Affton School Board Challenger Quits Race

Thomas True's sister-in-law works for the district, and said his brother thought it might cause family conflict if he was on the board.

Thomas True, who filed to run for a seat on the Affton School Board on the first day of filing, two days later withdrew from the race, citing family reasons. True’s sister-in-law, Stephanie True, is an administrator with the district. “My brother thought that, with my sister-in-law working with the school district, it probably wouldn’t be a good thing for me to be running,” he said. True said he thinks his brother is mistaken, “but it’s better to have peace and harmony in the family.” He said his main concern was district test scores, and that they have been getting better. He said his sister-in-law’s work with the district has something to do with that. “She’s only been there a year and there’s already been improvement,” True said. He …

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Affton School Board Incumbents Have a Challenger

Thomas True was a St. George alderman for two years.

Update: On Dec. 13 Thomas True withdrew from the Affton School Board race, citing family reasons. He's not ruling out a future run. Thomas True, a 47-year-old pet photographer, is running against the two Affton School District Board incumbents for one of their seats. Current board president Michael McNeil and director Christopher D. Castellanos, whose terms expire in April 2013, have both filed to retain their seats. True said he is running because he saw some recent test scores of area school districts, and said Affton’s were lower than most around it. “I have a real desire to see the children in the Affton school district get the best quality education that we can offer them,” he said. He said he doesn’t have an agenda to make big …

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Doug Miner

5:54 pm on Thursday, December 13, 2012

Thomas True contacted Patch to say he is withdrawing from the race, citing family reasons.   more ›

Know Your Candidates

Know Your Affton Schools Candidates: Zahn

A look at two of the candidates running the remainder of a term on the Affton School Board.

Patch sought to provide a list of questions to the two candidates competing for the remainder of the term on the Affton School Board vacated last year by Mike Alexander: Patricia Zahn and Jason Harman. Unfortunately Harman did not return calls or emails, so we can only bring you questionnaire responses by Patricia Zahn. Here are Zahn’s answers. The election is Apr. 3. Name: Patricia Zahn Age: 44 Address: 7251 Marlton Lane Occupation: Educational /Nonprofit Administration Education: Masters in Public Policy, University of MO- St. Louis; Graduate Certificate - Nonprofit Management & Leadership, University of MO- St. Louis; Bachelor of Arts-  American Studies, St. Louis University Family: Husband Martin Zahn, son Adam (Affton High School …

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Know Your Candidates

Know to Vote! April 3 Local Election Guide

Find out what will be on your ballot on Tuesday.

Tuesday is election day, and voters will once again be going to the polls to make democracy happen. Polling places will be open from 6 a.m. until 7 p.m. Find your polling place by entering your address here. Here's Patch's guide to the races with links to our coverage of the candidates. TWO TAX INCREASES ON THE BALLOT Prop A: The Affton Fire Protection District has a $0.26 tax increase on the ballot to pay for adding an ambulance to their fleet and hiring six new EMTs to staff it. The district says its current single ambulance has been increasingly overtaxed by the new senior centers moving into the area. Prop B: Bayless School District is asking district residents to support a $0.92 cent tax increase to dig them out of their dire …

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Meet Affton Schools' New Early Childhood Director

Karin Fleming comes to Affton from the Mehlville ECE center.

At its March board meeting on Tuesday, Affton Schools Superintendent Steve Brotherton introduced the district's new director of early childhood education: Karin Fleming. Fleming was hired a week ago by Special School District to run the planned Affton Early Childhood Education Center, which opens this fall. Her position is basically the equivalent of a building principal for the center. "This is a great opportunity," Fleming told Patch. "It's wonderful to come to a district where everyone is excited about early childhood education." Fleming has spent the last ten years working with the Mehlville early childhood program. Before that she worked with First Steps, Missouri's early intervention program for infants and toddlers. She has a …

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Schools Oppose 'Everything Tax'; What's Your Say?

The Affton and Lindbergh School Boards recently passed a resolution opposing the proposed tax reform plan. Share your thoughts in our poll.

In this time dipping tax revenue and uncertain federal funding, school districts are taking a proactive approach to protecting their revenue streams. The Affton and Lindbergh School Districts have recently passed resolutions opposing the “everything tax” amendment and urging residents not to sign petitions putting the measure on the ballot. The “everything tax” proposal would amend the Missouri constitution to eliminate the state income tax and replace it with a 10 percent sales tax on nearly all purchases. “We believe the ‘Everything Tax’ would make Missouri’s already bad budget situation even worse,” the Affton School District said in their resolution. “We believe the reduction in state revenue caused by the ‘Everything Tax’ would likely…

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Ballot Set for April School Board Elections

Several new faces are stepping forward to run for local school boards.

Races for the April 3 local elections are under way. Filing closed Tuesday for the Affton, Bayless and Lindbergh school boards. In the Affton School District, the incumbants Doug Beck and Larry Knox have filed for their 3-year seats. No other candidates filed for the two 3-year positions, so they will retain their spots unopposed. There was also a 2-year term opened when Mike Alexander resigned from the board. The seat is currently occupied by Patricia Zahn, who was appointed to fill the seat until the election in July. Two candidates will vie for the 2-year term: At the Bayless School District, three candidates have filed for two 3-year terms. School board member Ed Tritschler chose not to file for relection. In the Lindbergh School …

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Affton ECE Tuition Set; Groundbreaking Dec. 6

The prices are on the cheap side compared to other districts' programs.

The Affton School Board has set an initial tuition model for the first year of the planned Affton Early Childhood Education Center, opening fall 2012. A slot in the five-day educational program will cost $625 per month, or $5,937.50 for the nine and a half month school year. Before care and after care will cost $70 and $90 per month, respectively. According to a school board memo on BoardDocs, the district will likely offer approximately 72 slots at the ECE.  Slots can be halved to accommodate part-time students, so the actual number of children served will likely be higher. The precise schedule for the new facility at 9832 Reavis Road, which will host both Affton and Special School District programs, will be largely determined by …

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Affton School Board Approves Union-Oriented Project Labor Agreement

The language of the agreement has yet to be finalized.

After a contentious public hearing, the Affton School District has approved a project labor agreement for the construction of its planned early childhood education center. Project labor agreements (PLAs) are typically used by governmental organizations to ensure that construction jobs are completed properly and without delays by requiring that all contractor employees comply with the terms of the union-only agreement. More than 50 people turned out at the September meeting to weigh in on the PLA. Opponents argued that contractors shouldn’t be excluded from bidding because they don’t pay dues to a labor union. Supporters said that PLAs help to ensure that large projects like the ECE are completed on time and within budget. Earlier this …

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Affton School Board Approves Small Tax Increase

However, district officials said whether this leads to in an increase on tax bills will depend on the results of this year’s property reassessment.

The Affton School Board voted to increase the amount the district levies in property tax this year at a meeting Tuesday night, but the move may not result in higher tax bills for district residents. The board set the tax rate at $5.2974 per $100 of assessed valuation for residential real estate, $5.6189 percent for commercial real estate and $5.5131 for personal property. This is an increase of about five percent in the residential and commercial categories from 2010, which were 5.0301 percent and 5.4401 percent, respectively. Personal property rates remain the same. The vote came after a public hearing preceding the school board meeting at Rogers Middle School Tuesday. The increase does not require a ballot vote by residents because the …

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