AFSC St. Louis has gathered questions from SLPS youth for candidates running for the school board. Below are the questions we asked and the candidates' responses.
Questions
Q: If your kids were the ones being taught in this school district, what would you expect from the school board?
Q: What will you do to help stop the spread of school to prison pipeline?
Q: Would you support removing school safety officers or security professionals and replacing them with more therapists, counselors, and social workers?
Q: How are you going to improve the district?
Q: I’ve experienced a focus on teaching to a test, but not always a focus on what really makes students successful. How will you change the way teachers teach students?
Q: What are your thoughts on vending machines in school?
Q: What would you like young people in St. Louis to know about you?
Q: If your kids were the ones being taught in this school district, what would you expect from the school board?
David Jackson
Comprehensive understanding of the basic requirements to succeed with all educational requirements.
Dr. JL Mendoza Quinones
I would anticipate the school board being open to understanding the needs of the families and students within the communities. Being transparent with the goals of the district, and the immediate future direction, that the district is headed, as well as being accountable.
William (Bill) Haas
Make sure they're safe, learning, access to supportive services, and that my/our concerns would be heard.
David W Merideth
My kids currently attend the school district and I have had 5 others who graduated from SLPS schools. What I expect from the school board as a parent is for them to engage the parents to determine needs and issues to approach the superintendent about. I want to see them move focus beyond just meeting accreditation statistics, but actually improving educational goals in reading, math, and science.
Emily Hubbard
My children are SLPS students, so here it what I do expect--a school board that supports the district and is against (any further) privatization, a school board that works together with the superintendent to make sure the policies the board sets are carried out. As a mom of Black (biracial) kids and with our district's being around 80% Black and 9% other non-white groups, I expect the board to evaluate existing and proposed policies in light of whether they are good for Black children.
Natalie Vowell
I expect a board member to meet parents where they are, to be accessible and transparent. I have always offered my personal cell (314.467.0127) and been available to accommodate different parents’ work/life schedules. Knowing our education system has serious flaws, I chose to run for school board before starting my own family and was elected in 2017. Five weeks ago, I finally gave birth to my own future SLPS scholar, and I continue to work daily to give families the same level of service I will expect as a parent of this district.
Matt Davis
I have two children who are being taught in the district. This is not a hypothetical question for me. I expect transparency from the board regarding the decisions they make. I expect the board to set clear benchmarks for success and to hold the superintendent accountable for meeting those benchmarks. I also expect the board to empower the administration, teachers and staff to implement bold solutions to make sure our city's public education system is addressing the needs of all students.
Daffney Moore
If my kids were being taught in this school district, I would expect the school board to ensure equitable inclusion of all students, access to appropriate services under their IEP, and that the board is accountable for decisions supporting all community stakeholders.
Antionette Cousins
I would expect the school board to demonstrate a clear knowledge and understanding of resources and opportunities available from each district departmental office and assurance that all appropriate resources are available at their school. I would expect them to make sure that staffing needs are addressed and that the teachers and students have the resources (ie: curriculum, furniture, technology) they need to be successful.
Alisha Sonnier
I would expect the school board to keep me aware of and include me in all the decision making much as possible. I would expect them to share as much information as possible with me as a parent and constituent. I would expect the board to do their best to ensure that my child is receiving the highest quality of education and being nurtured as an entire being. This is why transparency, community immersion, and holistic education are my core platform points.
Q: What will you do to help stop the spread of school to prison pipeline?
David Jackson
First ensure our schools keep our students interested in school. Offer any interested after school programs and make counselors available twenty-four, seven.
Dr. JL Mendoza Quinones
As an advocate for educational and judicial reform, I would work to end the school to prison pipeline, with having greater participation from community based organizations, which I have worked in the field with some to offer better alternative gateways for at-risk students. As an long time athletics coach and mentor having worked within the district, I champion the collective effort of the communities leaders, church leaders, and school district working together to better the lives of students.
William (Bill) Haas
It's about third grade reading scores, zero tolerance for any child not reading at grade level by the third-grade. Starts in pre-k, small classes, regular testing, second qualified adult in the classrooms.
David W Merideth
As a district we need to do a better job of addressing trauma in our student population instead of only using disciplinary measures. Keeping children in school and attempting to address their basic needs shows greater success in keeping kids out of the school to prison pipeline.
