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CAC Audited OCTOBER 14 – 20, 2021
stlamerican.com
Vol. 93 No. 29 COMPLIMENTARY
2021 Salute to Excellence In Education
Arthur R. Culver named Lifetime Achiever “My entire career has been focused on improving educational outcomes for disadvantaged students.”
By Sylvester Brown, Jr. The St. Louis American East St. Louis School District 189 was in a state of chaos in 2011 when Arthur R. Culver was appointed superintendent. The district, with about 7,300 students at the time, had failed to meet state standards for nine years under the “No Child Left Behind Act.” Only 60%
of its students met or exceeded state performance standards. Additionally, the district’s administrative costs were higher than any other school district of similar size, taking up 8.7% of its budget, compared to the statewide average of 3.5%. By May of 2011, the Illinois State Board of Education had taken control of the school district. Culver was
approached by Illinois education officials who were interested in him becoming the liaison between the state and District 189. In an interview with The Beacon that year, Culver described how he “fell in love” with the district. “I’m motivated by challenges and by things that other people either can’t do or don’t want to do. The longer I was here, the more I was reminded of why I
went into education: to make a positive difference in the lives of students who are from high-poverty backgrounds and are not being successful in school,” he said. On Friday, November 5, Culver will be recognized as the 2021 Lifetime Achiever at the St. Louis See CULVER, A7
Arthur R. Culver is the 2021 Lifetime Achiever in Education
Corrections commissioner says jail ‘needs work on both ends’
Belated but happy parade 2020 Homecoming King and Queen Omobude Eke and Gabrielle Gilmore wave to spectators at the University of MissouriColumbia homecoming parade in downtown Columbia, MO Saturday, Oct. 10.
Jennifer Clemons-Abdullah favors ‘restorative justice’
By Dana Rieck The St. Louis American
Photo by Bill Greenblatt / St. Louis American
Mayor holds first community input session on police chief search
Police Chief John Hayden will step down Feb. 23 By Dana Rieck The St. Louis American
As the search for the next police chief gets underway, St. Louis Mayor Tishaura Jones is inviting the public to submit input on what they’re looking for in the city’s top cop. On Tuesday, Jones held a townhall input session via Zoom with outgoing St. Louis Police Chief John Hayden and Dr. Sean Joe with the Brown School at Washington University and Homegrown STL. Hayden announced his retirement in early September. He will step down Feb. 23, the day marking his 35th anniversary with the department. The one-hour virtual session began with remarks from Jones who recapped her law enforcement approach and noted that homicides in the city were down 36% as compared to this time last year. She said that for decades the city has focused its resourc-
See CHIEF, A6
Photo by Wiley Price / St. Louis American
Sean Joe, PhD speaks about the search for the city’s next police chief during a virtual public input session with St. Louis Mayor Tishaura Jones and St. Louis Police Chief John Hayden on Tuesday.
The city’s new corrections commissioner, Jennifer Clemons-Abdullah, has been on the job now for just over a month. As she works to understand the issues facing the city’s jails, she told The St. Louis American she doesn’t have just one priority. Clemons-Abdullah lists several issues she’s focused on improving such as the care and custody of people in the jails, closing the Workhouse (the Medium Security Institution), providing restorative justice, ensuring detainees have access to a quick judicial process and providing corrections officers an outlet to feel valued and n “Overall, appreciated. “What [restorative it needs justice] looks like to me work on is starting from the botboth ends, it tom, seeing what they needs struc- didn’t have when they ture on both came in … jobs, avenues ends — from for therapy, avenues for just a rehab type thing increasing because oftentimes they the pay for come in and they may have a drug habit, and the corit hasn’t actually been rectional addressed and they officers to covered it up for a long the just period of time. So, I feel treatment of like if we address that as restorative justice, you the detainknow, kind of a reform, ees like I think it will help them humans.” not only go back into society to reinvent them— Jennifer selves but help them be a Clemonsgood neighbor.” Abdullah, She believes her over St. Louis 30 years of experience Corrections makes her uniquely Commissioner qualified to handle the city’s current jail issues. Clemons-Abdullah has over 46 specialized certificates of leadership training within corrections; experience working for the Department of Justice’s Federal Bureau of Prisons; nationwide experience serving at nine institutions; and most recently, she served as an associate warden at Federal Correctional See JAIL, A7