This story was commissioned by River City Press Fund.
The St. Louis Board of Education voted 5-1 last night to cancel its participation in the College Kids Savings Account program — a signature program of Mayor Tishaura Jones during her tenure as city treasurer.
The board voted to activate the 60-day notice provision to rescind the memorandum of understanding with the St. Louis Treasurer’s Office, which continued to administer the program under Jones’ hand-picked successor, Treasurer Adam Lane. The board chose to end its partnership after months of questions about whether College Kids truly helps launch St. Louis Public Schools students on the path to college or trade school.
Some of the biggest complaints centered on difficulties parents and grandparents reported moving money from College Kids accounts to other college savings vehicles, such as 529 plans — a point made by Matt Davis, vice chairman of the board, during a question-and-answer session. Answer part with Layne before voting.
“And when you look at other programs around the country, they’re invested in 529s,” Davis says. “There’s a much easier way to move that money into interest-bearing 529 accounts.”
Lin denied the difficulty of moving College Kids funds into 529 accounts. All families have to do is fill out the form provided by the treasurer’s office.
“So I don’t think it’s a complicated process,” Lin said. “It’s one shape.”
The board voted without first engaging in public debate. The only board member to vote “no” on the motion to cancel the MOU was Emily Hubbard. Natalie Foyle, an at-large board member, did not attend Tuesday’s meeting.
The school board vote took place three months after the board agreed to “pause” its memorandum of understanding with the treasurer’s office while district officials sought answers to questions about College Kids’ oversight and their benefit to district students.
Each year, the treasurer’s office automatically enrolls all kindergarten students in public schools and charter schools in St. Louis — 2,307 College Kids accounts were created in 2022 alone — providing them with Alltru Credit Union savings accounts and “establishing” each Deposit $50. The money for these deposits comes from city parking fees and parking tickets.
College Kids accounts are expected to grow through city-funded incentives, charitable and personal donations. Participants can receive up to $100 in matching deposits and up to $50 for participating in financial education. Once a student graduates from a public or charter high school in the city, funds can be withdrawn to attend college or trade school.
But does Tuesday’s school board vote mean the death of college students?
Lin said after the vote that he would work to continue the program.
“So it would have been a lot easier with district-level cooperation,” Lin said. “But all we’ll do is communicate directly with families. We’ll still go to events; the urban university will still let us go to the fair. So we’ll still communicate directly with families. Sign them up that way. But it’s a simple process.”
Antoinette “Toni” Cousins, board president, told a reporter that Tuesday night’s board vote does not necessarily mean a permanent end to the school district’s partnership with the treasurer’s office.
“We basically voted to continue the pause,” Cousins said. “The pause is part of the questions asked by Vice President Davis” regarding the Treasurer’s Office’s plans to make changes to the College Kids program in response to complaints about it.
“It was as if at this point we weren’t getting any adjustments that were needed regarding this particular program,” she said.
One of the biggest problems with the College Kids program is a lack of evidence showing the program’s positive impact on families participating in the program, Cousins said.
Another big problem was the lack of control over their accounts by families registered in the program.
“It appears that Treasurer Lane was the one who had the ability to oversee these accounts,” Cousins said. “So this is worrying.”
The school board informally agreed during its September 12 meeting to pause its partnership with the treasurer’s office largely due to the River City Press Fund investigation reported by St. Louis Public Radio and the Riverfront Times on June 7. The story showed that only 15 percent of the district’s more than 23,000 eligible students were participating, that the average account had risen to just $73, and that the accounts bore no interest.
Jones created College Kids while serving as city treasurer in 2015 and was approved by the Aldermen in December of that year. The College Kids program has become one of Jones’ signature accomplishments, promoted during her successful 2021 mayoral run.
Mike Fitzgerald can be reached at msfitzgerald2006@gmail.com. To learn more about the River City Journalism Fund, which provided funding for this project and seeks to support local journalism in St. Louis, please see RCJF.org.
The decision made by the St. Louis school board to cancel the College Kids partnership has sparked controversy and concern among parents, educators, and community members. The program, which aimed to provide college savings accounts to kindergarten students in the city, was seen as a promising initiative to promote higher education and financial planning. However, the board’s vote to terminate the partnership has left many questioning the motives behind the decision and the potential impact on the future of the students involved. This abrupt change has raised significant debates and uncertainties about the future of educational opportunities for St. Louis youth.