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Unruly Audience Causes St. Louis School Board to Adjourn Early | St. Louis Metro News | St. Louis

Published

2 years ago

October 11, 2023

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click to enlarge Board President Toni Cousins, right, with Superintendent Keisha Scarlett, adjourned the meeting early.

The St. Louis Board of Education was set Tuesday night to discuss the future of its partnerships with the city treasurer’s office in connection with both the College Kids Savings Account and the Guaranteed Basic Income programs.

But a boisterous and unruly audience of dozens of St. Louis Public Schools parents led the school board to cut the meeting short amid a cacophony of people shouting at board members about a variety of issues and concerns.

The issues they shouted about so angrily covered a wide range, but all were tethered to the same underlying complaint: the school board refuses to listen to them. The parents were organized by a group called Coalition with STL Kids, which sent a media alert before the meeting highlighting the low literacy rate among district pupils and demanding personalized reading plans for each student, among other action items.

Problems began after the criticism exceeded the designated 30-minute time period for public remarks.

“That concludes our public comments,” announced Antoinette “Toni” Cousins, the board president.

Immediately a man in a gray shirt rose from the audience.

“Point of order,” he said. “There are parents and grandparents who’ve come to express their concerns. And for the board to allow (others) to speak, then to deny them to speak is blatant disrespect. As a matter of fact, it’s despicable.”

For the next 10 minutes, an angry chorus of shouting, cross-talking voices rose from riled audience members.

“The board should be willing to listen to every parent and grandparent who came down here,” declared a second man. “I’m a grandparent.”

At that point, Matt Davis, the board vice-president, spoke.

“Madam, president,” Davis said, “I’d like to make the motion to adjourn.”

“Second,” Cousins said.

The meeting adjournment — which might not have occurred legally since there was not a roll call vote of members — did not end the audience interaction.

“Can’t none of these kids read,” a woman shouted. “What business are you all conducting?”

The same woman called out to Keisha Scarlett, the school district’s newly hired superintendent, who sat next to Cousins.

“Scarlett, I feel sorry for you coming into the school board like this,” the woman said. “They set you up to fail.”

The futures of both the College Kids and guaranteed basic income programs have been in limbo since Sept.15, when Scarlett sent a letter to city Treasurer Adam Layne containing questions about the effectiveness of the College Kids program, an 8-year-old program that earmarks city parking revenues to special bank accounts set up for city kids to use for college or trade school.

Scarlett’s questions track closely to the ones raised by a River City Journalism Fund investigation published in the RFT and St. 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 grown to just $73, and that only the treasurer’s office was earning interest off the accounts — while students weren’t collecting any money.

As for the $5 million Guaranteed Basic Income program, which the city kicked off on Tuesday, Scarlett’s letter contained a demand that the treasurer’s office financially compensate the school district for the work employees will put in to oversee and manage records on behalf of the program.

Speaking during the public comment section, Layne urged the school board to end its suspension of involvement with College Kids. The program is an important way for low-income families with kids in the district to save for college and develop financial literacy, he 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.”

Layne did not address the issue of whether the treasurer’s office would comply with Scarlett’s demand that his office reimburse the school district for employee time spent on the Guaranteed Basic Income program.

The only other person to speak about the College Kids program was Joe Miklovic, the grandfather of a former student at a district grade school.

Miklovic stated that the boy had not received cash incentives he should have received for good attendance under program rules. For more than four years, Miklovic said, he had complained repeatedly to people in Layne’s office, and the offices of Mayor Tishaura Jones and various members of the St. Louis Board of Aldermen — all to no avail.

“In summary, the College Kids program urgently requires an internal review of its operations,” Miklovic said.

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Fenton Man Charged in Sword Attack on Roommate

Published

1 year 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

1 year 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

1 year 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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