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St. Louis School Board to Vote on Ending College Kids Participation | St. Louis

Published

10 months ago

December 11, 2023

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click to enlarge Board President Toni Cousins, right, with Superintendent Keisha Scarlett.

The St. Louis Public Schools Board of Education is set to vote Tuesday night on whether to scuttle its memo of understanding with the St. Louis Treasurer’s office for the school district’s College Kids Savings account program.

Board members will vote to invoke the 60 days’ notice provision to cancel the agreement, according to a meeting agenda posted on the school board website.

The school board vote is set to take place three months after the board agreed to “pause” its MOU with the treasurer’s office while district administrators sought answers to questions about College Kids’ oversight and usefulness to district students.

The school board informally agreed during its meeting September 12 to take this step in large part because of aRiver City Journalism Fund investigation publishedin the RFT andSt. Louis Public Radio on June 7. The story showed that only 15 percent of the more than 23,000 eligible students in the district were taking part, that the average account had only grown to $73, and that only the treasurer’s office was earning interest off nearly the $2 million in bank and investment accounts connected to College Kids.

Each year, the treasurer’s office automatically enrolls all the public- and charter-school kindergarten students in St. Louis city — 2,307 College Kids accounts were created in 2022 alone — providing them with savings accounts at Alltru Credit Union and “seeding” each with a $50 deposit. Money for these deposits comes from city parking fees and parking tickets.

College Kids accounts are expected to grow through city-funded incentives and charitable and personal donations. Participants can receive up to $100 in matching deposits and up to $50 for partaking in financial education. Once the student graduates from a public or charter high school in the city, the funds can be withdrawn for college or a trade school.

College Kids is modeled on a larger college savings program in San Francisco. Both join dozens of state- and city-run programs nationwide that share a similar aim: motivate kids from moderate- and low-income backgrounds into developing a college-bound mindset. Like counterparts nationwide, College Kids is premised on research that shows children who begin saving for college, even in amounts of less than $500, are three times more likely to continue on to a post-secondary education than students who do not, and four times more likely to graduate.

Matt Davis, the school board vice-president, said Sunday night that a question-and-answer session regarding College Kids is set to take place before Tuesday’s vote.

Davis says he’s still unsure about how to vote on the issue. He’s still waiting for answers to questions submitted in writing to Adam Layne, the city treasurer, who is responsible for overseeing the College Kids program.

“There’s certainly room for improvement in the program,” Davis says, “and it doesn’t seem like there is a willingness to change.”

The immediate consequence of the school district ending its MOU with the treasurer’s office would be the district no longer sharing kindergarten enrollment information to the treasurer’s office, as well as enrollee attendance data that allows students to receive financial incentives for good attendance. It’s not clear what would happen to the program without the annual influx of new St. Louis Public School enrollees, though some charter schools also participate.

“The city is free to do what they want to do,” Davis says.

Layne defended College Kids in a 3,500-word letter to the school board, and then in verbal comments during an Oct. 10 school board meeting.

During that meeting, Layne urged the school board to end its pause of the program. College Kids is an important way for low-income families with kids in the district to save for college and develop financial literacy, Layne said.

“I can’t overstate the importance of this program in a district that has the population demographics that we have,” Layne said.

Layne noted that the oldest group in the program — students in eighth grade — represents “over 2,000 extremely engaged families that have an average of over $200 in their accounts.”

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Fenton Man Charged in Sword Attack on Roommate

Published

5 months ago

May 22, 2024

Natural Bridge

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A warrant is out for a Fenton man’s arrest after he allegedly attacked his roommate with a sword.

Police say that on Sunday, Angelus Scott spoke openly about “slicing his roommate’s head” before he grabbed a sword, raised it up and then swung it down at the roommate.

The roommate grabbed Scott’s hand in time to prevent injury. When police arrived at the scene, they found the weapon used in the assault.

The sword in question was a katana, which is a Japanese sword recognizable for its curved blade.

This isn’t the first time a samurai-style sword has been used to violent effect in St. Louis. In 2018, a man hearing voices slaughtered his ex-boyfriend with a samurai sword. His mother said he suffered from schizoaffective disorder.

As for Scott, 35, the St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office was charged yesterday with two felonies, assault first degree and armed criminal action. The warrant for his arrest says he is to be held on $200,000 bond.

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Caught on Video, Sheriff Says He’s Ready to ‘Turn It All Over’ to Deputy

Published

5 months ago

May 22, 2024

Natural Bridge

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Video of St. Louis Sheriff Vernon Betts taken by a former deputy suggests that the sheriff has a successor in mind to hand the reins of the department over to, even as Betts is in an increasingly heated campaign for reelection.

