The Queen City Watchdog - Public Page

11/28/2024

Happy Thanksgiving. Enjoy the little blessing we all have to be thankful for.

11/20/2024

Over 140 MORE jobs cut from SPS.

Meanwhile in the last 2 years we have spent over $86,000 on a new logo that could have been made by a high-school student in a competition and saved the district money.

In a 4/3 board split vote millions were wasted in chrome books because that's what the board said the teacher wanted and that it was going to help improveour district, which is still hard to believe.

Not 1 administration job was cut, not one administrative personal recieved a pay or benefit cut. And the superintendent can try and pass the blame all she likes while making over $330K a year. This isn't a Jefferson City issue this is a poor leadership issue.

11/20/2024

Public Comment on Nov 19th regarding 10.5 million dollars in staffing cuts.

11/17/2024

We wonder if any of the top heavy unnecessary administration positions that were added under current superintendent will be cut? Can't wait until Monday

11/15/2024

School board and city council elections are coming in April. Candidates are collecting signatures currently.

Currently only 3 people have picked up packets for school board.

- Current board member Kelly Bryne

- Gail Smart, wife of former MSU president.
Cliff Smart

- Sarah Hough ex-wife of current Missouri State Senator

10/23/2024

10/01/2024

Please sign this if you can and support our Para staff. Show the teachers we care.

Attention all SPS constituents and community members: As you may remember, two years ago SPS removed the option of annualized pay from our non-salaried 9-month employees (paras, library clericals, interpreters, behavior techs, nutrition service employees, school resource officers, administrative assistants, braille transcribers, classroom LPNs, etc). This practice allowed for consistent pay throughout the year which is vital to any household.

At that time, many promises were made by the district to support these employees by offering opportunities to supplement their income during the summer months. Since then, the Explore session has been decreased to only four weeks (for those who are actually hired); and despite the district offering work for July-August, not all employees have been able to be placed. Additionally, and perhaps the most outrageous is the district does not provide payment for anything worked in July-August until September 15th. Those who try to seek employment outside of SPS cannot get hired for a commitment of only 4-6 weeks.

Additionally, a new federal law that is going into effect on January 1, 2025, will cause several of our currently salaried employees to become hourly like our Parent Educators, some of our nurses, therapists, therapy assistants, and possibly others. They will also be subject to the instability that non-annualized pay brings.

This past year SPS had 616 employees leave, a 135% increase from the year before. SPS continues to have vast amounts of unfilled openings for these positions, the impact of which can be felt by everyone in the buildings.

If you would be willing to support this effort, you will find the petition below that can be printed and shared as many times as needed! Once filled, please return it to the SNEA office located at 1525 W. Sunshine, Suite B or email it to us at [email protected]. We appreciate anyone willing to putting forth the effort on behalf of providing the best working environment for our staff and the best learning environment for our students!

09/16/2024

To everyone who is struggling there is hope. And to those who are in recovery know that you are loved. Recovery is a continuous journey and a daily fight.

08/23/2024

The Republic school district placed high school band director Ryan Henigman on leave early Thursday. He has since resigned.

08/23/2024

Stop by any Rapid Robert's Inc. with an empty tank and fill it up on Friday, August 30th, as they will be donating 10 cents of EVERY GALLON of gas sold that day to Springfield Public Schools, Springfield, MO.

08/14/2024

Looks like the News-Leader has confirmed what we reported last week about the new SPS logo.

In February, the school board approved a contract for $85,280 with Fieldtrip LLC to guide public engagement and marketing efforts for the new logo.