By BRENT MARTIN
St. Joseph Post
The final of a two-part series
St. Joseph schools face an uncertain future, but the incoming superintendent believes the district has learned from its big loss at the polls.
St. Joseph voters one year ago soundly rejected a $107 million bond issue touted as restructuring the St. Joseph School District, reducing it from three to two high schools.
Assistant Superintendent of Business and Operations, Gabe Edgar, believes the campaign took a wrong turn when it announced its intention to convert the American Family Insurance regional headquarters into a high school.
“And I just think that a lot of those changes created a lot of animosity amongst the community,” Edgar tells KFEQ/St. Joseph Post during an in-studio interview. “And so, I think it’s very important as we head into the future, whether it be a bond issue, whether it be a levy increase, we just have to be transparent with the community. We have to make sure that we stay proactive and we have to make sure we have a plan.”
This is the final of our two-part series with Edgar.
The school district proposed using the money from the bond proposal to convert Benton High School and Lafayette High School into middle schools. It would eliminate the current three high school system with two high schools, a refurbished Central High School to go along with the converted American Family Insurance building across from the Missouri Western State University campus.
The proposal didn’t go over well with voters.
Not only did voters reject the bond issue, they booted out the three incumbent school board members on the ballot, instead voting for three fresh faces, including one who opposed the plan and opposed it loudly.
Edgar, who takes over as superintendent July 1st, insists the American Family conversion wasn’t a bad idea, but admits that coming in the middle of the campaign, it became unsettling.
Edgar says the district needs to listen to St. Joseph residents in wake of the defeat.
“I don’t know if they want three high schools, but we have to think about how we can offer a good education to kids with three high schools,” according to Edgar. “They want every option. They want every option presented.”
The loss gave birth to the Vision Forward program to develop a long-range plan for the district that reflects the community’s priorities.
“I think maybe it was time for us as a district, because of the sound defeat, to take a step back and say, okay, where are we?” Edgar says. “And, hopefully, Vision Forward can define exactly where we’re at.”
Edgar says the Vision Forward program is designed to solicit community feedback. The program has put a group of community members together to develop a long-range plan to chart the future of the St. Joseph School District.
Edgar says making a levy subject to a sunset clause is a step toward regaining trust.
“It’s not good to live with a sunset on your levy, but you know what, if that’s what the community wants and that’s how it’s going to pass, then that’s what we need to do and then we have to continue to make strides and steps forward to gaining that trust back,” Edgar says.
St. Joseph school officials not only face overcoming the huge defeat at the polls last year, they must overcome lingering mistrust in wake of the financial scandal that tore the district apart and sent former St. Joseph School Superintendent Dan Colgan to federal prison for a year in late 2016.
We asked Edgar if the St. Joseph School District lives in the shadow of that financial scandal.
“I don’t know that the district lives in the shadow, but I think a lot of people in the community live in the shadow,” Edgar says, adding he issued a challenge for the district staff to make a difference when the school board announced his promotion for a reason. “That’s what we’re here to do. We’re here to make a difference in kid’s lives and that’s it. But we can’t win without the community. So, one thing that I would say is that just give us a chance.”
Edgar says he is optimistic about the future of the St. Joseph School District, because he believes the district can make that difference in the lives of its students.