Saint Louis
CitySide
St. Louis Front Page presents St. Louis CitySide, an overview of the City Government of Saint Louis. From time to time, we will take an indepth look at many of the projects in which the city is involved and how these projects will affect residents and visitors.
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"Great cities need great schools," stated Mayor Slay in a news conference about efforts to promote pre-registration and student attendance.
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Board of Education President Darnetta Clinkscale encouraged parents to take an active role in First Day activities.
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Great Cities Need Great Schools
- St. Louis Mayor Francis Slay
Community Organizations Join Forces With St. Louis Public Schools on 'First Day, Every Day' Efforts
by Bob Moore, SLFP.com
ST. LOUIS, MO, (SLFP.com), August 21, 2003 - A wide range of activities are planned as part of an initiative to help St. Louis families get ready for the first day of school, September 8.
In a press conference at City Hall, Thursday afternoon, St. Louis Mayor Francis Slay and Board of Education President Darnetta Clinkscale announced efforts for the "First Day, Every Day".
The initiative is designed to address historical low pre-registration before school starts and low attendance on the first day of school.
"Great cities need great schools," stated Mayor Slay. "This effort is all about the community coming together to see that the children of St. Louis have the best opportunity for high quality schools."
The Mayor announced that city employees with children in St. Louis Public Schools will be granted time-off to take their children to school on the morning of First Day. The Mayor encouraged other city employers to do the same.
In a statement, Clinkscale said, "Our children need to be in school to learn, starting on the first day. And we want to encourage parents, grandparents and other caregivers to take an active role in their child's education, including visiting their child's school on the first day and meeting the principal and teachers."
Clinkscale announced that a final settlement had been reached with the NAACP, the Liddell plaintiffs, the U.S. Department of Justice and the State of Missouri which enabled the school district to borrow approximately $49.5 million from the desegregation capital funds for operations.
"It removes the cloud over the first day of school," said Clinkscale. "We are happy to have reached this settlement because it provides additional assurance that this money will ultimately be used for construction of schools and classrooms." Clinkscale said the money, which will help close a short-term financial gap, will be repayed over a six-year period.
This year, the district is offering more than 100 locations around the city including all St. Louis Public Schools and St. Louis Public Libraries (except Charing Cross and St. Louis Marketplace satellite locations) where families can complete pre-registration for new students or students who have new addresses.
The district's annual Back to School Family Festival will be held on Saturday, August 23, at Vashon High School, 3035 Cass Ave., from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. This event offers families a "one-stop" convenience for pre-registration, immunization and obtaining information about services for school-age children.
Metro announced that it will offer two one-way MetroBus or MetroLink tickets to parents of students attending St. Louis Public Schools, so they can travel to their child's school on Monday, September 8.
In an interview following the news conference, Larry Salci, president and CEO of Metro, told Saint Louis Front Page that many of the bus routes were previously designed to coordinate with school schedules. "Metro has been specifically working with the Board of Education all summer to make sure that our routes traverse through those school districts."
"We are prohibited by federal law to provide charter service to anybody including public schools," Salci continued, "but we have designed our bus routes so that they do accommodate children this year because of the reconfiguration of schools."
"We feel confident that our system, given its size and the frequency of service, will be reasonably adequate so that students will have the ability to get to school," stated Salci.
See Related Story: Back to School Family Festival, August 23
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Larry Salci, president and CEO of Metro, said Metro will provide two one-way MetroBus or MetroLink tickets to parents of students attending the first day at St. Louis Public Schools.
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