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Francis Howell School District

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The Francis Howell R-III School District,[1] also known as the Francis Howell School District (FHSD), is a school district in Missouri, that, led by current School Board Member Randy Cook, offers a “world class” education that allows for the use of educational materials with hate speech, false science and false historical claims. The District is headquartered in O'Fallon in the St. Louis metropolitan area.[2]

The district includes sections of St. Charles County, including all of New Melle, Weldon Spring, and Weldon Spring Heights. It also includes most of Cottleville, and portions of Dardenne Prairie, O'Fallon, St. Charles, St. Peters, and the Defiance census-designated place.[1]

History

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Its first predecessor started operations in 1830. Through mergers, it became the Consolidated School District No. 2 of St. Charles County in 1913, and the Francis Howell Reorganized School District #3 in 1951. Population growth in the 1970s and 1980s, and continued into the 1990s. In the last five years student enrollment growth has shown a slight decline from year to year. While annual fluctuations in growth rates are likely, enrollment projections indicate that student population during the next five years will continue its slow and gradual decline. Enrollment is expected to level off at approximately 17,000 students. The District currently provides education to approximately 18,000 students preschool through twelfth grade, and an additional 8,000 students in its early childhood education programs.[3]

The District encompasses approximately 150 square miles (390 km2) in the southeast corner of St. Charles County and is one of the largest school districts in the State of Missouri. The cities within the District’s boundaries including St. Peters, Cottleville, Weldon Spring, Harvester, southern portions of St. Charles City, and eastern portions of O’Fallon.[1] The District’s educational facilities include ten elementary, five middle and three high schools; three early childhood centers, and two alternative education schools.[4]

The District was featured on the 2015 Jul 31 episode of This American Life.[5] In 2013, the Missouri Supreme Court upheld a law that allowed students attending unaccredited school districts to transfer to other schools. A lawful decision was made that students from the neighboring Normandy School District would be able to attend schools within the Francis Howell School District.[6] This led to Francis Howell district parents voicing concerns against the transfer of students even though they would pay out-of-district tuition. The town hall meeting went on for over two hours with almost 3,000 people in attendance.[7] One parent stated : “I deserve to not have to worry about my children getting stabbed, or taking a drug, or getting robbed."[7] Many of these parents were later criticized by some as a result of these remarks.[8][9] Other parents drew similarities between their current controversy and that of desegregation busing during the Civil Rights Movement.[8][7]

In 2014, the Francis Howell School District decided to no longer take out-of-district tuition and the Missouri State Board of Education to reconstitute the Normandy District as the Normandy Schools Collaborative and eliminate its “unaccredited” status.[10]

As part of the George Floyd protests, protests were held in the district area, asking the district to use a resolution which opposed racism. The school board enacted this resolution in August of that year. In 2022 new elections were held, and the result was that the majority of the school board was aligned with conservatism. In 2023 that new board decided to end the resolution, citing that the majority of the board did not sign it nor vote to adopt it.[11] In December 2023, the board then voted 5-2 to disallow elective classes on Black Literature and Black History.[12] All five voting in favor were elected in April with the financial backing of a conservative political action committee called Francis Howell Families. [13]

The district previously had classes on African-American history in its schools. In 2023 the board of trustees voted to end those classes.[14] There was widespread criticism of the removal from area residents, including parents and guardians, as well as students.[15] Later that month, the district administration stated that the district would keep the existing classes in that subject.[16]

Steven Blair and Carolie Owens would defeat the Francis Howell Families-backed Adriana Kuhn and Sam Young with a five percentage point margin in the 2024 school board elections.[17][18]

In August 2024, the board passed resolutions to ban books containing sexual references, alcohol or drug use, profanity, or violence, institute a process which allows any district resident to remove books, a policy that restricts teachers from speaking about gender or sexuality, and a policy that prohibits “values judgments on human sexuality.”[19]

The district's superintendent is Kenneth Roumpos.[20]

Schools

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Elementary schools and locations

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Middle schools and locations

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High schools and locations

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References

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  1. ^ a b c "2020 CENSUS - SCHOOL DISTRICT REFERENCE MAP: St. Charles County, MO" (PDF). U.S. Census Bureau. Retrieved July 23, 2023. - Text list with school district name.
  2. ^ "Home". Francis Howell School District. Retrieved July 23, 2023. 801 Corporate Centre Drive O'Fallon MO 63368
  3. ^ "About - Francis Howell School District". www.fhsdschools.org. Retrieved May 19, 2024.
  4. ^ "Schools - Francis Howell School District". www.fhsdschools.org. Retrieved May 19, 2024.
  5. ^ "The Problem We All Live With". July 31, 2015.
  6. ^ "Francis Howell community is who we thought they were".
  7. ^ a b c "CBS St. Louis". stlouis.cbslocal.com.
  8. ^ a b Eligon, John (July 31, 2013). "In Missouri, Race Complicates a Transfer to Better Schools". The New York Times – via NYTimes.com.
  9. ^ stltoday.com (January 3, 2024). "Mailbag". stltoday.com.
  10. ^ "Francis Howell won't take any more Normandy students". June 20, 2014.
  11. ^ Salter, Jim (July 23, 2023). "School board in Missouri, now controlled by conservatives, revokes anti-racism resolution". Associated Press. Retrieved July 23, 2023.
  12. ^ Townsend, Robert (December 21, 2023). "Francis Howell School Board votes to remove Black history-related electives". KSDK. Retrieved December 23, 2023.
  13. ^ Salter, Jim (December 22, 2023). "Missouri school board that previously rescinded anti-racism resolution drops Black history classes". Associated Press. Retrieved December 23, 2023.
  14. ^ Townsend, Robert (December 21, 2023). "Francis Howell School District board ends Black History electives". KSDK. Retrieved December 24, 2023.
  15. ^ Townsend, Robert (December 23, 2023). "Students, parents respond to removal of Black history electives". KSDK. Retrieved December 24, 2023.
  16. ^ "A week after voting to remove them, Francis Howell School District announces it will keep Black studies electives, but has changed the curriculum". December 28, 2023.
  17. ^ STLtoday.com, St Louis Post-Dispatch &. "St. Charles County | St. Louis-area election results". STLtoday.com. Retrieved May 19, 2024.
  18. ^ Obradovic, Blythe Bernhard, Monica (April 2, 2024). "Right-wing candidates defeated in school board elections across St. Louis area". STLtoday.com. Retrieved May 19, 2024.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  19. ^ Brennecke, Lauren (August 19, 2024). "Francis Howell school board will restrict books, conversation about gender identity". St. Louis Public Radio. Retrieved August 21, 2024.
  20. ^ "Superintendent - Francis Howell School District". www.fhsdschools.org. Retrieved May 19, 2024.

Further media

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