Like every school district, the Mehlville School District has been challenged how to safely educate its students during the COVID-19 pandemic, including handling substitute teacher shortages and increasing sanitization around the district’s facilities.
At the Dec. 17 Board of Education meeting prior to the start of winter break, Superintendent Chris Gaines and other administrators provided updates to the board about mitigating the spread of the virus in schools, as well as continued challenges from the pandemic.
Ionization systems installed in district facilities
In September, the board, on the recommendation of Gaines, approved $200,000 to buy and install ionization systems on HVAC units in the district’s facilities to improve air quality. Installations were completed during winter recess, before in-person expansion.
A student wore a Confederate flag mask to Oakville High School Tuesday that apparently went either unnoticed or unreported by teachers for two 90-minute classes, upsetting students who reported the mask to their parents.
The male student wore a mask with a prominent Confederate flag on it Tuesday, the first day back in classes for Mehlville School District students since November. As part of coming back to class under the blended/hybrid model in which half the students switch days attending in person, St. Louis County regulations require all students to wear face masks, as they have since the beginning of the year. If students do not have face masks, the district will provide one.
Upgrades at Beasley Elementary School, 3131 Koch Road, include a secure entry vestibule, four restroom fixtures to bring it into ADA compliance, outdoor lighting, additional restrooms, additional parking, roof work, HVAC work and widening the entry road to the school.
The COPs were issued from Proposition P, a 49-cent ballot measure approved by voters in 2000 that was aimed at facilities but was an operational tax-rate increase. Today, the district levies about 45 cents from Prop P and, with the COPs being slated to be paid off, the 45 cents can be used for operations or facilities without increasing the current tax rate.
With Prop S, the district will ask voters to funnel 12 cents of the 45-cent levy into a $35 million facility investment. The district will transfer the remaining 33 cents toward operations.
Other priority projects identified include $7.3 million in HVAC upgrades, $5.6 million in “other,” $2.8 million in restrooms, $2.7 million in roofing, $1.9 million in ADA compliance, $900,000 in parking upgrades and $2.2 million in contingency funds for projects awaiting estimates.
An additional $5.5 million from the Proposition R, Proposition A and Capital 410 funds will also be used.
Below is a list of needs identified at each of the district’s facilities toured by the Facilities Steering Committee:
• Beasley Elementary School, 3131 Koch Road Secure entry vestibule, four restroom fixtures to bring it into ADA compliance, outdoor lighting, additional restrooms, additional parking, roof work, HVAC work and widening the entry road to the school.
The next five years of the Mehlville School District’s strategic plan will largely be driven by facilities, safety and personalization.
The district spent the 2019-2020 school year gathering feedback from parents, students and the community about what they want to see from their school district. Two themes rose to the top: student safety and personalization.
The four listening sessions of the “Mehlville Listens” engagement process each centered around a particular aspect of schooling and the district. Mehlville also used online surveys called Thought-exchanges to gather more feedback.
The strategic plan was first discussed in fall 2014, before the board formally adopted it in 2015, just before Superintendent Chris Gaines came to Mehlville. Set to be renewed in five-year intervals, the current strategic plan is built around the elements of student preparation, teacher support and being effective and efficient.