The following letter to the editor was submitted by Daniel Carter, a student at Oakville High School: In light of the tragedy in Connecticut, it took no student or teacher by surprise when Mrs. Kellerman, our principal, came over the intercom and explained new safety procedures that the school would be implementing. What I fail to see is how these new precautions will stop a determined killer? Locking the doors, buzzing in, and preventing students from having backpacks at school are plenty inconvenient and may even give the illusion of safety, but how much safer are we?  Locking doors and …

There is an old saying among educators, "You can't put children first if you put teachers last," but that is exactly what the Mehlville School District is doing. While building a second rate auditorium at Mehlville, a bunch of tennis courts at Bernard Middle School that will require transportation for high school students, and sitting on taxpayer money with 13+ percent balances - our teachers remain the second lowest paid in St. Louis County. Auditoriums are nice.  So are tennis courts.  As a former board member, I wanted both, but not if it meant leaving our teachers behind, and not second …

Dear Friends, The next Mehlville School Board meeting includes a budget workshop where the district finances and tax rate are assessed.  I believe the board deserves to know all aspects of the district's finances before making decisions of this sort.  For this, I would like to put a call out to all the parent organizations in the district to bring a high-level assessment of their contributions to the district over the past few years to the budget workshop and present during the open comments portion.  Being a parent in the district I understand that it is our duty to provide a bit more than …

I would like to say a few words about Bob Burns; he is running for State Representative in the 93rd District. I had the pleasure of meeting Bob Burns when I worked for the Affton School District that was about 22 years ago.  Bob was on the School Board at the time and getting to know him he always had the children’s best interest first and the community he grew up in.   Bob was always involved in community events and he was always working to improve Affton because he loves the people here and in anything he is involved in I know him to put 100 percent into what he believes in. Bob loves this …

Bob Burns is without a doubt, the best possible choice for the Missouri House of Representatives 93rd District representative.  His work ethic, honesty, and genuine concern for getting to the core of issues make him the perfect candidate!  Bob and his wife Dianne have been role model citizens as they have been involved with the Affton school board, provided day care services for countless children over the last 40 years, and generally being the ones to count on when support is needed.  Bob Burns is the person to turn to when you need a voice to speak for you. He listens to people, and …

I just read Rich Franz's comments in the Patch.  More than once he said "teach the basic curriculum."  I don't know anyone who only teaches "the basic curriculum" which is a big reason students in our district do so well.  The teachers regularly go above and beyond "the basic curriculum."But I like Rich's idea. I could get used to working the clock, nothing outside my scheduled hours—including coaching, which, let's face it, is far below minimum wage (did you know that, Rich?)—and not doing work at home, during the summer, while on vacation (how many of us actively seek information and …

A recent blog post in this publication referenced a vote taken in the Missouri House of Representatives that eliminates public funding for the Sue Shear Institute for Women in Public Life, as well as any other public entities that utilize public funds for political activity.  Currently the University of Missouri-St. Louis spends $300,000 for the Sue Shear Institute.  It is not a college class and many of their courses are not limited to students who attend UMSL.  By the way, an article in the Kansas City Star reported the University of Missouri system will raise tuition 3 percent on average, …

It is encouraging and exciting to see the Mehlville School District moving forward with their initiative to construct a new district auditorium as well as the prospect for offering tuition-free full day kindergarten for the 2013-14 school year; all without a tax increase. The efforts of the board continue to show a commitment to the overall betterment of the community. I feel the two best candidates to build the District’s momentum are Ron Fedorchak and Mike Wainz. Mr. Fedorchak, a current board member will capitalize on his experience and continue putting the educational needs of the …

And I thought 2011 was the year of political confusion… Running for office is a unique experience and this year, it is historic. Just when we thought there was “a process” for determining representation, the process itself has created only havoc instead of the certainty upon which our system relies. I am referring to the time-honored tradition of making sure that everyone has appropriate representation in Jefferson City. And by appropriate I mean accurate, fair and proportionate, i.e. everyone has a state representative and each state representative serves about the same number of people. The…

Renaming the Mehlville School District has been brought up numerous times over the years and nothing has been done except talk about it or bring it up at school board meetings in open comments.  Why is it so hard to change the name to the Mehlville-Oakville School District?  I talk to several people in the South County area and they have no idea that Oakville is part of Mehlville School District unless they have kids that go to school in the district.   I would like to see a community-wide vote by an online poll and see a percentage of changing the name to Mehlville-Oakville School District …

Have you been on the roller coaster ride the last several weeks concerning the closing of 23 St. Louis County Parks and laying off 173 employees? The county executive just announced there would be no park closures and emphasized a team effort to the problem.   How come there was no team effort before they started this wild ride? Even a member of the parks board stated at a council meeting that the board was not aware of any action to close parks. It's a shame that it took residents signing petitions, handing out flyers at the various parks, speaking at the County Council meetings and voicing …

I am writing today to discuss my views on the next generation of the Mehlville School District. This year brings with it a new superintendent and an optimistic vision for the future. For those of us present at the last school board meeting, we had an opportunity to hear Dr. Knost's vision of the Mehlville School District, including his thoughts on Project Lead the Way, a pre-engineering program.  I completely support Dr. Knost's vision he laid out during that board meeting. As the school board meets during their annual retreat, they have an opportunity to work with Dr. Knost to provide goals …

I have taught at Jazzercise for 13 years. Now they are threatening to knock us down to put up a Dunkin' Donuts! Really, isn’t Telegraph congested enough without putting in another fast food drive-thru restaurant?   This will make it more unsafe and will put my boss at Jazzercise out of business. A year ago, she remodeled the place and spent over $6,000 in improvements. If they knock us down, she will be out this money and we will be without a home. The man who put through the petition supposedly put up a sign in the Plaza prior to the initial hearing. I never saw this sign nor did any of the …

I have often asked myself, “Why is everything so political in the Mehlville School District?" My name is Gary “Brit” Rose and I am a former candidate that ran for the school board in 2009. I am currently active in my daughters’ schools and enjoy participating. During my campaign, I shared with others that I do not like to bring local politics into the school district. Decisions in the district should be made that will benefit our students and staff to the best interest. Since my daughters have attended district schools, I haven’t seen anything accomplished when former and current board …