Press "Enter" to skip to content

Stenger calls for county council to wade into Normandy debate

Saint Louis, Mo. — Steve Stenger doesn’t appear to be avoiding the controversial topics. After coming out in favor of the new sales tax increase to fund transportation projects, Stenger weighed in on the state’s chaotic school transfer law.

Steve Stenger
Steve Stenger

Stenger — the Democratic county council member who hopes to unseat incumbent Charlie Dooley for St. Louis County Executive in the Aug. 5 primary — called on the State Board of Education to reverse a decision made last week which is now halting the transfer of hundreds of Normandy students. Stenger even suggested the county council allocate money from the Children’s Service Fund to the children attending Normandy.

Last week, the State Board of Education moved to waive Normandy’s accreditation status and dissolve the existing school district, effectively eliminating the legal obligation for schools like Francis Howell to accept Normandy transfers.

“I call on the state board to allow all the children to attend the schools they transferred to and the state should bear the cost,” Stenger says in the release.

The release also takes aim squarely at state board vice president and Dooley adviser, Mike Jones. Jones, a longtime St. Louis political operative, voted with the board last week to eliminate Normandy’s accreditation status. In the release, the Stenger campaign calls Jones “callously prophetic,” for stating there would be “casualties” of the state board’s decision.

Stenger’s barbs come just hours after the Dooley camp sent a release to reporters to “set the record straight” about ads from the Stenger camp which focus largely on the 3 FBI investigations of St. Louis County that took place during Dooley’s tenure.