St. Joseph reacts to the school district scandal
June 1, 2015
By Sam Zeff
The only reason Missouri's St. Joseph School District didn't have the worst year of any district in the U.S. is because 11 educators in Atlanta were convicted of cheating on standardized tests to boost scores.
But make no mistake, the St. Joseph district has serious problems, and they're not yet close to being resolved.
As the school year comes to a close, one question weighs on the thoughts of residents: Is one of the largest school districts in Missouri any better off today than a year ago?
Many teachers, some board members and, most importantly, many taxpayers don't think so.
"I think they got a long way to go yet. I don’t think they’re going to have the public’s confidence back for a long time," says Jon Carr, whose three children all graduated from St. Joseph public schools.
Since August, the district has fired Superintendent Fred Czerwonka and Chief Operating Officer Rick Hartigan. The board demoted Human Resources Director Doug Flowers, and former superintendent Dan Colgan also resigned from the school board.
All of this followed a scathing state audit that uncovered the distribution of up to $40 million in unapproved stipends, nepotism, no-bid contracts and a pattern of Missouri Sunshine Law violations.
The FBI and a federal grand jury continue to investigate the district as fresh allegations of misconduct crop up.
Carr and his wife, Andrea, were in Bartlett Park on Memorial Day having a picnic with their six-year-old granddaughter. Like so many people, the Carrs are connected to some of the main players in the scandal-plagued district. They say they’ve known Hartigan, Colgan and Flowers for years.
Andrea Carr says they were the first to knock on doors when bond issues were on the ballot. "When they’d have their bonds come up or when they’d need money, we’d go out door-to-door. Please vote. Please vote. And then all that money. It just makes me mad. We lost some friends."
Carr retired a number of years ago and is now a part-time janitor in the district.
Across the park, Joanna Kernes was with her husband and five-year-old son. He goes to private school, but Kernes says she still wants St. Joseph schools to excel. "I don’t want the St. Joe education system to be a laughing stock. I don’t want us to be the one that people look at and say, don’t be like them."
She too believes that—despite all the turmoil, all the investigations and all the pain—not much has changed. "Getting better? I think it’s too soon to say. I think they needed to do some clean up. I think they turned a blind eye for way too long." Now that Czerwonka is gone, the district is in the middle of searching for an interim superintendent.
There is belief among many in St. Joseph that administrators for decades have worried more about their own pay than the kids they were educating.
"We have to get people in here that are here for the good of it not just for the money. They have to want to do it. They have to do it for the right reason," Kernes says.
The notion that administrators aren’t doing it for the right reason is widespread in town. There’s a sign above the cash register in the Hi Ho Bar and Grill just a few minutes from district headquarters in downtown. It reads: "No checks. No stipends."
The sign is clear—it refers to the now infamous $5,000 stipends handed out by Czerwonka to 54 administrators. These stipends are what cracked wide open the culture of corruption, exposing the district to the FBI probe and state audit.
Though the community is unimpressed with how the district has reacted to its scandals, the Missouri state auditor says St. Joseph is making progress. The audit that was released in February listed 17 deficiencies that had to be fixed.
"The St. Joseph School District has been cooperative and receptive to the recommendations made in the audit," says Missouri State Auditor Nicole Galloway (D). "I’m optimistic that the school district is implementing all of the recommendations, or at least is making steps towards that progress."
Galloway says her team will spend two days on the ground and issue a follow-up report in six to eight weeks.
Board of Education President Brad Haggard says the district has tackled its many issues head on. "I feel the district has made significant progress on many issues, from personnel changes at the highest level to organizational re-structuring," he said in an emailed statement.
Haggard says fixing the many problems will take time in a $120 million organization with 1,700 employees.
But time is not on the district's side. It's facing serious financial issues. The school board has declined to place the renewal of a 63-cent property tax levy on the ballot this year. That will cost the district $6.5 million. Add to that a $4 million deficit this year and $4.5 million in pay raises for teachers next year, and the district starts the new fiscal year $14 million in the hole.
Local National Education Association chapter President Todd Brockett says most of the school board still refuses to see just how bad things are. That includes not just the finances, but also employee morale and relations with patrons.
"You can drive your four-wheeler into a mud puddle if there's dry ground on the other side. We have no dry ground to drive on to," Brockett says.
The district has enough money in the bank to cover the deficit this year and next. But the district says that will take its reserves down to just $20 million by the end of next year, below what a district the size of St. Joseph often has in the bank.
The district is taking steps to save some money. Brockett confirms that at least 14 teaching positions will be eliminated next year, all through attrition. There's also talk of trimming the district’s maintenance department. That would save, district officials estimate, about $1 million.
While the school board has yet to decide when it will place the 63-cent levy on the ballot, it appears it won't be until next year. Board members hope the worst will have passed by then. But voters are dubious.
"As long as it looks to the public like some of the people that got us into the mess are still down there and still have some influence I think people will keep bringing it up," says Jon Carr.
Sam Zeff covers education for KCUR in Kansas City, Mo. He's won a National News Emmy for investigative reporting, four National Headliner Awards and four Edward R. Murrow awards. Zeff has managed newsrooms in Minneapolis, St. Louis and Kansas City. He was educated at the University of Kansas.
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