From the Desk of…
Diana Bourisaw, Superintendent
Public Hearing Held by DESE
The Department of Elementary and Secondary Education held
their public hearing this week regarding the proposed intervention
in St. Louis. As you are all aware, the State Board of Education
could unaccredit the St. Louis Public Schools and seat a three-member
transitional board as early as Feb. 15.
I was thrilled to see the 1,100 seat auditorium at Harris-Stowe
University completely filled with parents, teachers, students,
and community members. People were waiting in the hallway for
seats to become available. This community showed that it does
care about public education in the City of St. Louis despite
the results of public opinion polls.
More importantly, the hearing was a lesson to the numerous
students who attended. They learned about the importance of
democracy, civics, and the right of the people to vote. The
right of the people to a free public education is one of the
tenets upon which this country was founded. The number of lessons
that could be derived from this one hearing is overwhelming.
This weekend we will begin airing the first half of the public
hearing on our television station, Channel 20. The program
will air at 8:00 a.m., 12:00 p.m., 4:00 p.m., and 8:00 p.m.
You can find the St. Louis Public Schools' Television Station
on channel 20 on Charter Cable within the City of St. Louis.
SLPS-TV is not available in St. Louis County, Illinois, or
on satellite.
Meetings Scheduled for Next Week
We have several meetings scheduled next week.
The Administrative Board meeting will be held on Tuesday,
Feb. 6. Before the official meeting we will again hold a special
work session. During the work study session, Dr. Kelvin Adams,
the head of our Human Resources Division, will brief the Board
of Education on the processes that have been implemented in
that division to increase efficiency, improve customer satisfaction,
and recruit and retain staff.
Enos Moss, our Chief Financial Officer/Treasurer will present
the results of the annual financial audit which was recently
finalized by an outside firm.
On Wednesday the 7th, two of our committees will also be meeting.
The Facilities Committee will meet at 5:30 p.m. while the Instruction/Academic
Committee will meet at 6:00 p.m. For additional details on
those meetings, please visit our website, www.slps.org.
“We must not believe the many, who say that only free
people ought to be educated, but we should rather believe the
philosophers who say that only the educated are free.” – Epictetus
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