That's not NAFTA you hear....

The building blocks of the "unified front" of six months ago crumbled like adobe when hit with the cool wave that is life in the St. Louis School system.

Recent reports that the pot is boiling over down at the North 11th street offices of the district put a recent St. Louis Schools Watch email in focus.

The email talked about the need to strike a balance between the board and the superintendent. District policies and the required Comprehensive School Improvement Plan (mandated and approved by the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education and updated regularly) serve as mediators between the personalities and keep micro-management too a minimum while ensuring involvement by board members.

"The two biggest mistakes in school district governance, MSBA trainers said,
are school boards overreaching themselves and trying to micromanage
districts, and superintendents overreaching themselves and trying to set
policy.

Remember, boards govern and administrators manage."

The newsletter struck an almost zen note given the maelstrom of finger-wagging that has been whipped up in recent days, though it kept dangling the issue of the board's ability to fire the Super.

As they say, politics makes strange bedfellows, but recent turns of fate may require a flow chart.

"Chief Under Fire From Board". And "Super Gives Report to State Board".

A new SLS Watch email criticizes Jackson and Archibald for their opposition to Bourisaw's plan on the theory that it undercuts their alleged desire for a state takeover.

Interestingly, the two quietest members at this point are the two who attended the inspiring Missouri School Board Association meeting that led to the policy-heavy SLS Watch email; Peter Downs and Donna Jones.

It should also be noted that in recent years, Bourisaw served as a state supervisor for DESE overseeing accreditation of districts in the St. Louis area. Perhaps a promising liaison to the committee deciding the district's fate.

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