Affton Schools to Elect New Board President, Hold Reception for New Super

The Affton Board of Education will be holding a special meeting at 7 p.m. on Tuesday at the Rogers Middle School library. At the meeting, the board will swear in its newly elected and re-elected members and elect new board officers.

Mike Alexander and Tom Bellavia were both re-elected last Tuesday. Joining them will be Susan Casaleggi, a newcomer to the board.

Current board president Ron Becher did not run for re-election this year. After filing for the election closed in January, he said at a school board meeting that he wanted to give others the chance to participate.

The board will elect the next board president, vice president, secretary and treasurer.

The district will also be holding a special reception later this month for Affton residents to meet the incoming district superintendent, Steve Brotherton. The event is from 2:30 p.m. to 6 p.m. on April 28 in the Afton High School commons.

Brotherton was chosen after an extensive search and interview process. The decision by the Affton Board of Education .

Brotherton is currently the principal of Affton's Mesnier Primary School, a post he's held since July of last year. He has also been a principal in the Mehlville School District and assistant superintendent of the Bayless School District. He holds a doctorate in educational leadership from Saint Louis University. He has two sons who graduated from Affton High School.

Since his appointment was announced, Brotherton has been working with the school board and with Interim Superintendent Ken Weissflug to prepare for the transition into his new job on July 1. Mesnier's part-time assistant principal Marcella Burkemper was made full-time for the remainder of the year to take some of Mesnier's administrative duties off Brotherton's plate during this transition time.

Weissflug said in December that he will stay on as assistant superintendent.