South St. Louis County News

St. Louis Call Newspapers

South St. Louis County News

St. Louis Call Newspapers

South St. Louis County News

St. Louis Call Newspapers

New Mehlville school board president sets the bar high

New Mehlville school board president sets the bar high

New Mehlville school board president sets the bar high

Congratulations are in order for Cindy Christopher, who was unanimously elected president of the Mehlville Board of Ed-ucation last week.

By voting unanimously on Mrs. Christo-pher’s selection, the board placed full confidence in her ability to perform her duties as president. Mrs. Christopher has long coveted this position and she needs our support to help her achieve a successful term as president.

Many board members aspire to become board president at some point during their tenure, but few know how difficult and stressful the job actually is. As board president, you feel totally responsible for the good things that happen as well as the bad, and, at times, you feel as if you have the weight of the world on your shoulders.

Since she was elected four years ago, Mrs. Christopher has had the good fortune to serve under three board presidents she can look to as shining examples of how to properly perform the job.

In 1999, the Board of Education elected David Gralike board president.

Mr. Gralike was a master parliamentarian and formed the Citizens’ Advisory Com-mittee for Facilities to evaluate the district’s facilities. This was the largest community involvement project ever undertaken in Mehlville’s history and led to the successful passage of Proposition P, a $72.4 million districtwide building improvement program that is being funded by a 49-cent tax-rate increase.

Today, the CACF is considered a model of success throughout the state and the nation. Mr. Gralike is a director of operations, construction division, for the Guaran-tee Electrical Co.

In 2000, Chuck VanGronigen was elected board president. Mr. VanGronigen, who showed true professionalism and statesmanship as president, also vigorously ques-tioned administrators on money matters and how decisions were made.

During his tenure as president, voters overwhelmingly approved Proposition P.

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