The husband of a Lindbergh Schools teacher recently condemned the latest issue of the district’s Lindbergh Link newsletter, contending it contains “propaganda.”

Don Kaiser told the board that he couldn’t believe “the amount of propaganda that the district is pushing on the residents” in the latest issue of the Lindbergh Link.

“It amazes me the district is boasting about the 8.5-percent increase for all employees from 2014 to 2016, which they state was the largest in St. Louis County. That may be,” he said. “The district, however, failed to state that the Lindbergh teachers’ salaries, based on MSTA (Missouri State Teachers Association), rank No. 14 for bachelor’s and No. 20 for master’s degrees in the county out of 22 school districts. The Link doesn’t tell the entire truth …”

Kaiser is the husband of kindergarten teacher Jerfeshan Kaiser.

Don Kaiser also noted that Link stated that 34 new teachers have been hired over the past two years.

“They failed to mention, however, how many of those teachers hired are a replacement to those who have retired or have left for higher salaries or other reasons, such as to raise a family,” he said.

Superintendent Jim Simpson told the Call that all 34 teachers are new to the district and have been hired to accommodate Lindbergh’s increasing enrollment. For the coming school year, district officials anticipate 312 new students and have added nine new teaching positions to accommodate growth and to keep class sizes small.

The annual cost — salaries and benefits — of the 43 new teachers to accommodate the enrollment growth will be $2.5 million.

Kaiser said, “… After the past few board meetings and hearing the residents speak about the district, I was shocked to have the district send out the Link with half-truths and misleading information. The students and the residents of this district expect more from the administration and the board. I’m tired of the district operating in secrecy and under the premise that it is better to ask for forgiveness than permission. This is our district and our tax dollars …”

As for Kaiser’s claims about the Link containing propaganda, Simpson told the Call, “Every piece of ink in that Link is 100-percent accurate. You might not like it. You might wish that we hadn’t put that accurate factoid in there, and none of it is attacking … Nobody’s going to read the Link — nobody — and get any kind of feeling of that it’s attacking anybody. It’s here’s how what we have in our budget. It’s here’s how much growth we have. It’s got a letter from me in there that attacks nobody …

“It’s something that’s very difficult to understand. We are constantly accused of not communicating, and then when we communicate, we are accused of propaganda, and yet, as I understand it, propaganda is false, but everything in the Link is 100-percent true and it attacks no one …,” he said.

Kaiser was one of 12 speakers at the July 12 board meeting. Board President Kathy Kienstra did not place time limits on speakers, who addressed the board for about one hour. Resident Ann Zytniak, whose daughter is a Lindbergh teacher, spoke for roughly 15 minutes.

Zytniak’s husband, Ron, criticized the district’s purchase of the former Johnny’s Market property at 11555 Gravois Road at a cost of $1,663,603.

Lindbergh’s Central Office currently is housed at Lindbergh High School, and occupies roughly 20,000 square feet there.

A new two-story, 24,000-square-foot Central Office building is being constructed on the 2.2-acre former Johnny’s Market site.

Construction of the new Central Office building will be completed by fall 2017, restoring eight to 10 classrooms at the high school to address the district’s surging enrollment.

Zytniak specifically attacked the independent appraisal the district received from AB Valuation Services for the property.

“The credibility of this appraisal falls apart on the front page with the spelling of ‘Lindberg,’ and continues throughout the remainder of the report,” he said, noting the top three comparable properties used in the appraisal were in Chesterfield, Creve Coeur and Town and Country. “How are any of these remotely comparable to Gravois Road at Sappington Road? It’s strange reality to believe there are no properties available along the South Lindbergh — I spelled it correctly here — corridor or along the Tesson Ferry corridor or Fenton or even property within eyesight of Johnny’s Market …”

Zytniak further asserted that he believes the school district overpaid for the property, citing the Lindbergh Link that presented the purchase “as some major, positive accomplishment. Is this a joke?”

The Link reported Lindbergh saved $76,397 by purchasing the site from Meland Properties LLC at less than the certified appraisal price of $1.74 million.

Meland Properties purchased the property for $900,000 in 2014.

“You can’t save money on an assumed price of an appraisal estimate …,” Zytniak said. “To keep trumpeting the savings is a joke and would be laughable if it were not true. The only ones laughing are the folks at Meland Properties LLC, who made $763,603 on this sale to Lindbergh for an 84.8 percent profit — pathetic.”

However, Simpson told the Call, “Companies that do appraisals are under incredible regulations and laws. They’re not subjective … They have to use tried and tested and professional standards to come up with those numbers. They stand behind their numbers, all the way to the courtroom, if necessary.”

Last year, nearby residents opposed a proposal by Circle K to construct a gas station and car wash at the former market site.

A bill to approve the gas station without a car wash later was dropped from consideration by then-County Council Chairman Pat Dolan, D-Richmond Heights.

Simpson suggested that Zytniak research the amount Circle K offered to pay for the property.

“… Find the number that Circle K offered for the property a mere six months before we bought it,” he said. “Find that number and it will be a larger number than Lindbergh paid. Circle K was ready to write a check larger than Lindbergh for that property. That tells you what the property was worth. That somebody got it at an advantageous cost is called capitalism, an investment …”