Mehlville School Board Elections - Truth Instead of Misinformation

Three Board of Education Candidates have been spreading some amazing misinformation. Here are the correct answers to questions that are being raised concerning their misinformation. These same three board candidates, Linda Mooy, Chris Brown and David Bertelson refused the teacher's association's requests to meet with them so they could answer some questions. Please see today's Oakville Call where Karl Frank, Drew Frauenhoffer, and Erin Weber have been endorsed by the editorial staff for election to the Mehlville School District Board of Education. The teachers are also endorsing these three.

Answers to frequently asked questions about the Mehlville School District
Why is the Mehlville School District out of money?
That is an incorrect assessment. The finance office has to continually update revenue projections. The district is in no danger for the coming school year. However, it is prudent to revise budget estimates for the following year downward because of the recent news about reduced home values in St. Louis County and the prospect that the state will not appreciably increase its aid to the Mehlville School District for the foreseeable future.

Why did the school board waste all that money on turf fields?The district already was spending approximately $100,000 each and every year on seeding, mowing, fertilizing and striping our two football fields which could only be used about a dozen times during the school year. The board decided to use that same total amount of money to purchase the turf fields which are now used on a daily basis for P.E., band practice, soccer, and football. Also, we don’t have to incur the additional expense to bus students to other fields for practice. Injuries have been reduced dramatically. All of this for the same total amount of money we spent in the past for only occasional use. The project was completed under budget and for $500,000 less than some candidates are claiming. Since the same total amount of money was spent as would have been spent for maintenance of the fields, NO money was taken away from purchasing resources for student learning.

Why did the board give out such big raises to the teachers last year?The Mehlville School District is near the bottom of the list of St. Louis area districts in what we pay our teachers. We don’t provide the same level of benefits as other districts. If we want to attract and retain quality teachers, we have to be competitive in our salary structure. Other surrounding districts gave similar increases last year. In fact, we did not move up our standing with the raises we gave.
Also the 6% raise to our base pay followed years with 0%, .2%, and a 2% raise. One needs to average the raises to get a better understanding of how Mehlville School District teachers’ salaries have really increased. In fact, Mehlville School District teachers’ salaries remain 21 out of the 24 St. Louis County school districts and below Fox School District.

Why did my taxes go up so much last year?St. Louis County is required by the state to reassess property every other year. They determine the property values, not the school district. By law, the district then has to roll back its tax levy so that we receive no more than a cost of living increase determined by the Consumer Price Index (CPI). Unlike Social Security COLAS which are increased every year, the district can only take that increase every other year, so as prices go up, we actually fall further behind in our purchasing power.

Will the candidates raise my taxes?No candidate has advocated higher taxes. That is something only the voters get to decide.

Why is the Mehlville School District suing Missouri taxpayers?That rumor is false. The Mehlville District has joined with a handful of area school districts arguing in favor of the state’s current funding formula. Over the past five years, we have invested approximately $1 per student per year to protect the $500 per student that we get from the state. If we did not participate, we would have no seat at the table if the courts throw out the state’s plan for distributing educational funds. We would be stuck with whatever plan the out-state school districts develop. Mehlville School District went fourteen years without an increase in state funding under the previous plan that was forced upon us. The district felt it was important to protect the current system that was passed by the Missouri legislature.

Has some candidate actually advocated allowing guns in schools?Yes. In spite of the overwhelming vote of the people of South County against the Conceal-Carry law, two candidates publicly stated their support for allowing teachers and administrators to carry guns in school. This is in spite of the fact that studies show that someone who owns a gun is actually 20 times more likely to be killed by a gun than someone who does not own a gun. Teachers would actually feel less safe rather than safer in our schools if they knew administrators and teachers were carrying guns.