“No, Rocco, don’t do it!”
Rocco, a small, blond-haired Shih Tzu, Yorkie and Pomeranian mix, excitedly ran around Sybill Naidoo’s home in Benton Park early Monday morning on the first day of classes in St. Louis Public Schools.
Sybill Naidoo and her kids chased him around and ordered him to sit still while everyone finished getting ready for school. Rocco obeyed and sat on his “quiet time” mat as Naidoo ordered him.
Then he barked a few more times in defiance.
“He knows to be still and stay there when he’s on his pad,” Naidoo said as she waited for her daughter, Rani, a sixth grader at McKinley Classical Leadership Academy, to finish brushing her teeth before heading out to school.
Monday marked the first day of school, and it’s been a hectic time for district officials, as well, who have been working overtime to put out fires concerning how students will get to and from school, hiring issues and financial questions about the district’s projected budget.
None of the concerns that have unfolded in recent weeks and months has had a significant impact on her family, but Sybill Naidoo said she’s paying attention.
“It is concerning what has happened after many years of everything being status quo with no issues,” Naidoo said. And regarding the district’s hiring decisions and projected $35 million deficit for the 2024-25 school year, Naidoo said she has questions.
“It would still be good to know where some of that spending has gone,” Naidoo said. “It looks like there have been a lot of hires from out of town, and that is disheartening when there (are) a lot of people in St. Louis that I think are probably qualified for a lot of these positions.”
She plans to drive her kids to school each morning, and they’ll mostly walk home afterward, she said.
Her daughter, Rani, said she’s looking forward to participating in "The Nutcracker" at school this year. Her brother Rajan, a 10th grader at McKinley, said he’s on the wrestling team at school and is looking forward to that season beginning. Their other sibling, Anjay, an eighth grader at McKinley, said he’s looking forward to joining the volleyball team.
Naidoo held a small, apple-shaped chalkboard on which she wrote each child’s age. It’s been a longstanding tradition that they take a photo with the apple on the first day of school each year, she said.
“We’ve had this apple since they were little, and they’re still willing to get their picture with it,” Naidoo said through laughs.
It was a five-to-seven-minute drive to McKinley on Monday morning in Naidoo’s seven-seat Ford Expedition. Before arriving, she chatted with her kids, double-checking to make sure they knew where to go and where their first classes were.
Upon arrival, she wished them well as they left the vehicle and headed inside the school building.
“This is amazing for the first day,” Naidoo said. “Traffic is not too bad. … Have a good day, bye, I love you!”
“Bye, love you,” each of the three Naidoo kids said in response.
‘We’re here for the learning’
Last week at a Board of Education meeting, the district’s transportation leaders shared plans to place kids in taxis with decals and identifier numbers, as well as the addition of over a dozen buses from First Student.
But over the weekend, the district said it had lost six buses provided by Xtra Care Services, impacting about 1,000 students across the district.
“We had to rebuild the system from scratch, and so today we got to really see it in action and really start figuring out what works really well and what are the things we can improve upon,” said George Sells, SLPS spokesman.
He said in light of the most recent transportation disruption, the district was able to provide gas cards to the families that were impacted.
“In the meantime, our vendors are working really hard to try to find other options and more drivers,” Sells said. “Not only have we rebuilt this system, (but) that national driver shortage that we’ve been talking about since COVID has not gone away. And we’re not the only district facing challenges of getting students to school. Nobody comes into something like this planning on anything other than succeeding, so when they don’t they’re going to keep working at it so we can get everything up to speed.”
Sells doubled down on the fact that all elementary schools in the district would be offering before- and after-care on the first day of school. Some parents in the district expressed concerns that the district might have expectations that can’t be implemented by the first day of school.
LaTisha Smith, deputy chief of Student Support Services, said last week there are 46% more before-care spots available this school year compared to last year, and 15% more for aftercare. The programs cost the district $2.6 million.
Sells said the change can be confusing.
“It’s not always been that way, and that might be where some of the confusion is, but we’re excited about it,” Sells said. “A lot of times we used to start it after Labor Day. New programs have fewer slots, but every school will have before- and after-care today.”
Although SLPS planned for before- and after-care to begin district-wide on the first day of school, district officials said parents should contact their school directly for current information about the availability of those programs.
Some teachers are having a rough start to the school year.
At the school board meeting last week, Roosevelt High School Art Teacher Sara Haag shed tears during public comment and shared that she was forced to move her classroom at the last minute to make room for other students who had to be moved to Roosevelt. She said students from the Nahed Chapman New American Academy were being moved to the third floor of the building, which is where her classroom is. NCNAA is a public school program in St. Louis that serves immigrant and refugee students who have limited English proficiency.
Haag read an email she said she sent to acting Superintendent Millicent Borishade at the meeting, asking for help.
“We are happy to welcome them back into the building and our classes, but our concern is that a relocation of art classrooms will result in facilities that won’t serve art students, such as sinks, storage, work tables and light. … I’m requesting that running water, storage and art spaces be provided.”
Haag said last week she and other teachers had to move their classrooms without a working elevator in the building.
Sells said they are doing their best to focus on education, despite the hiccups.
“We’ve got nearly 4,000 teachers and staff that have been doing the same thing every single year to be ready to bring these students in here with open arms,” Sells said. “We’re here for the teaching, we’re here for the learning, and we can’t wait to get going with that.”
SLPS Acting Superintendent Millicent Borishade said attendance across the district on Monday was 72% of the projected enrollment, the same as the start of last school year. Borishade said she agrees with parents who believe transportation should be better. District officials said some rideshare transportation contracted by the district never showed up on Monday and others were late.
Borishade commended parents for working together and carpooling to get kids to school.
"We either win or we learn, and right now we're learning a lot," Borishade said.
