On Thursday, May 13, a special school election will be held submitting to voters a 37-cent tax increase for the St. Louis public school system. If the proposal carries it will bring the operations school tax levy to $3.06, which plus the 17 cents required for debt reduction is still the lowest school tax in the metropolitan area.
If the proposal carries, the Board of Education plans to use the extra money to put back the services cut out last year, reduce the elementary teacher-pupil ratio to 31 pupils to one teacher, and return to normal maintenance of school buildings, which now average 50 years of age and must therefore have good maintenance if they are to be kept in service.
It is planned that if the levy carries the teacher-pupil ratio in kindergartens will be 25 to one and in high schools 27 to one. The proposed budget also provides for badly needed additional personnel: 12 new remedial teachers, 12 security guards, 6 social workers, 7 librarians and 5 counselors. The Board also hopes to make gains in Special Education by budgeting for 25 elementary teachers and 12 secondary teachers for slow learners.
Average salary raises of $430 for experienced teachers are included in the budget, while non-teaching employees would get cost-of-living increases of 6 to 8 per cent.
All of these plans are terribly important for Hamilton School, as is also the plan for continuing the community schools. It is hoped that everybody in our school district will turn out to vote. Only a simple majority is required.
Originally published in The Paper, May 1971.
Read this article in the original newspaper issue.
Original source: SD_Times1971_05.pdf, printed page 1.