“I ain’t here for all this rigmarole,” Betts says in the video while seated behind his desk at the Carnahan Courthouse. “The Lord sent me here to turn this department around and I’m doing the best I can and I think I’ve done a good job. I’ve got about eight months and I’m going to qualify for my fourth pension.”

He goes on, “Right now I can walk up out of here and live happily ever after and forget about all this…and live like a king.”

The sheriff then says his wife has been in Atlanta looking at houses and that the other deputy in the room, Donald Hawkins, is someone Betts has been training “to turn it all over to him.”

Asked about the video, Betts tells the RFT, “My future plans are to win reelection on August 6th by a wide margin and to continue my mission as the top elected law enforcement official to make St. Louis safer and stronger. Serving the people of St. Louis with integrity, honor and professional law enforcement qualifications is a sacred responsibility, and I intend to complete that mission.”

The video of Betts was taken by Barbara Chavers, who retired from the sheriff’s office in 2016 after 24 years of service. Chavers now works security at Schnucks at Grand and Gravois. Betts’ brother Howard works security there, too.

Chavers tells the RFT that she was summoned to Betts’ office last week after Betts’ brother made the sheriff aware that she was supporting Montgomery. It was no secret: Chavers had filmed a Facebook live video in which she said she was supporting Betts’ opponent Alfred Montgomery in the election this fall. “Make the judges safe,” she says in the video, standing in front of a large Montgomery sign on Gravois Avenue. “They need a sheriff who is going to make their courtrooms safe.”

In his office, even as Chavers made clear she was filming him, Betts told Chavers he was “flabbergasted” and “stunned” she was supporting Montgomery.

“I don’t know what I did that would make you go against the preacher man,” he says, referring to himself. He then refers to Montgomery as “ungodly.”

Betts goes on to say that not long ago, he was walking in his neighborhood on St. Louis Avenue near 20th Street when suddenly Montgomery pulled up in his car and, according to Betts, shouted, “You motherfucker, you this, you that. You’re taking my signs down.”

Montgomery tells the RFT that he’s never interacted with Betts outside of candidate forums and neighborhood meetings.

“I don’t think anyone with good sense would do something like that to a sitting sheriff,” Montgomery says.

Montgomery has had campaign signs missing and on at least two occasions has obtained video of people tearing them down. (Chavers notes that the sign that she filmed her original Facebook video in front of is itself now missing.)

One man who lives near Columbus Square says that he recently put out two Montgomery signs, which later went missing. “If they keep taking them, I’ll keep putting them up,” he said.

Betts says he has nothing to do with the missing signs. In the video Chavers filmed in Betts’ office, Betts says that his campaign isn’t in a spot where it needs to resort to tearing down opponents’ signs.

“If you sit here long enough, a man is getting ready to come across the street from City Hall bringing me $500, today,” Betts says. “I’m getting that kind of support. I don’t need to tear down signs.”

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St. Louis to Develop First Citywide Transportation Plan in Decades

Published

5 months ago

May 21, 2024

Natural Bridge

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The City of St. Louis is working to develop its first citywide mobility plan in decades, Mayor Tishaura Jones’ office announced Tuesday. This plan seeks to make it easier for everyone — drivers, pedestrians, bikers and public transit users — to safely commute within the city.

The plan will bring together other city projects like the Brickline Greenway, Future64, the MetroLink Green Line, and more, “while establishing new priorities for a safer, more efficient and better-maintained transportation network across the City,” according to the release.

The key elements in the plan will be public engagement, the development of a safety action plan, future infrastructure priorities and transportation network mapping, according to Jones’ office.

The overarching goals are to create a vision for citywide mobility, plan a mixture of short and long-term mobility projects and to develop improved communication tools with the public to receive transportation updates. In recent years, both people who use public transit and cyclists have been outspoken about the difficulties — and dangers — of navigating St. Louis streets, citing both cuts to public transit and traffic violence.

To garner public input and participation for the plan, Jones’ office said there will be community meetings, focus groups and a survey for residents to share their concerns. The city will also be establishing a Community Advisory Committee. Those interested in learning more should check out at tmp-stl.com/

“Everyone deserves to feel safe when getting around St. Louis, whether they’re driving, biking, walking or taking public transit,” Jones said in a news release. “Creating a comprehensive transportation and mobility plan allows us to make intentional and strategic investments so that moving around St. Louis for jobs, education, and entertainment becomes easier, safer and more enjoyable.”

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