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Business Journals
29-04-2025
- Business
- Business Journals
St. Louis Public Schools braces for possible funding uncertainty amid federal shifts
Saint Louis Public Schools held its first public forum Monday on the 2025-2026 budget for the district. There's one thing they're very concerned about right now, and that's federal funding. SLPS Superintendent Millcent Borishade said federal funding makes up 13% of the district's budget, which may not sound like a lot, but it will have a big impact should it go away. GET TO KNOW YOUR CITY Find Local Events Near You Connect with a community of local professionals. Explore All Events To be more transparent as a district, Borishade and the financial office held a new style of public forum on the budget, encouraging participation from the crowd. 'So I had each of my cabinet members create a list of questions where staff, community, and parents would have an opportunity to answer, reflect, think about those questions and then go from there,' Borishade said. People at the meeting went to stations to learn more about what's allowed for different departments. For the board of education, the budget will pay for professional development, but they don't receive things like a car allowance. 'There are lots of different questions on what is allowable and what is not allowable. And I wanted to make sure that everyone had an opportunity to see what those allowable are, what those non-negotiables are, what those non-allowables are,' Borishade said. Their main focus: concerns about federal funding. 'We know that the federal government has a new administration and there are executive orders being signed every day that could affect this,' SLPS CFO Kimberly Johnson said. For the 2025-2026 fiscal year, St. Louis Public Schools is expecting $48.7 million in federal grants. '13% is a lot. And so, that's why we broke it out so that people could see the different categories, the different buckets that will be impacted, you know, food and nutritional services, IDEA, Title 1, 2, 3 and 4. We just want people to see the things that we're going to be working through,' Borishade said. Borishade said the district is now working on a plan B. If it doesn't receive this federal funding, it may need to dip into its reserves or reallocate money from other parts of the budget. 'I want them to make sure that they speak with their legislators, and share what is important and what is important is that we have state funding, what is important is that we have federal funding,' Borishade said. The next public forum is 10 a.m.-11 a.m. Saturday at the O'Fallon Recreation Complex, 4343 W. Florissant Ave. This report originally appeared on KSDK.
Yahoo
13-02-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
St. Louis Public Schools to sign Zum Services as new transportation vendor
ST. LOUIS – The St. Louis Public Schools (SLPS) is turning to a California-based tech startup to help solve its ongoing transportation issues. The St. Louis Public School District school board has approved a new transportation partner for the district. The move comes after years of transportation struggles for SLPS with bus driver shortages and last-minute cancellations leaving families frustrated. According to our reporting partners at the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, the district is moving forward with a plan to bring in Zum Services Inc.; it's a company already working in cities like Los Angeles and Kansas City. The new fleet of buses will include several features, including real-time tracking for families. The district has experienced several transportation issues this year because of a driver shortage and losing several bus service providers. Now, the school board is hoping to change that. This week, SLPS approved a proposal for Zum to take over 220 bus routes across the city for 30 million dollars a year but this won't happen overnight. SLPS is still reportedly negotiating a contract with Zum. List: The more than 500 JOANN stores expected to close amid second bankruptcy filing According to the company, they plan to start drivers at 28 dollars an hour with benefits. They've already seen success in Kansas City, where Zum buses had a 98 percent on-time rate in their first year. That's much better than what St. Louis students and parents have dealt with. Some families said cab companies refused to pick up students when snow hit our area, exposing more cracks in the district's current transportation plan. Zum is working to transition its national fleet to electric and SLPS is still waiting on 60 electric buses paid for by federal grants but with a federal spending freeze in place, their arrival date is uncertain. SLPS leaders will begin contract negotiations with the tech start-up soon. If everything proceeds as planned, these new buses could be available by next fall. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
