ARNOLD, Mo. – Meriah Smith’s 11-year-old daughter is about to start middle school in the FOX C-6 School District. But Smith says getting to and from school is a problem. She lives in a spot with no school bus to start the new school year.
“They sent us an e-mail that they would provide after-school care before and after for an hour. School ends at 2:05. That would end the after-school care at 3:05, which I find ridiculous and unreasonable,” Smith said.
That does not fit into a parent’s typical 9-to-5 schedule.
“We are down 8-10 bus drivers at this point,” Superintendent Dr. Paul Fregeau said.
Fregeau says more kids could get a bus route as the school year progresses.
“In mid-September, we added 29 more kids to the buses. We look at them weekly,” he said, referencing last year.
But the after-school care for middle schoolers is a different story.
Right now, the district spends more than $1.5 million to provide care for elementary students up until 6:15 p.m. But for a district that has been tightening its belt, there is no current plan to extend those hours to middle schoolers.
“Reach out to the building principal and discuss those individual needs with the principal to see if we can address the help and support them the way they need,” Fregeau said.
Going into the last school year, the district cut $5 million in personnel costs. Then, it asked voters for a tax increase in 2023 to help avoid more budget cuts. Voters said no.
Smith is frustrated because, at a board meeting earlier this year, the district approved a new pay scale for exempt employees: assistant superintendents, principals, directors, and others. These are some of the district’s highest-paid positions. These employees will get a 2.4% annual raise. Some are getting more than that this year just to bump them up to the lowest level on the new pay scale. Fregeau is not on this scale, but he also got a raise. He makes about $230,000. He says this is not a money issue.
“We have money allocated to have enough bus drivers. It’s a staffing issue,” Fregeau said.
Until that is resolved, Smith says she will cut some hours at work to make sure her daughter gets to and from school safely.
“I think that it’s completely unfair, unreasonable and unsafe for a school district who claims to be about a kid’s education, safety, and well-being to expect them to just walk at such a young age that amount of distance, completely unsupervised, and there is just nothing we can do about it,” she said.
The first day of school for the Fox C-6 district is on August 20.