Emily Hubbard
I will encourage and support policies like the use of restorative justice and trauma-informed consequences, as well as pursue policies that will reduce the number of suspensions. In addition, I'll try to enable teachers to have more support and care so that they can manage their classrooms well without immediately going to punitive measures. I hope to help lead SLPS into a culture that is explicitly *for* Black children, quick to encourage and nurture and care, slow to punish and penalize.
Natalie Vowell
I strongly support any movement away from the use of jail time and fines to enforce victimless crimes. Punishing poverty is counterproductive and cruel. Over 1 million US kids have a parent in prison for nonviolent drug charges. The Black:white ratio of these arrests is 4:1. In St. Louis City, it’s 18:1. City Hall is built on systemic racism—the Building Division sends people who can’t afford home repairs to court, the Collector of Revenue and LRA seize homes of people who can’t afford taxes; SLMPD arrests ~1600 people/year who can’t afford traffic tickets. Even the best education for Black and Brown children cannot counteract a broken system stacked against Black and Brown adults. For kids to succeed, we must stop jailing their parents.
Matt Davis
School discipline should be restorative not punitive. I will push for more transparency in the district's handling of discipline to make sure that it is having a positive effect on student's lives and not ruining them. Counseling and other support resources must be available where they are needed for the most at-risk students. Safety in our schools must be paramount, but that means safety not only in the classroom and the hallways but safety for the students who struggle with behavior issues.
Daffney Moore
My goal is to change the discriminatory discipline policies that disproportionately affect Black and Brown children. The school district must work with a reimagined public safety apparatus that responds to student needs restoratively rather than punitively. We should look at schools' zero-tolerance approaches and exclusionary practices, so we can reduce demonizing and humiliating children who make mistakes or have disabilities to ensure children stay in the classroom. Many of the discipline practices are rooted in racism and institutional biases that label students who are rambunctious as "problems'' instead of investigating to understand our children and nurture them.
Antionette Cousins
I would ensure there are layers of resources provided to students and their families. This is a systematic issue which lacks accountability. Based on my experience as the Executive Director of an alternative school, I saw the need to assist and care for those that were in need. The first step is to establish research-based criteria that could signal that a student may be at risk to enter the pipeline and determine what the best intervention strategies are and what needs to be applied at the individual, school, family and community level.
Alisha Sonnier
This issue is one of my highest concerns and is in part why I am ensuring we are providing a holistic education that is rooted in overall wellness for our scholars. When we are nurturing our students as full beings we are getting to the root of issues rather than criminalizing students. One idea I have around this are racial disciplinary reports. Schools would provide a report, within a specified time frame where they would track the amount of times a disciplinary action has been reported, the consequence given, and the racial and gender demographics of each student. This would require us as a district to create a racial consciousness around how we are responding to and disciplining our students.
Q: Would you support removing school safety officers or security professionals and replacing them with more therapists, counselors, and social workers?
David Jackson
I am in total agreement with replacing safety, security professionals with therapists, counselors and social workers.
Dr. JL Mendoza Quinones
I think it is very vital to have more professionally trained staff, that can be hands on with the students and parents, to help combat social issues they face daily. There are so many outstanding community organizations, that the district could benefit from being in partnership with, that can be helpful in assuring school safety outside of the security personnel with the district.
William (Bill) Haas
I think both may have their place, but we should be top-heavy on the latter for sure.
David W Merideth
I am proud our district actually employs its own security instead of using armed police in the buildings. However, if we cannot prioritize having all of the above in every building, I would much rather see a mobile security force and more therapists, counselors and social workers actually in the buildings to address immediate needs.
Emily Hubbard
I'm not sure I would want to remove *all* school safely officers, but we definitely need more therapists, counselors, and social workers. My experience as an elementary school mom has been that they protect our school children from people who try to just come into the school off the streets, possibly while high, and aren't in the building every day. If the situation is different in high schools, it should certainly be adjusted.
Natalie Vowell
Yes, and I have requested increased data tracking on security interactions with students. That tracking absolutely must improve so long as such personnel are in our schools. Interactions with law enforcement in our communities often cause trauma, and our schools should focus on preventing/healing trauma rather than creating more of it.
Matt Davis
Unfortunately, safety officers are a necessary part of schools in our society. But they must be appropriately trained to work in the school setting so they are not just security guards but part of a support team led by social workers and counselors. Students in our district suffer from a disproportionate level of trauma from housing and food insecurity to unimaginable violence. Learning can be impossible if these issues are not dealt with first and to do that we need more resources.
