Francis Howell school board could lose its conservative majority this spring

ST. CHARLES COUNTY — The Francis Howell School District, hit last week with back-to-back headline-grabbing events, could face even more change this spring.

Last Monday, Superintendent Kenneth Roumpos unexpectedly announced he was taking the top job at Kirkwood School District and would leave Francis Howell next school year.

Then, on Wednesday, a scathing state audit gave the district a rating of “poor” over the mishandling of projects funded by a voter-approved bond issue, among other issues.

Both the resignation and the audit have become fodder for April’s school board election, which could see conservatives lose their majority on the seven-member board.

The first two board members elected to the district’s school board on conservative slates will be up for reelection for the first time since they won seats in 2022.

One of the two, Vice President Randy Cook, is running for another three-year term. Board President Adam Bertrand has not refiled and said last week he’s still deciding whether to run.

Losses for Cook and Bertrand, or a like-minded candidate, would flip the board’s current five-person conservative majority.

Such a change would not be welcome for some. Francis Howell Families, a political action committee that supported five of the seven members on the board, has fought hard to stamp out any traces of so-called critical race theory in classrooms and limit discussions of sexual orientation or gender.

“The stakes couldn’t be higher as this election is a swing year,” Francis Howell Families wrote in a Facebook post about the state audit last week.

The conservative PAC also stressed the state audit largely focused on the inadequacies of a previous administration and board and a “new chapter began” with the election of Bertrand and Cook.

“Losing the majority means losing control over the progress we’ve made,” they wrote.

But after nearly three years of the Francis Howell board making national headlines for actions such as rescinding an anti-racism resolution and revising Black studies courses, others are renewing their calls for change. And the loss of Roumpos, a superintendent liked by both sides, has already become a flashpoint in the election, with some parents saying they believed the board and its politics “drove him off.”

Roumpos, a former deputy superintendent before he accepted the top job in July 2022, previously told the Post-Dispatch his departure had nothing to do with Francis Howell’s board.

Francis Howell Families declined to comment on the election or Roumpos’ departure.

Members of Francis Howell Forward, a political action committee focused on equity and inclusion, said they were disappointed.

“This is yet another reason that if Francis Howell is going to remain a destination district, we need to get back to education and leave the culture wars behind,” the group said in a statement.

The candidates

All of the new board candidates say they want to leave the culture wars behind.

Ashley Sturm, 38, a district parent of three and marketing executive, said she wanted to “focus on the fundamentals.” Sturm, like Cook, has been endorsed by Francis Howell Families.

Some of her main goals, she said, are “smart spending,” transparency and repairing community divides. She’s active on social media recently, posting video explainers on the district’s finances and the results of a recent state audit into the district.

“The north star focus is making sure students are successful,” Sturm said in an interview. “Transparency and communication are my first steps to make sure the board and community can move forward in a productive way.”

Another candidate, Amy Gryder, 49, filed to organize a committee with the Missouri Ethics Commission in September and started speaking at board meetings in recent months. The board had become a “reality TV show,” she said during public comment in October, and Francis Howell “deserved better leadership.”

Gryder graduated from Francis Howell North High in 1994, and all three of her children have attended the district, with one still in middle school.

“One of the big pieces I’m focused on is healing divides and helping people come together,” Gryder said. “I feel like we have a real need for building trust between our admin, our teachers, our board and community,” Gryder said.

Both Gryder and Sarah Oelke, 48, have the endorsements of Francis Howell Forward. The PAC’s previous slate of candidates — Steven Blair and Carolie Owens — won seats on the board last spring during a St. Charles County-wide rebuke of right-wing candidates.

Oelke teaches English language arts in the Parkway School District and said she was critical of policies passed by the related to classroom and library materials.

There’s “a lot of overreach,” she said. She specifically pointed out two measures the board passed over the summer that she believed created “huge barriers” to what students can access in libraries.

“It just seems like the current board is pushing an agenda rather than making decisions that are best for the students,” Oelke said.

Replacing Roumpos

The current board wants to replace Roumpos by March, a month before the election.

During a Wednesday meeting, the board voted to hire search firm School Exec Connect to assist in the search for Roumpos’ replacement.

Bertrand said during the meeting that the March timeline was because the district also needs to hire a chief financial officer, and the future superintendent should be involved in that hire.

Filling superintendent positions has become increasingly difficult for school districts nationwide as a dwindling number of candidates are interested in the top spots.

Since April, eight St. Louis-area school system chiefs have either been ousted from their positions, retired or announced plans to move to other districts.

Districts including Fort Zumwalt, Parkway and now Kirkwood have found replacements for their retiring superintendents.

“We must do more to lift up our education experts and support the work they do,” said Owens, one of the two newest board members. “No one can live with criticism and turmoil day in and day out.”

Steven Blair, the other board member elected last April, said Roumpos had a “clear mind for running a complicated organization” and Francis Howell is better because of his leadership.

Blair said he’s unsure how Roumpos’ departure will affect April’s election.

“We’ll see what message emerges,” he said. “A lot of it depends on who gets hired and when.”