By Tom Weber, KWMU
St. Louis, MO – The St. Louis school board will consider censuring of one of its members today.
Vince Schoemehl recently compared upset parents at a board meeting to Nazis. He later apologized for the comment, but a special meeting will be held this afternoon at 4:30. The meeting is at the district's Administration Building at 801 N. 11th Street.
Schoemehl is also St. Louis's former mayor. He lost a bid for governor in 1992.
The Censure would read:
Whereas, this Board of Education wishes to repudiate as offensive and inflammatory a series of statements mady by Vincent C. Schoemehl, Jr., while representing the Board of Education at a meeting with the St. Louis Post-Dispatch;
Whereas, the inflammatory character of the statements by Board member Vincent C. Schoemehl, Jr., have made the crucial tasks facing this Board of Education more difficult to accomplish;
Whereas, these statements by Board member Vincent C. Schoemehl, Jr., unless contradicted by this Board, may serve to discourage members of the community from exercising their right and privilege to comment on the actions of the Board of Education and thereby deprive the Board of a source of guidance;
Whereas, Vincent C. Schoemehl, Jr.'s, conduct in this matter is unacceptable for a member of this Board of Education and encourages like responses from others;
Whereas, this Board of Education wants the community to know that all of its members will be held to highest standards of conduct, and that an apology alone, however well-intentioned, does not alone repair the damages;
Whereas, this formal censure is the most severe action this Board of Education may take under the law;
Whereas, Vincent C. Schoemehl, Jr., fully deserves censure for his conduct in this matter;
NOW BE IT THEREFORE RESOLVED THAT:
The Board of Education does hereby censure Vincent C. Schoemehl, Jr., and does condemn his conduct in the stongest terms; and
Be it further resolved that this Board of Education welcomes the involvement of the community; and
BE IT FINALLY RESOLVED THAT:
This Board of Education now moves on to other matters of significance to our students and staff, to recomcile differences between members of the Board of Education nad the wider St. Louis community, and to work together for the benefit of the children of St. Louis.