Daffney Moore
I want to limit the amount of armed interactions our children endure, though I am hesitant to remove safety officers with the increasing crimes against children. I would like to reallocate funding in the school district to hire mental health professionals and train safety officers to interact with our kids. I favor finding ways to increase therapists, counselors, and social workers because it would benefit both academic performance and school safety. We could work with surrounding universities, look for community partners and grants to fund these professionals.
Antionette Cousins
As a wife of a Major for the SLMPD and a mother, I would not remove safety officers, or security professional I would support providing them much needed training to support them serving not only as officers but as a support services. I would support an auditing of costs to determine how the district could financially account for an increase of therapists, counselors and social workers across the district to better ensure that all students and families have access to the services that they need.
Alisha Sonnier
This is what a holistic education looks like. We have to begin to prioritize as a district not just responding to our students actions but how we can begin to get to the root of issues and put preventative measures in places. Investing in and developing our scholars means we have to look beyond punishing and surveillancing them and shift our focus to helping them become the healthiest, fullest version of themselves and that looks like investing in their mental health. As a mental health advocate I know how critical having mental health as a priority is for growth; personally and academically.
Q: How are you going to improve the district?
David Jackson
Ensure the Superintendent is successful in the Board's objectives, by monitoring his actions on a monthly basis and offering any assistance the Board could provide to ensure the Superintendent's success.
Dr. JL Mendoza Quinones
As a board member I would welcome parents becoming partners with the school district, especially parents that are small business owners, and community advocates and activists. I want to see more community efforts and accountability from the school board, in making sure that each and every student is academically achieving to be more prepared for the world
William (Bill) Haas
Get a tax-increase of $9Million dollars passed for second-qualified adult in early childhood classrooms, and 5-year plan to get third-grade reading scores up from 60% at grade-level to 100%, zero tolerance for failure. Collaboration with business community for older students, supportive services for those already dropped-out or graduated without good skills.
David W Merideth
My plans include a full time nurse and social worker in every building, a independent review of public schooling in the city to determine an appropriate amount of schools with a large enough student population to provide the extra-curricular and advanced class options in every school building.
Emily Hubbard
I want to help lead the district towards clarity, care, and courage--transparency whenever possible, making sure all students are safe, loved, and ready to learn, and teachers and staff are appreciated and paid appropriately, and reckoning clearly with St. Louis's legacy of racism and the ways that SLPS has been either complicit in racism or impacted by other's racism. I also want to make sure our compliance with the desegregation order benefits the Black students most impacted by segregation.
Natalie Vowell
I was an executive board officer during the transition from State to local control in 2019. I am the only candidate that has received Master’s Certification from the MO School Board Association. I delivered over 100 grocery bags to SLPS families during the initial COVID-19 stay-at-home orders. For the past four years, I’ve been at the State Capitol and City Hall advocating for stronger schools and more equitable school funding, and opposing dark money legislation to dismantle St. Louis schools. I’ve been in the streets marching for justice. I will continue to fight anywhere I’m needed.
Matt Davis
As a parent and a lawyer I have always advocated for students and families, teachers and staff. I will continue to do that as a board member. I want better communication, a district structure that is intentionally designed to meet the needs of all students and families and better retention and recruitment of teachers.
Daffney Moore
I would like to have a "Wellbeing Strategy" for children that includes a comprehensive district plan. The strategy will provide better educational outcomes for our children, address safety concerns, provide wrap-around services for youth and parents, creating new streams of revenue for SLPS and forge strategic partnerships. We need an effective and clear plan, more innovation and technology in our schools, and to tackle SLPS's continued closings of schools to provide better services to our kids, teachers, and community.
Antionette Cousins
I will improve the district by serving as an active and passionate support system to the board, families, students and staff and by listening to the needs of the youth, which I have observed first-hand, and now know I need to support! Empowering our youth is important and a key factor for their success and the success of the district!
Alisha Sonnier
I will improve the district by making sure that my number one focus is our scholars. I will be constantly dedicated, even when uncomfortable to making decisions in their best interest. I will make sure I am maintaining my relationships with community organizations and community leaders to be a bridge and bring additional resources to our district. Our scholars deserve to be invested into as whole beings, they deserve a plethora of resources, they deserve advocates who will speak out and up whenever necessary, they deserve to be centered and listened to and cultivated as much as possible. I will make the district better by constantly acting in a way that bends our practices and culture to these standards.
