St. Louis Board of Education

The St. Louis Board of Education is comprised of seven members elected in city-wide elections.   As of June 15, 2007, the State Board of Education has disenfranchised the Elected Board and the St.Louis School district is currently governed by three political appointees, collectively known as the Special Administrative Board (SAB).  The St.  Louis Board of Education continues to listen to our constituents and advocate for the children of the St. Louis Public Schools to the best of our ability.

Board meetings are held the 2nd Tuesday of each month, at 7:00 p.m., at Carr Lane VPA. 

The current members of the Elected Board of Education are:

Donna Jones was elected to the SLPS School Board in 2006. She is the parent of seven children, all of whom attended St. Louis Public Schools. Some of the issues that Donna has worked on as a Board member include: lead removal, transportation, classroom size and school violence. Donna is a lifelong resident of the 27th Ward and also attended SLPS as a student.

President Katherine Wessling, Esq. was elected to the St. Louis Board of Education in 2007.  She is the Managing Attorney for the Crime Victims Advocacy Center–Legal Advocates for Abused Women project.  She is a graduate of Washington University School of Law and Truman State University.  She lives in the the 12th ward with her husband and two daughters; one attends Humboldt Academy of Higher Learning; the other attends Compton-Drew I.L.C..  She is a Girl Scout leader, FIRST FLL robotics coach, has served as a PTO officer for numerous years, and has been active in district affairs and parent initiatives within the district since 2005.

Secretary Chad Beffa was elected to the St. Louis Board of Education in 2009.  He is a lifelong St. Louis resident who grew up in South St. Louis and attended St. Mary Magdalen, Gateway Christian, St, John the Baptist, St. Louis Community College at Forest Park, Meramec, and Harris Stowe State University.  His wife Jennifer is a veteran National Board Certified St. Louis Public School Teacher who teaches at Kennard Classical Junior Academy .  Two of his children attend Kennard CJA, where he is also the PTO Board Treasurer and a volunteer leader for his son’s Boy Scout Den in Pack 214.   He is also the St. Louis Public Schools Parent Assembly Governmental Affairs Officer.  Chad owns Beffa Property Acquisitions and Development LLC, which does residential real estate contract consultation.  He has testified on behalf of over 30 educational bills in the past five years in Jefferson City. 

Emile Bradford-Taylor, R.N. has been a registered nurse for over 25 years, 10 of which have been in educational settings. Emile has worked on behalf of parents and students in SLPS on issues such as:  transportation, parent liaison issues, the IB program, the rights of students who are homeless, and advocating for a multicultural curriculum. Bradford-Taylor is a parent of a student in SLPS and a licensed foster parent. She was elected to the SLPS Board in 2009.

Vice-President David L. Jackson, CPM, COS has been a resident of the City of St. Louis for over thirty years.  He was educated in the St. Louis Public School system and graduated from Central High School in 1976.  Mr. Jackson has been married for twenty-five years and has five children, four of whom graduated from the SLPS;  his fifth child is currently an eighth grader at Gateway Middle.  He owns D.L.J. Construction Services, LLC, a firm which specializes in general construction, subcontracting, construction management and administration, minority and women owned businesses utilization and Section 3 development and implementation, as well as workforce diversity.

Rebecca Rogers, PhD is an Associate Professor of Education at the University of Missouri-St. Louis. She received her Ph.D. in Education from the University of Albany in New York State. Rebecca is the author of 5 research based books and over fifty chapters and articles in the areas of literacy education, teacher preparation, critical literacy and family literacy studies.  She serves as an elected board member of two major professional organizations, the National Reading Conference and the National Council of Research in Language and Literacy. Rogers is involved with several community based groups in St. Louis including the ABC’s of Literacy, The Literacy Roundtable and the Literacy for Social Justice Teacher Research Group. Rebecca was elected to the SLPS school board in 2009.