Snow Day for Affton, Bayless Students Monday

The inclement weather has prompted several businesses around Affton and Shrewsbury to close early on Sunday. We'll update Monday closings as more information becomes available.

Sunday's spring snowstorm is prompting cancellations around Affton and Shrewsbury. The Affton School District and Bayless School District have cancelled classes for Monday due to inclement weather.  Lindbergh students are on spring break this week. The Shrewsbury City Center will be closed until 10 a.m. on Monday, according to their Facebook page.  The Affton License Office at 9503 Gravois Road will open at noon today due to the inclement weather. South County License Office, 27 Ronnie's Plaza, will open at noon. The Stork Lady Adult Resale event, 125 Kenrick Plz., which closed early on Sunday, will be open 3-7 p.m. All starred items are 50 percent off.  Patch will update this post as we hear about other closings. Please add closings you …

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Bayless Elementary Restructuring Under New Principal

The district will combine the adjacent Intermediate and Elementary buildings into a single school.

At their regular meeting Wednesday the Bayless School Board approved a plan to restructure the district's intermediate and elementary buildings into Bayless Elementary, now serving pre-K through grade 5. At the start of the school year, Bayless had an elementary school for pre-K through grade 2, an intermediate school for grades 3 through 6, and a junior high for grades 7 and 8. In March, however, the district voted to move 6th graders to the junior high building and recast the school as Bayless Middle School. Now the district has finished its restructuring, combining Bayless Intermediate and Elementary into a single elementary school. The district said the move would improve administration and professional development in the district, but…

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Bayless Preschool to Scale Back But Likely Survive

Rumors that the district might axe the preschool program drew a concerned crowd to Wednesday's meeting.

Despite rumors circulating through the district this week, the Bayless School Board said they would likely keep the district's preschool program for next school year, though with fewer students and a different pay scale. However the issue has been tabled until more information about the costs of the program could be gathered. Concerned parents and teachers crowded Wednesday evening's school board meeting after discussions in one of the district's budget reduction committees led some to worry that the board was on the verge of axing the program. "Cutting the preschool would be a huge disservice to the community," said Crisi Ly, one of Bayless's preschool teachers. Four Bayless mothers also addressed the board, throwing their support behind …

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Bayless Leaders Lay Out Financial Strategy

With taxy levy passed, incoming superintendent says next step is annual "right-sizing."

Although the passage of Proposition B has saved the Bayless School District from a worst-case scenario, further steps will need to be taken to shore up its finances in the face of declining enrollment and decreased state funding. That was the message delivered from the district’s incoming superintendent Ron Tucker to the Bayless Board of Education at its meeting Tuesday night. He estimated that the approximately $1.2 million raised by the tax levy spared the schools “drastic cuts” that could have eliminated more than 30 positions. The next step for the district is focusing on an annual strategy of what Tucker called “right-sizing” to ensure that the district is appropriately staffed and avoid the necessity of drastic cuts in the future…

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Bayless Sees Hope in Tax Levy Approval

The Prop B increase will bring much-needed funds to the cash-strapped district.

With a solid 58 percent of the vote, Bayless School District residents approved the 92 cent Proposition B tax increase, which the district promises will bring back busses and help stave off cuts to classroom programs. 948 people voted ‘yes,’ and 686 voted ‘no.’ “We are very, very thrilled that Prop B passed. We wanted to make sure that our parents and community members knew what the passage would mean for the education of our kids, but also if it didn’t pass what it would mean,” incoming superintendent and current assistant super Ron Tucker told Patch Tuesday night. Prop B’s passage will increase taxes in for Bayless residents to $4.22 and bring an estimated $1,288,000 into district coffers, to be realized for the 2012-2013 school year. “…

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Restaurant Inspections

See How Public Schools Scored on Health Inspections

Every week we roundup reports on how restaurants and other local institutions fair on county health inspections.

Patch examined inspection reports in Mehlville, Oakville and Affton from Mar. 1 until Mar. 15. Information has been compiled using publicly available data published to the website of the St. Louis County Health Department.  Restaurants are rated on a scale of A to C, with A being the best. Inspectors also give a score indicating the percentage of compliance with inspection standards. This week we noticed that a number of public schools were inspected in the last two weeks, so we brought those to you in one chunk. Unless otherwise noted, all inspections were conducted on a routine basis.  Affton Senior High School, 8309 Mackenzie Road Inspection date: Mar. 14 Grade: A (99) Comments: Missing ceiling tile in dry stockroom by office—replace …

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Turner v. Clayton Trial Over School Transfers Begins Monday

The case with wide implications for local school districts is expected to last three days.

The school-transfers case formerly known as Turner v. Clayton is scheduled to go to trial beginning Monday afternoon in St. Louis County Circuit Court. Judge David Lee Vincent III will begin hearing Gina Breitenfeld v. School District of Clayton in Division 9 starting at 1:30 p.m., the website of the School District of Clayton states. The trial is expected to run through Wednesday, though more proceedings could follow. At the heart of the case is whether suburban St. Louis County school districts such as Affton, Bayless and Lindbergh should be required to enroll students who request transfers from unaccredited St. Louis city schools. Officials representing Clayton schools argue that such a requirement would represent an unfunded mandate. …

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Bayless to Look for $1+ Million Cuts

Even if voters pass the Prop B tax increase, the district will still need to make significant cuts.

They call the three scenarios “the good, the bad and the ugly,” but all three will mean significant budget reductions next year for the Bayless School District. At Wednesday’s Bayless School Board meeting district officials discussed the cuts that would need to be made from the coming school year’s budget and the planned creation of budget reduction committees to find savings. The three scenarios discussed call for the district to reduce its budget deficit by $1 million, $1.25 million or $1.5 million respectively. The exact figure depends on the extent of cuts to state funding coming into the district, which in turn depends on action by the Missouri legislature. Also in play is the proposed 92 cent tax levy, which the district put on the …

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Bayless's Thieman Moving Up to Assistant Super

The director of student services has been with the district 16 years.

Bayless School District's top administration is preparing to reshuffle when current assistant superintendent Ron Tucker takes over for retiring superintendent Maureen Clancy-May next summer. In its latest announcement, Bayless has decided to promote director of student services Dawn Thieman, who works under Tucker, to assistant superintendent, starting June 30. Thieman has been with the district for 16 years, starting as an second grade teacher at Bayless Elementary. She later became a reading specialist at Bayless Intermediate, and then a coordinator for the english language learners program. In 2004, the district made Thieman its curriculum and federal programs coordinator. In 2011, she was given the director of student services job, one…

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Bayless Puts 92 Cent Levy on April 3 Ballot

Among other things, the district would use the funds to bring back bus service.

At a special workshop Saturday morning, the Bayless School Board voted to put a 92 cent tax levy on the April 3 ballot. If approved by voters the measure, likely called "Proposition B," would increase the district's total operating levy to a property tax of $4.22 per $100 of assessed home value, bringing in an total of $1,288,000, to be realized for the 2012-2013 school year. Teresa Lang, the Bayless's Chief Financial Officer, said passing the tax was critical to the district's financial future. "We would like to bring back students, and be able to retain them. We would like to be able to maintain the current operations of the district and to bring back busses. And it is important to be able to make up for revenue cuts projected at the …

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