ST. LOUIS 鈥 City leaders should use some of the Rams settlement money to fund community health and recreation centers at St. 亚洲无码 Public Schools, an effort that largely ended a decade ago, the district鈥檚 superintendent said Tuesday.
鈥淲hen I think about healing-centered schools and the opportunity to create safety and learning and healing through our community schools, I think about the opportunity to ensure that schools are places where our children are thriving,鈥 SLPS Superintendent Keisha Scarlett told the Board of Aldermen to discuss the options for the $250 million allotted to the city.
Tuesday鈥檚 hearing on child care affordability and pedestrian-friendly streets was the last in a series to discuss the five most popular suggestions for the settlement funds. Final decisions are expected to be made this fall.
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The top vote-getters in an online poll of ideas were replacing water mains, calming traffic and raising wages for city employees followed by subsidizing child care and creating a redevelopment fund.
Improving access to child care earned more than 8,000 votes, or fourth highest, and was the most favored idea for low-income residents, according to Cristina Garmendia, policy director to Aldermanic President Megan Green.
None of the five ideas still under consideration directly involve SLPS, which offers free preschool to city residents starting at age 3. Green asked district leaders about their capacity for serving infants and toddlers, pointing to the early child care initiatives that earned the most votes.
Toni Cousins, president of the SLPS board, said the district is 鈥渨anting to expand, willing to expand鈥 to ages 0 to 3, particularly through full-service community schools.
Community or full-service schools have been shown to boost academic achievement and attendance by providing children and families with 鈥渨raparound鈥 services that can include nutrition, housing, parenting classes and health care on nights and weekends.
About 60% of public schools across the country are considered to have a community model, offering additional services such as food assistance in their neighborhoods, according to the .
The district started full-service community schools in 1968 with a combination of SLPS and city funds. As many as 16 schools served as community recreation centers offering tutoring, dental care, and classes for kids and adults in music, art, fitness and more.
City residents used to receive catalogs in the mail listing all of the classes. At the program鈥檚 peak, about 123,000 residents participated in 930 programs and 330 special events at the centers annually. The program was gradually cut over the decades along with federal block grant dollars, which were funneled through the city.
The last 10 of the original community schools closed in 2014 after budget cuts under former Mayor Francis Slay, though the district continued a version of the program in four schools focusing more on students, staff and their families.
Scarlett鈥檚 pitch on Tuesday for expanding community schools comes just weeks after the aldermen unanimously approved a resolution that mistakenly commemorated the end of the program at four SLPS buildings.
The district did not reduce funding for the full-service program providing food pantries, laundry, clothing and other services at Walbridge Elementary, Yeatman-Liddell Middle and Vashon High School in north St. 亚洲无码 and Oak Hill Elementary in south city.
The confusion started when SLPS leaders said earlier this year that the four coordinators of the program were reassigned to help meet the district鈥檚 goal of placing a social worker in every school. The remaining social worker in each of the full-service schools will now run the programs with help from community organizations including the Little Bit Foundation.
Scarlett said the annual funding needed to rebuild the program and fully staff community schools would be $427,885 per school, and that the district could provide matching funds.
Scott Ogilvie, program manager of the city鈥檚 Complete Streets program, also discussed using the Rams settlement as matching funds for 鈥渓arger projects that are more impactful鈥 for transportation safety, including street narrowing and other traffic calming measures.
The next Board of Aldermen Committee of the Whole meeting will be held on Sept. 10, said Alderwoman Alisha Sonnier, committee chair.