an impact and we've already seen an impact, it is a preemptive pulling of books from shelves.
So there's a chilling effect. Teachers and librarians don't want to deal with it or have been told, you know, to go ahead and pull these books. And so that's called, you know, shadow banning before there's any challenge. And so that — that's a concern.
Beth: That was a question that a member of the Facebook group Chalk Talk, which discusses education related issues, had. They wanted to know basically — and you touched on this — have local districts pulled books, and I know you probably don't have, like a comprehensive list, but do you know what books are being targeted by this? You mentioned ‘Fun Home,’ and do you know which districts may have already pulled some books off their shelves?
Blythe: We have an email from a Wentzville School District administrator telling librarians to review their books and pull any that they have any questions about. So they're basically telling the librarians to pull those graphic novels that have been mentioned. But then also any book that you're even, you know, you're remotely concerned about or that you're not familiar with and you just — you know, you'd rather not they'd rather not deal with those challenges.
Now, the Missouri School Librarians Association has come out and said, don't pull books. We strongly believe that every book in your library has artistic significance and academic significance. Like that's the whole point of having a library. And so we strongly disagree with pulling any titles preemptively.
But districts, I know — Francis Howell — And so where you know, districts where the challenges have been most active — St. Charles County — that's where we're seeing districts pulling books because they're saying, you know, we're just we're just going to follow the law.
And — but in contrast, there are districts like Maplewood-Richmond Heights, where the superintendent — I just spoke with her yesterday — Dr. Bonita Jamison — And she said they will not be censored and they will not be pulling any books that are already in their libraries, in classrooms.
And beyond that, she has told the school board to develop and write a — an academic freedom policy. That was so the district will have.
Beth: That was a question that another reader from the Chalk Talk group had, specifically about Maplewood-Richmond Heights and that policy. So yeah, if you could definitely explain that. And it hasn't been enacted yet, it sounds like.
Blythe: No. So they're in the process of writing this policy. They haven't had one in the past. But you — I mean, it's — I imagine it will be similar to policies that libraries already have, universities have. It's, you know, protecting free speech, protecting academic freedom and choices and literature and it will be — it will say something to the effect of, you know, our library is, you know, it's curated by the professionals of the Maplewood-Richmond High School District.
And that's what they're going to stand by. They're not going to be influenced by any state law putting limits on a school library. So I imagine they'll be voting on this at their September board meeting.
Beth: And — yeah — that's, it sounds like anyway, a direct reaction to these types of questions that some parents have about classroom conversations or items being used in the class or even just in the library that some parents don't want teachers to even talk about. And as you said earlier, make one person's preference the rule for the entire — entire district.
Blythe: Yeah. And I think what we'll see in the Maplewood-Richmond Heights policy is some sort of affirmation of the mission of the school district, which includes providing an education and a safe and welcoming environment. And so this is — you know — part of, yeah, what we're going to see, you know, playing out in the legislature. But, yes, I — they say that their new policy is a direct response to that new state law.
And also just, you know, preemptive because the legislature — it sure — we know, will be wanting to tackle more of these issues, you know: transgender students and inclusion and critical race theory in the classroom. And all of these have been mentioned as priorities for certain legislators in the next session. And so, yes, some districts are responding differently. Some are proactively trying to, you know, build up their defense, and others are — are kind of just laying down and saying, we don't want this fight. This is not, you know, something we want to deal with. We'd rather just play along at this point.
Liz: Like this really reminds me of the way that teachers were tasked with things like mask enforcement during the pandemic, and all of the politics that came around with that. You know, in public schools, it was as simple as, we have this mandate or we don't. We have this local municipal mandate or we don't. But that wasn't always met — you know — well by all parents. And I kind of wonder, as schools face increasing staffing shortages, not just with teachers, but with bus drivers, after-care workers, really a whole host of employees: Do you think that this is going to have an impact on librarians, on folks, you know, pursuing library arts in the future, in Missouri?
Blythe: Absolutely. I think that — I mean, teachers are professionals; they're highly educated. Librarians are highly educated. They're — the whole premise of a public library is that academic freedom. And so, yeah, if you're telling a teacher what they can and can't teach, if you're telling a librarian what they can and can't put in their library, of course they're going to seek out jobs where their autonomy is respected, where their expertise is respected. This will have serious detrimental, detrimental effects on hiring and retaining teachers and librarians. Now, we haven't seen any public protest — protests at this point, but I know other states — I think I just saw it in Oklahoma where, you know, a teacher was fired or quit because of something that they were providing access to in the classroom. So I think just the whole climate is — is very — it's, it's negative. It's dangerous.
It's, you know, these the school districts who are just deciding to follow the law, I mean, it's understandable. They were sued by their own attorney general last year over masks. And so you can only imagine, even if the St. Charles County Police Department says they aren't going to prosecute. You know, you've got Eric Schmitt looming over. And so he's already proven that he's not scared to file a lawsuit against school districts. And that's taking up a ton of resources in the school districts. Like, you know what, we're just going to stay here in the education business and not deal with all this, you know, political and legal battles. So, yeah, I think — I think there will be severe repercussions.
Liz: Well, Blythe, as we're wrapping up, are there any stories you're working on this week or this month that you're excited to share with readers?
Blythe: Sure. I am working on a story about Cardinal Ritter Catholic High School in ºüÀêÊÓƵ City, where the president of the school just went viral with a photo of all the black men who are working as teachers and administrators. In — about 40% of the staff, and that's compared to 2% nationally. And so Cardinal Ritter is really proud of the representative community that they've built in their school. So I'm writing about that.
Beth: I look forward to reading it. Thank you so much for joining us for the podcast. And I guess we might have to have you back on a third time at some point in the future. Three time guest.
Blythe: Three peat!
Liz: I love that, we absolutely should. There's just so much in education. We could have talked your ear off, but as Beth said, thank you.
Blythe: There’s so much. Thank you