This information includes highlights of information received by the Ladue Schools Board of Education at the January 10, 2022 regular Board of Education business meeting. This is an unofficial record. Official minutes of each Board meeting are posted on the district website and are available for viewing at the Administrative Center after the Board approves them, typically two weeks after the meeting.
Click here to view a recording from the January 10 Board Meeting
Board President Remarks
The School Board election is April 5. At this time there are four candidates who have filed for two open positions. The candidates are Jeff Kopolow, Sheldon Johnson, David Meyer, and Kyle Meyer. Filing has closed and the candidates have until Jan. 25 to withdraw; after that point the candidate list will be certified.
Our Meet the Candidates Night will be March 29. It is a great evening; last year it was held virtually and it usually lasts about 90 minutes. This event allows the community to send in questions and have the candidates respond.
Superintendent Remarks
I hope everyone enjoyed their Winter Break. I also want to wish a happy new year to our Ladue community.
We’re extremely excited to start the second semester. The beginning of this semester has been a little rocky with the spike in COVID cases, but we’ve learned a lot about educating students during a pandemic to this point and will continue to do everything in our power to keep our students in school, in-person.
After speaking with our principals, most of our buildings have experienced an increase in staff attendance from last week which is a good thing.
We met with our Medical Task Force last Thursday and they encouraged us to do the following: continue with our mitigating strategies, keep students in school under our current universal precautions as it is the safest place for them, and encourage vaccinations/boosters for our families and students. Please take a look at our website as it has been updated to be more user-friendly for our community in terms of accessing COVID-19 information.
Two years ago we made a commitment to hiring instructional coaches and assessment specialists and I’m pleased to report we are seeing some terrific results throughout the district with our students making great strides. In working with our Curriculum Data teams and reading specialists, our number of students reading below grade level is greatly declining. Thank you to our Board of Education for its commitment to academic excellence for all students.
I want to highlight our district’s diversity committee as I was able to attend one of its meetings last week. During the meeting, best practices were shared; one such practice is a club called STEM Gem at one of our elementary schools. It is a club for female African American students that promotes STEM. There are many other organizations throughout our district that promote diversity and support our students.
This past Saturday, we partnered with Clayton School District to hold a Diversity Recruitment Hiring Fair. I thought we had some really good candidates at the fair.
None of these supports are possible without our teachers and sponsors. I want to brag about two teachers who recently had articles written about their work. Dr. Audra Smith, who has been recognized at recent meetings, was featured in an article in Our Town magazine. Dr. Smith is our Emerson Teacher of the Year. Stephanie O’Neal was featured in Ladue News for her new P.E. class called Holistic Wellness. Thank you, Audra and Stephanie.
Prop L is picking up the pace thanks to our friends from S.M. Wilson because steel is being delivered to our construction sites and we have tilt-up walls going up soon.
Finally, if you haven’t thanked a nurse lately, please do so.
ACTION ITEMS
The Board approved the absence of board member Sheldon Johnson.
The Board approved the addition of its 2021-22 Board Goals to the website.
The Board approved several board policy updates.
SM Wilson provided an update on construction progress at Old Bonhomme, Spoede, and Ladue Middle School. The Board approved the presentation.
SM Wilson requested approval of Change Orders 29, 32, 35, 36, 39, 40, 43, 44, 45, 46, and 47. The Board approved the request.
The Board approved SM Wilson’s pay application for December 2021.
INFORMATION ITEMS
LECC and Nurses Salary Schedule
Assistant Superintendent of Business & Finance Dr. Geoff Macy discussed proposed changes to the salary schedules at the LECC and for district nurses.
Dr. Macy provided an update on the 2021-22 budget; the current budget is tracking closely with the predictions and assumptions established in June 2021.
UPCOMING MEETINGS
The next Board of Education meeting will be a regular Business Meeting on Monday, January 24, 2022. The Meeting ID will be posted on the Featured tab of BoardDocs when the meeting information is officially posted.