West Newsmagazine 5-1-24

10 I NEWS I
May 1, 2024
WEST NEWSMAGAZINE
@WESTNEWSMAG
WESTNEWSMAGAZINE.COM
Substitute under scrutiny after removing Parkway teacher’s pride, BLM signs
By SHWETHA SUNDARRAJAN
On Friday, April 12, administrators at
Parkway Central High were alerted of a
substitute teacher who took down Black
Lives Matter (BLM) and pride signs in a
teacher’s classroom and tore them up.
The substitute teacher, now identified as
Jason Bryant Jennings, told West Newsmagazine
that he destroyed the posters on
Friday, April 5. He subsequently posted
about the incident on X, on Monday, April
8, when he was subbing at Parkway Central
again.
“Yeah, so BLM is obviously a corrupt
Marxist organization that should not be
promoted to kids,” Jennings said. “Teachers
should not be – and not just teachers,
but adults in general – should not be promoting
pride or anything of that nature to
students, to youth.”
Jennings is a Republican candidate running
for state representative in District 100,
which encompasses the city of Ballwin and
portions of Winchester. According to Jennings’
campaign website, he believes that
“schools should be accountable for what
they’re teaching.”
Days after posting about the destroyed
posters, Parkway Central administrators
caught wind of Jennings’ actions and
subsequently escorted him off campus. In
an email to Parkway Central High parents,
students and staff, Principal Dr. Tim
McCarthy said that in addition to damaging
the classroom, there were reports Jennings
also solicited votes from students.
“Based on my initial investigation and
after consulting with human resources, I
addressed the incident with the individual
and escorted him out of the building,”
McCarthy wrote. “Kelly Education employs
the substitute who has worked part-time in
some Parkway schools since 2022.”
However, Jennings denies soliciting
votes from students, adding that Parkway
Central isn’t located in the district he’s
campaigning in.
“So those kids at Parkway Central, they
don’t even live in (District 100), and
they’re not even old enough to vote,” Jennings
said. “There’s no reason why I would
do that, I would have nothing to gain by
doing that.”
A spokesperson from Kelly Education
Services told West Newsmagazine that
Jennings is suspended from all future
assignments pending the completion of the
investigation.
“We do not tolerate any employee behavior
that violates our policies or the policies
of our school partners,” the statement read.
“Our substitute educators undergo rigorous
screenings and background checks
before they are eligible for any assignment.
During onboarding, our substitute educators
receive role-specific training and are
required to confirm that they understand
and agree to follow Kelly Education and
district policies. We are working with the
school administration as we investigate
the matter, and the substitute teacher has
been suspended from all future assignments
pending its completion. We will take
appropriate action based on the findings of
the investigation.”
According to Parkway’s staff conduct
handbook, employees are prohibited from
engaging in political campaigning, including
promoting, advocating for or opposing
specific issues. This includes and is not
limited to the posting of political materials
or petitions (unless part of an academic
exercise) and the distribution of campaign
materials to students in any manner that
would indicate that an employee is furthering
a personal political view on candidates
for public office or issues of public policy.
Woods Mill Center development fails to get P&Z recommendation
By DAN FOX
(Photo by Laura Brown)
After a one-month continuation, a proposed
redevelopment for Woods Mill Center
returned to the Town & Country Planning
& Zoning Commission (P&Z) on April 17.
Under review were requests to rezone the
commercial site at 14302 South Outer 40
Road to a Planned Non-Residential Development
District (PNRD) and to approve the
site plan, which includes residential homes
and a restaurant.
The developers, the McBride Berra Land
Company LLC, made several adjustments to
the proposal since it originally came before
the commission on March 20. The proposed
number of homes for the 11.58-acre site was
reduced to 72, down from 80. Greenspace
was increased to 48%, 40 additional trees
have been added, lot width was increased
and now 10 feet would separate each house,
as opposed to the 6 feet previously proposed.
Also, four lots that would be closest to existing
homes to the south would be restricted to
two stories, so as not to impact the privacy of
those residents.
As the adjustments were presented, Jeannie
Aumiller, McBride general counsel and
senior vice president of real estate, also
pointed out several other kinds of uses that
could also fit the site, while highlighting
the challenges or potential impacts of those
uses on nearby residents.
Despite the adjustments, the density of
the proposal was still of concern to the commission
members.
Commission member Fred Meyland-
Smith said he understands the limitations
and challenges of the site, but said the cur-
Woods Mill Center, looking southeast.
rent proposal is “inconsistent with the character”
of the community and that the houses
are too closely packed together.
“They are like wooden soldiers, shoulder
to shoulder to shoulder, and I can’t conceive
of any other neighborhood in Town &
Country that would have dozens of homes
shoulder to shoulder in lockstep with one
another, eight feet from the sidewalk,” Meyland-Smith
said.
Commission member Granville White
said the development didn’t meet “the brand
of Town & Country,” while Commission
member Dennis Bolazina raised the issue of
on-site guest parking again and questioned
the benefits to the city coming from the
project.
Opinions among the commission were
not uniform, however.
Mayor Charles Rehm said a benefit to the
city would be the added greenspace on the
site.
“The greenspace that’s there now is basically
weeds, coming through cracks in the
asphalt,” Rehm said.
While he said he wishes the density could
be lowered, commission member Gary
Omell said he was in favor of the concept,
adding that he’s concerned about what the
alternatives could be for Woods Mill Center.
“I ask myself, ‘What is the alternative?’”
Omell said. “We’ve said a lot of things
negative, but this property has sat there for a
long time looking really shabby.”
Omell did, however, state concerns about
guest parking and some of the proposed
elevations, saying he would like to see more
brick and stone materials used.
While the room was packed with residents,
all that spoke were in favor of the 72-home
development.
Kathy Bridges, who lives adjacent to the
site, praised the developers for their willingness
to appease resident concerns and the
concessions made in the site plan.
Sharon Rothmel thanked the commission
members for their previous feedback,
saying the developer has improved the plans
since the March 20 meeting, and urged the
commission to recommend approval of the
proposal.
“It’s good for both the city and nearby
residents,” Rothmel said. “It’s good for the
city for many reasons … it will remove a
deteriorated, defunct shopping center that’s
fallen into disrepair.”
Commission Chairman Rob Cima recognised
that uses for the site, like more commercial
development or an office building,
are not viable, and he noted there are things
to like about the current proposal. Cima said
he can see why the residents are in support
of it, being an owner-occupied, primarily
residential use. Cima also acknowledged
that nearby residents are possibly fatigued
from seeing repeated proposed uses for
Woods Mill Center.
“I have to imagine at least part of the
reason you’re in support of this, is because
what else are we going to have to look at
next year and the year after and the year
after,” Cima said.
However, Cima said he thinks there will
be other options in the future that would
appeal to residents and the city, and that he’s
not willing to recommend approval simply
out of fear that a better option might not
come along.
The motion to recommend approval of
the rezoning to a PNRD and the motion to
recommend approval of the site plan both
failed 6-3. The matter next goes before the
Board of Aldermen for its review at a future
meeting, where it would need a supermajority
(two-thirds) of voting members to pass.