A lower COVID-19 transmission rate in the St. Louis region and declining case averages have paved the way for Mehlville School District students to attend class five days a week in person, and with more teachers vaccinated the district is looking forward to someday stopping masks.
Mehlville and Oakville high school students started attending class in person five days a week April 19, thanks to vaccinations and those lower transmission and positivity rates.
Despite delivering good news to the Board of Education Feb. 25 in both positivity rates and substitute teacher fill rates, Superintendent Chris Gaines cautioned that there are still quite a lot of unknowns. The district held a two-part vaccination drive in March and April for staff.
Traffic concerns dominated the questions at a town hall last week held about a proposed mixed-use redevelopment plan called “Tesson Ridge” at the 100-acre former MetLife campus in Concord.
The in-person April 29 town hall co-hosted by 6th District Councilman Ernie Trakas drew between 50 and 75 socially distanced attendees, which required an assembly permit from St. Louis County because of capacity restrictions due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
St. Charles-based developer Propper Construction Services is proposing a mixed-use development that would cover the entire 100 acres with two new subdivisions with more than 170 single-family homes, a 210-unit apartment building and nearly 8 acres of commercial development along Tesson Ferry Road, with walking trails and public spaces like a plaza and amphitheater.
The Mehlville School District could be receiving more money from its Proposition S bond issue than it had originally bargained for due to lower interest rates, giving the district a chancse to address even more facility needs. Proposition S was a 12-cent, $35 million bond issue that was overwhelmingly approved by voters in the district.
To the editor:
Strong school systems are paramount to a successful community. On April 6, voters overwhelmingly came out in support of the Mehlville School District: 80.1 percent approved Proposition S, which will make schools in our district safer and improve Americans with Disabilities Act accessibility for students and generations of students to come without raising the tax rate.
Voters believe in Mehlville School District and overwhelmingly understand the implications of a supportive vote. The district under the leadership of Superintendent Dr. Chris Gaines continues to work for our community. A culture of engagement and trust has provided our community understanding and assurance. Staff will provide regular reports to the school board on projects Prop S will fund.
History was made in the Mehlville School District April 6 when voters passed the first bond issue on the ballot in the district since the 1990s, Proposition S, with over 80 percent of the vote. Projects start this summer.
Proposition S for “Safe Schools, Safe Kids,” a 12-cent, no-tax-rate-increase $35 million bond issue, uses funds that have paid off 2000’s Proposition P lease for facilities upgrades and secure entry vestibules at all of Mehlville’s 18 schools. Mehlville had been the only school district in St. Louis County without a bond issue in several decades.
Prop S passed with 80.1 percent of the vote, well above the 57 percent it needed to pass.