School Board Wrap-up and Next Week's News

This week was a big one as the school board approved agreements and Patch rolled out several new features to help out your everyday life. Here’s a wrap-up of this week and some things to look forward to next week.

The Mehlville school board met Thursday to continue and pass items from the Jan. 20 meeting, which was cancelled do to inclement weather.  The board will not meet Feb. 16 as originally scheduled, but will hold their next meeting March 24 at Andre's on Telegraph Road. 

• In Thursday’s meeting, the board unanimously approved the Certified Employee Discussion Agreement. This is a collective bargaining agreement that has been in the works since last year. The agreement would recognize the Mehlville National Education Association as the representative for teachers during annual bargains. The board will still have final authority to accept, reject or modify any agreements made by the teachers and the district. Read about the details of this plan and what it means for teachers next week.
• Budget discussions continued as Chief Financial Officer Noel Knobloch presented the board with .  The board unanimously approved a motion by Deputy Superintendent Eric Knost for the administration to proceed with the budget reduction plan, still requiring each individual component of the plan to be approved. The board also requested information for multiple levels of cuts that would put the reserve balance between 11 and 15 percent. A 15 percent balance would be a balanced budget for the 2011-2012 fiscal year. A more in-depth look at the discussion and cuts is coming next week.
• The 2011-2012 school calendar was presented by Lisa Counts of the Human Resources Department and was approved unanimously by the board. School will start August 17 and end May 18.
• Board Secretary Larry Felton was voted to represent the Mehlville School District as the Regional Government Relations Chair for the Missouri School Board Association. The MSBA is an organization that helps school boards improve public school education by using their resources more effectively.

This week, Patch started several new weekly features to help your everyday lives. A , and are things that will call attention to local deals, events and places around town. We’ll also celebrate a each week- if you know an extraordinary kid, nominate them by e-mailing sarah.flagg@patch.com. Lastly, our Mom’s Council will participate in a and answer tough questions about raising a child in the area—chime in with your own advice. Look for these new features every Wednesday and Thursday.

In sports, Mehlville met cross-town rival Oakville on Tuesday and had both success and failure. The , but the win. The boys played at Northwest Thursday and defeated the Lions 62-56. Next, girls travel to Northwest Friday and the wrestling team takes on districts this weekend. The Mehlville Pantherettes are also competing at the Missouri State University Sugar Bear Regionals this weekend. Good luck to everyone competing!

Tuesday officially kicks off our election coverage. We’ll be running profiles of the leading up to the April election. Each profile will give a brief biography of the candidate, their qualifications and platforms for running for the school or fire board.  A Q&A will also be featured in our voting guide coming in March. What would you like to ask the candidates?

Two Mehlville and one Oakville High School students earned the honor of a National Merit Scholar- we’ll tell you what this means and how it could be historic for the school district.

Also next week, reporter Mary Konroy is researching the possibility of a JoAnn Fabrics and Crafts coming into the closed Circuit City on Lindbergh Boulevard.  What do you think about the crafty coup?

Have a great weekend!