By K. Lavery, KWMU
St. Louis, Mo. – Friday the St. Louis Metropolitan Clergy Coalition marched through downtown St. Louis to urge public school parents to send their children to class on September 8.
The march came amidst threats by some to boycott the first day of school if the district does not meet certain demands. In recent weeks, the clergy coalition has been accused of impropriety in connection with a bid by a software company that the district ultimately rejected.
The Reverend Earl Nance, Jr. said the coalition was mistakenly named as a bidder on the proposal and he lashed out at those making the accusation.
"Just because a few people want to disagree with us and use the school board issue and these kids as pawns to get at us these are people that have never cared about the church, aren't members of churches, can't spell church. We're not worried about them; we're worried about what's right, and we'll stand on that," Nance said.
Historically, as many as 10,000 public school children have not shown up for the first day of class in St. Louis.