Q: I’ve experienced a focus on teaching to a test, but not always a focus on what really makes students successful. How will you change the way teachers teach students?
David Jackson
I believe in giving the teachers full latitude and autonomy in teaching. Teaching to the individual child, for understanding and comprehension.
Dr. JL Mendoza Quinones
I am dedicated to seeing more extensive training for teachers to be better equipped for educating the students in the St. Louis Public Schools.
William (Bill) Haas
You have to teach to something, and it might as well start to teaching to the skills that the students and district will be judged on. If those aren't reflective of reality, the tests have to change. No tolerance for not being able to read, write, add, think.
David W Merideth
Testing is unfortunately a requirement from beyond the district and will not go away anytime soon. However we can implement more projects based learning as well as enhancing the hands on technical training programs that exist in many of our buildings today.
Emily Hubbard
If I am elected I will push for policies that allow teachers the autonomy to teach what they know students need, rather than push schools to get better scores on standardized tests.
Natalie Vowell
All students learn differently and excel at different skills. Currently, performance standards are set by the state’s Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE), not by a local board of education. Our teachers know their students better than any bureaucrat halfway across the state, and a school board member should advocate to empower teachers.
Matt Davis
The district employs hundreds of highly trained, certified and experienced educators. It is not the board of education's job to tell them how to teach students. What the board must do is make sure teachers have the resources they need to succeed in their job. That also means eliminating barriers that make it harder for teachers and students to thrive. We always need to look beyond test scores to make sure our schools are providing a better way of life for our city's children.
Daffney Moore
I am against teaching to the test. We need to eliminate biases in education, training, curriculum, testing, and admission to create an environment for student learning. I would assess our children to develop a curriculum to help them learn and not memorize answers. I would expand education for students to learn concepts and skills to be lifelong learners, not teaching to a test.
Antionette Cousins
The role of a board member is not teaching teachers how to teach, but to ensure there is a safe space for students to learn, while providing support and accountability to district leaders on behalf of our residents who expect students across the district to be equipped with the skills they need to be successful in life. That will require the district to take a close look at what is taught and how it is taught and tasking district leaders to make any necessary adjustments related to curriculum, pacing, instructional delivery and/or programming to better ensure that graduates of SLPS are prepared to thrive.
Alisha Sonnier
Implementing a wellness culture that impacts both students and teachers and ensuring that we are supporting our teachers and students as much as possible are a major part of this. As a board member I would be committed to listening to both scholars and teachers about their experiences and ensuring that we have an environment and structure that supports both personally and academically.
Q: What are your thoughts on vending machines in school?
David Jackson
I support them if the proceeds benefits the different student organizations and programs. I also would like for the vending machines to offer healthy choices. Some snacks containing the sweets that children like, but very limited.
Dr. JL Mendoza Quinones
I think vending machines with a better variety of foods, would be nice to have in schools. Having more healthier snacks would be great.
William (Bill) Haas
I'm not sure. Depends what's in them. Healthy things I hope.
David W Merideth
I'm not really in favor of utilizing for-profit vending machines in schools to sell junk food. However, I would support efforts to establish student or activity run snack bars. Any profits made off of students should only be utilized for the benefit of those same students.
Emily Hubbard
I'm not sure--I could see where they may be helpful but also I can see their being in schools causing a lot of drama related to misuse and and who has access, not to mention issues of nutritional value. I am for snacks and hydration, but not disruption.
Natalie Vowell
This issue is at the discretion of an administrator, not a board level decision, and has never come up in any of our meetings. That’s why I drafted a bylaw in 2019, which PASSED, which allows the Board of Education to include a student representative. Student voice is essential to ensure that issues important to students may be considered for our agenda and so that we always have a student’s perspective nearby to inform and guide our decisions.
Matt Davis
Personally I am not a huge fan, but if we have vending machines they should not be in elementary schools and must comply with federal recommendations for "healthy snacks." We also should not use them as an opportunity for the district to make money.
Daffney Moore
Vending machines can be an excellent grab-and-go option to relieve hunger or a snack for students during the day, so I am not opposed to vending machines in school. I do think there needs to be quality foods and beverages provided to give students healthy options. Vending machines cost money, and many of our students don’t have the funds. Students need equity in food options as well as the ability to make a purchase.
