Legislators, Community Come Together to Oppose Deed Restrictions in St. Louis

Author: Emily Iles

On Monday, March 2nd, 2009, legislators and citizens gathered for a press conference held by Missouri Senator Jim Lembke to discuss his new bill to lift the deed restriction that restrict Charter schools from purchasing abandoned St. Louis public schools.
 
The press conference took place at vacant Scullin Elementary School, across the street from City Academy, a private school opened in 2005.  This corner illustrates the problem posed by deed restrictions that do not allow private, parochial or Charter schools to purchase and reuse these buildings as educational entities.  
 
Scullin Elementary school was built in 1908, and is still a beautiful building with a marble staircase and new playground equipment, though paint is chipping off the windows. As the press conference was being set up, a maintenance worker was fixing the boarded-up front door; according to him, they had had break-ins recently.
 
Senator Lembke, Senator Jeff Smith, Representative T.D. El-Amin, Senator Jane Cunningham and Representative Tishaura Jones spoke of concerns about crime, property values, about the dozens on public schools on the market, and the communities that were once anchored by them.
 
Lembke’s bill hopes to fix a number of problems.  First, these buildings were paid for by taxpayers for the purpose of educating children.  Prohibiting them from continued use as school buildings is contrary to the designation of those tax dollars.  St. Louis Public Schools will additionally face a $35 million budget shortfall this year, and many communities and taxpayers are wondering why the Special Administrative Board would cling obstinately to restrict sale to the most likely buyers of these vacant buildings—charter schools.  The number of closed school buildings in St. Louis is expected to add 17 more buildings this year to the 22 schools already closed and sitting empty.  
 
The second concern is for neighborhoods.  An empty school building does nothing to improve a neighborhood, but it can do a lot to tear it down.  For neighborhoods already struggling, an empty building brings more potential for crime and vandalism.  It brings dangerous conditions as the building falls into disrepair.  It can drastically devalue nearby homes. But most importantly, it leaves a hole in the community.