Two Days Added to the Brentwood School Year

The Brentwood School Board voted Tuesday to compensate for the recent snow days.

Brentwood students will now be in class until after Memorial Day. The Brentwood School Board decided in a meeting Tuesday to push the school year two days into the week following Memorial Day. That's the payback for Feb. 21 and 22 when school was canceled for snowy conditions. The Tuesday after Memorial Day will be a full day of instruction, and Wednesday will be the last half-day records day. The Friday before Memorial Day will be a full day of instruction. Graduation will stay the same, on Friday, May 24 at 7 p.m. See more school news on Patch:

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Brentwood Preschool Tuition Hike Approved

The school board approved the rate hike at its meeting on Tuesday.

Tuition was raised for the Brentwood Preschool for the coming year at the Brentwood School District board meeting on Monday. Superintendent David Faulkner said Preschool Director Nancy Stoverink recommended a 3 percent increase in tuition for 3 through 5-year-olds, and a 7 percent increase for 2-year-olds. "Two-year-olds have been a popular class, and they are the neediest of our children, so it’s expensive to run," Faulkner said. He said Stoverink has compared this to other districts, and found that Brentwood's rates are comparable, though not all the other districts have published their rates yet. The hike was approved unanimously.

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Voters to Consider Raising Brentwood Schools Tax Rate in April

The Brentwood School Board heard the report of a special committee Monday night, and took its advice.

The Brentwood School Board, at its Monday meeting, took the recommendation of a special committee, and approved a school tax levy to go before the voters in April. Approximately 20 interested residents came to the meeting to hear what the committee had to say, and to see what the board did with the information. “The last operating tax ceiling increase was 10 years ago, and at that time, that ceiling increase was expected to be sufficient four to six years,” Mike Slatin, speaking for the Budget Advisory Committee, said. He said the committee determined that now is the time to make needed investments in the school district. The measure, to be known as Proposition K, would raise the operating tax rate by 75 cents per $100 of assessed …

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Doug Miner

7:30 am on Wednesday, January 16, 2013

Thanks for your comment, Ed. Got it.   more ›

2 MRH School Board Terms to Expire, Current Members Will Run

Seats held by Brooke Rintoul and Nelson Mitten will be up for election in April 2013.

Two Maplewood Richmond Heights School Board seats are up for election in 2013, and the members holding those seats are running to keep them. Nelson Mitten has served on the board the past 15 years. "Despite the fact that the district has come this far, I still feel we have some work," Mitten said. "There are issues, especially in light of the success of the distrtict. We're having a growing student population, and we need to address that to make sure the school district contiues to improve. I'd like to be a part of that work." Brooke Rintoul, the current secretary of the board, is finishing her first term. She said she and her husband have two daughters who joined the district three years ago. "Our district has experienced a true …

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Two Brentwood School Board Terms Expire in 2013, Both Plan to Run Again

Chris Jones, the current president and Regina Gahr will run to maintain their seats.

The two Brentwood School Board members, Regina Gahr and Chris Jones, whose terms are expiring this year, are planning to run for another term. Gahr has served five terms over 15 years so far. She had served as vice president of the board until April 2011, when Katrina Harper moved into the role. "I actually really enjoy being on the board," Gahr said. "I feel like it is important for the seniors in Brentwood, the tax paying constituents who have no children in the school district, to have someone on the board who can speak for them. I feel like I fill that roll. I’m mainly more for the seniors, because I am one." Chris Jones is the current board president. He was elected president in 2011, replacing Keith Rabenberg. Jones has served three …

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Ed

2:33 pm on Thursday, November 29, 2012

Toowarm : This is an excellent opportuntiy to put your time and energy to good use.. why not run for a position on the school board instead of complaining? There is still plenty of time to file!   more ›

Drug Testing in Brentwood Schools? School Board Weighs In

A disagreement about how prevalent drugs are in Brentwood schools was highlighted during a Brentwood Board of Education discussion on Tuesday night.

Brentwood High School students who participate in extracurricular activities could soon be required to comply with randomized drug testing. The Brentwood Board of Education held a lengthy discussion about the possibility during a meeting on Tuesday in the Brentwood School District Conference Center. Board member Katrina Harper introduced the potential policy after reviewing similar policies in other school districts. “It’s pretty common knowledge that we have drugs in Brentwood,” Harper said. “That many of our students are using drugs, have been using drugs for a long time.” Superintendent Dr. Charles Penberthy introduced the topic with pitfalls to avoid. Federal law only allows schools to test students involved in extracurricular …

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Superintendent Says Local School District Control is Needed

About 80 parents and residents attended an informational meeting about "Turner v. Clayton" on Monday night.

Local control, specifically the ability to control the number of transfer students from unaccredited school districts, was the main message trumpeted at Monday’s informational meeting hosted by Dr. Charles Penberthy, superintendent of the Brentwood School District.   Penberthy called the community meeting to discuss the implications of the Jane Turner v. School District of Clayton decision by the Missouri Supreme Court that potentially could allow thousands of students from the unaccredited St. Louis City Public Schools to stream into Brentwood and other St. Louis County accredited school districts. The court case has since been sent to a lower court for further evaluation.   About 80 people attended the meeting at the district’s …

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Letters to the Editor

OPINION: Brentwood Schools Should Update Facilities Before Administrative Offices

A Brentwood resident shares a Letter to the Editor.

During a recent Brentwood Board of Education meeting, Superintendent Dr. Charles Penberthy said school facilities were designed 50-to-60-plus years ago and “our spaces don't fit the program needs." So the school board approved a plan to begin researching facility upgrades with a potential price tag of $15 million. Why did renovation and classroom upgrade needs not take precedence over the construction of new administrative offices and facilities in the Hanley Industrial Park? Voters passed a $6.78 million dollar bond in November 2008. A need for school building renovations existed and clearly did not take project precedence at that time. The needs of enrolled students and staff (teachers) were set aside. The payments on the 2008 bond are…

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Hembree Runs for Fourth Term on School Board

He is the current board secretary and serves on the school district's African-American Achievement Gap Committee.

As secretary for the Brentwood Board of Education, Joe Hembree signs his name on the diplomas of the 60 to 70 students who graduate from Brentwood High School each year. If re-elected in April, Hembree will have a unique opportunity: He could sign his son’s diploma and present it to him during commencement. “It’s not why I am running,” said Hembree. But it’s a nice perk, nonetheless. Hembree, 53, is seeking his fourth three-year term on the school board. For the past three years, he has served as secretary. He was treasurer before that. He didn’t seek public office. A neighbor, who was on the school board, approached Hembree and his wife about running. Both would be good candidates, he said. So the couple talked. “We still had kids in …

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Frustrated Williams Runs for School Board

Dan Williams said he would cut administrative salaries to fight declining revenues.

Dan Williams is a familiar face around Brentwood High School, where he occasionally gets paid for striping the fields and other odd jobs, but mostly works as a volunteer with the varsity and junior varsity Eagles football teams. He gets the teams' gear together and announces regular season games. The often outspoken 43-year-old is loyal to the causes he believes in. “'Semper fidelis'—always faithful—that’s what I am,” said Williams, one late winter morning at his house. “I fought for everyone to have freedom of speech and to vote.” Now the disabled Marine and Desert Storm veteran is asking Brentwood residents to cast their ballots for him: Williams is running for one of three, three-year terms on the Brentwood Board of Education.   “I …

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