Antionette Cousins
I support vending machines as long as they provide healthy options to students that are NOT available through the school cafeteria and a percentage of the funds are returned to the school.
Alisha Sonnier
I think vending machines are okay in schools. From a wellness perspective, I’d like to see snacks that will provide nourishment to our students so that they have the fuel they need to perform, but this doesn’t mean a candy bar option is the end of the world.
Q: What would you like young people in St. Louis to know about you?
David Jackson
I graduated from the St. Louis Public Schools (SLPS) and all five of my children have graduated from SLPS, one from the Alternative Program. I have a compassion to offer our SLPS students the opportunity of an equity education as well as, a quality education. All children can learn.
Dr. JL Mendoza Quinones
I am a life long educator, athletic coach and community leader that is dedicated to being the voice of the parents and students within the St. Louis Public School District.
William (Bill) Haas
I've chased my ambition for public service since I first ran for schoolboard in Cleveland 40 years ago, finally one in St. Louis 16 years later and have served 4 terms. I care about them, and my example of never giving up on your dreams a good one for everyone. More at votehaas.com, including videos when I ran for president of the US Democratic nomination last year. You are somebody, smart because everyone is smart, often in different ways, and I care about you.
David W Merideth
I am an SLPS graduate and have 11 children who have attended district schools. Through their experiences and those of the numerous friends we have had the pleasure of getting to know I've seen first hand the impact SLPS can have on our students. Both positive and negative. I sincerely care about making our schools the best they can be for all the children of the city, not just the ones with parents able to navigate the multitude of choice.
Emily Hubbard
I'm old and not cool anymore (I never really was); I like to garden, crochet, write, teach sociology, and play Animal Crossing. Most importantly, I love y'all. I want every child (or young person if you feel like you're not a child anymore) to have access to all the resources, care, and education they need to succeed, whatever that looks like for each student. I also want you to know that you are more than your potential success and the ways this city and the world have failed you. You--right now--are valuable and worthy and have good to share with the world.
Natalie Vowell
In 2010 I became the Development Director for nonprofit WITS Inc., recycling unwanted electronics, providing more than 1,000 free computers to North City families in need, and training SLPS interns to rebuild machines. In 2013, I founded Project Raise The Roof, an organization that helps stop the seizure of owner-occupied homes at City Sheriff’s auctions and keeps houses on the tax rolls—generating school funding and preventing vacant properties. I’ve helped more than 80 northside citizens retain their family homes. I served as a 2016 and 2020 Democratic National Convention delegate, and I’ve registered over 200 high school seniors to vote. St. Louis’ future depends on equipping our kids to become innovators and community activists.
Matt Davis
I am a parent of a 5th grader and a 3rd grader, one attends a magnet school and one attends a neighborhood school. I volunteer in both of my children's schools. My most favorite volunteer projects were coordinating the donation of a gaga pit and this year coordinating a socially distanced drive-through trunk or treat. I've also been a volunteer soccer coach with both the YMCA and SLPS and always brought donuts to early morning games. I also try to never miss an opportunity to chaperone a field trip.
Daffney Moore
I want young people to know that I will fight for them to have a voice in the district and community. I want to create a youth advisory council to work with the board to address student concerns. My educational, teaching background and proven track record of getting things developed and implemented can positively impact SLPS. The school board should set the direction of our schools, advance policy, and build community relationships. I am confident that my distinct blend of knowledge, leadership skills, and healthy relationships in the community can help young people thrive.
I continuously strive to "open doors" for the disenfranchised and underrepresented communities through volunteerism and advocacy.
Antionette Cousins
Young people should know that I love my city and everything about it! The good, the bad, and the ugly. I am a St. Louis Native and I am proud to have been a product of the city. When I was young, I learned that St. Louis was special and as a result, I am special and that is exactly what youth today should know about themselves because the youth are our future. I am running to be a member of the school board so that the district is better prepared to support and arm them on all levels!
Alisha Sonnier
It wasn’t that long ago that I was a high school student, I’ve not yet had my ten year graduation reunion and I am actually still a college student working toward my second degree. I will be using my recent experiences and knowledge as a student to center students and act in their best interests at all times. Our young people deserve the absolute best, I am 100% committed to seeing that that is the standards of SLPS.