Deb Langland Aims to Change School District Perceptions

Deb Langland wants to change public perceptions of the Mehlville School District. As a 54-year-old real estate agent, Langland has heard her fair share of worries from families wanting to buy houses in and out of the district.

Several people have expressed concerns about moving into the district on completely illegitimate rumors and reasons, she said.

If elected, Langland hopes to improve public opinion about the district, feeling that its staff and students deserve the credit.

A St. Louis native, Langland grew up in Lemay and attended Hancock High School. After graduation, she went to work at an accounting company while attending night school. Seeing her first computer sparked an interest in the IT field, and after taking classes at several schools, she earned a degree in computer programming and operation from the Control Data Institute.

Langland continued her work in accounting, becoming a payroll specialist and earning experience in management, budget forecasting and computer programming. After stints at the American Red Cross and consulting for other companies, Langland decided to get her realtor’s license in 2003. Now, she is practicing at Coldwell Banker-Gundaker while continuing side projects in investing and property management.

Married twice, Langland has seen her own children go through the district, as well as her current husband’s. Her children, Matt and Megan, are both graduates of Oakville High School. Megan graduated as the valedictorian of her class in 2007 and is a Mizzou graduate, currently working toward getting her master's degree. Matt graduated from Mehlville in 2010 and attends Southeast Missouri State University.

Langland first got involved in the Mehlville School District in 1993 when her daughter’s second-grade teacher asked her to be in an organization called the Citizens Advisory Committee (CAC).

“I was always brought up to give back to the community,” she said. “I wanted to be involved with the kids at school in their classroom, but it was hard because I was working 9 to 5,”

Langland said the CAC was perfect because the group met once a month at night. The CAC was the district’s community engagement organization under former superintendent John Cary. They read board reports, conducted and took surveys and researched different curriculum changes. Block scheduling came out of the committee, as did efforts with legislative action. The committee also worked on Prop P, the district’s technology and building bond issue in 2000. Langland was president of the organization before it disbanded when the district came under new administration.

After the committee, Langland turned to volunteering with the Mehlville-Oakville Foundation. The foundation administers several scholarships in addition to enhancing classroom experience by raising money for extra classroom projects.

“We have a fantastic staff and group of teachers, and they do the rest -- we just provide them the funds to give the kids a better education,” said Langland, who has served as the president of the foundation since 2008.

It was her involvement in COMPASS and other activities in the district that led to others asking her to run for the board in 2008. With a few reservations, such as a new business venture and her recently graduated children, Langland said she couldn’t give the campaign the complete effort it deserved and was not elected.

“Now, I’m tired of seeing the same things from 1993. We have the same issues we’ve had in 1993, and they are not solving our problems,” she said.

Langland cites her management skills, 20-plus years as an IT and business analyst and a goal-getting attitude as her qualifications for the board. Not someone who would micromanage the district, Langland said her knowledge of what goes on in the district would be an asset to the board.

“I’ve managed budgets that were over $100 milllion, and in most cases, been able to work with pretty much anybody and make sure we’re all clear on goals and objectives,” she said. 

Langland compares the board to a stock board in a company, saying that the superintendents should be left to run the school district.

“No one on the board is qualified to run the district,” she said. “The board should be accountable for what they (administrators) do and what they instruct them to do, knowing what the community wants.”

Langland feels that the community as a whole supports the school district, but there are many misconceptions that need to be addressed.  She cites the district’s ability to deal with English-as-a-second-language students, the Special School District and the highly efficient transportation department as the district’s assets.

To help solve the district’s current problems, Langland wants to try new things.

“It’s not acceptable to keep doing the same things over and over again,” she said. After Prop P, Langland would have recommended allocating money in the budget to replace computers after a period of time. She said Prop P technology is now 11 years old.

“We have an award-winning band and choir, and we have to rent out a church so that our choir can have a recital,” she said.

If elected, Langland would work with the board to balance the budget, naming that as a top priority for the district. Supporting the transition from a three-tier to a four-tier bus system, a salary freeze without step increases and a raised activity fee, Langland said she would work to balance the budget while still thinking about the classroom.

“We don’t want to cut teachers,” she said. “I think asking each school to cut their budget by 15 percent is good. They (administration) have come up with a pretty good budget plan.”

Langland hopes that with reductions, fundraising organizations will step up for families that may have difficulties affording the fees.

After a balanced budget and improved economic times, Langland said she would support a small tax increase of about 2 or 3 percent to help the district long term.

While she thinks the district and the community should have good communication, it is not necessarily board members’ responsibility to go public. The focus should be on the school district speaking for itself, she said, without publicity directed at the board.

With personal strengths of an open mind, good listening skills and the ability to get people to work together, Langland says her weakness lies in impatience.

“There’s a big learning curve and my only fear...is that we’re going to be doing the same things over an over again. I want to move forward and hear new solutions to problems,” she said.

“We’re a giant leap behind, but we can’t take a giant leap forward. Eventually we can catch up.” she said.