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Schools

Board of Ed Race Produces Six Candidates and Three Seats

April 5 voters decide who spends the tax dollars in Lindbergh schools.

Less than a month before school board elections April 5, six candidates for three seats sparred Thursday night during a Lindbergh School District Board of Education forum.

The six candidates, including two incumbents, are competing for three seats. One-term veterans Kathleen Kienstra of Grantwood Village and Donald Bee of Fenton are seeking three-year terms. 

Joseph Sartorius of Affton, Leslie Weiss of Concord, George Rezabek of Sunset Hills and of Concord are vying for seats as well.

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Englund is a weekly contributor to Patch.

Board President Kenneth Fey posed prepared questions over two hours that ranged from short-term controversies to long-term concerns about the Lindbergh schools.

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Kienstra, Bee, Englund and Sartorius are all graduates of Lindbergh High School.

Kienstra, an assistant professor at St. Louis University's Doisy College of Health Sciences, said her background in academia gives her the tools to help children prepare for higher education. She supported Proposition L, a tax increase, for Lindbergh schools passed by voters in November.

"Although we like lowering taxes in theory, things start getting cut back that we don't want cut back," Kienstra said. "That's why we passed Prop L."

Advocates of Prop L said it aimed at preventing teacher lay-offs and larger classes.

Sartorius, also an assistant professor, was a Sappington school principal 1987 - 2004 and now teaches education at Southwest Baptist University. He called for more openness from the board with parents and taxpayers.

"We need to communicate to the community where their money is going," Sartorius said. "Long term, I think we need to be visionary. When you're on top, it's easy to get complacent. We need to be adapting to new technologies."

Bee graduated from Lindbergh High School in 1961 and coached Lindbergh sports for more than 30 years.

"We need to make sure that we are good stewards of our money," Bee said. "Right now, we are where we should be."

Englund, a former Missouri state legislator, is a lease administrator for Edward Jones and an online small-business owner. She emphasized the importance of technology in Lindbergh classrooms.

"I live this stuff," Englund said. "More and more of these tools are replacing the traditional tools of business and the tools of education."

Weiss has volunteered for numerous school committees, including the School Redesign Committee, the District Budget Reduction Committee, the Yes for Prop L Committee and the Controversial Issues Task Force.

With redistricting in the elementary schools and splitting the middle school into two buildings next year, Weiss emphasized the importance of providing a solid environment for educating our children.

"We need to get the kids focused on learning," Weiss said. She recapped the district's work over the past year.

Rezabek, a pediatrician at Mercy Clinic in Fenton, said he had five children involved with the Lindbergh school system.

"Foremost and always, the kids should be the focus," Rezabek said. "I believe interactive technology is a big boon to Lindbergh."

In another twist to the race, incumbent and current board treasurer Mark  Rudoff wins a fourth seat by default, since he is unopposed for the one-year term. 

In 2012, Rudoff's and Fey's seats will be up for election. In 2013, Board of Ed seats currently held by Kara Gotsch and Vic Lenz will be up for election.

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