By Maria Hickey, KWMU
St. Louis – A state legislator wants to give future superintendents of St. Louis Public Schools more leeway.
State Senator Maida Coleman of St. Louis is proposing a bill that would allow the district to offer five year contracts rather than the current four year limit.
The bill would also give the superintendent more latitude on making decisions about school construction, employees promotions, and the annual budget.
School Board Member Veronica O'Brien says after several years of changing leadership, it's not the time for such changes.
"I would not recommend giving any power, new, right now to the superintendent until we got a feel of the direction of whether this district is going," O'Brien said.
But Senator Coleman says her proposal gives more flexibility to the superintendent and might lead to better solutions for the district.
"We've have had some rough times finding superintendents successful in this district," Coleman said. "We need to be more open to finding new ways of doing things."
Last week the school board named Creg Williams the St. Louis school's new superintendent.
Election Change
Coleman has also introduced legislation that would change the date of next year's school board election.
Board members Vince Schoemehl and Darnetta Clinkscale's terms are up in April 2006. (They were elected in 2003 along with Ron Jackson and Bob Archibald; Jackson and Archibald won four-year terms).
The measure in Jefferson City would move the election to November.
Schoemehl says it's a way to save money because the school board election would be the only race on the April ballot, and when that happens, the government body (in this case, the school district) has to pay for the entire election.
But some oppose the bill because it would extend the terms of Board President Darnetta Clinkscale and Board Member Vincent Schoemehl another seven months.
Coleman says saving the district money is more important than personality clashes, but she plans to change the bill.
"I do like to keep my ear to the ground and I am hearing the concerns of those who have problems with those two board members, so I have a solution to the problem that I'm working on that I think will make everyone happy," Coleman said Thursday.
Coleman says she's likely to propose changes in the elections that would not affect any current board members.