Chamber of Commerce leadership encourages SJSD administrators, board to ‘stay on a path forward’

By: Chris Roush, News Director

ST. JOSEPH, Mo. (KQTV) -- As the St. Joseph School District's Board of Education wrestles with deciding on a long-range plan, a Chamber of Commerce executive speaks up about the future of the school district. 

During Monday night's board work session and public comment, St. Joseph Chamber of Commerce president and CEO Natalie Hawn spoke about the long-range plan for the school district. 

Hawn encouraged the district administration and the board to move forward after a significant amount of time was spent on developing a long-range plan through Vision Forward. 

In a statement to KQ2 Tuesday, chamber officials provided additional thoughts on the current situation. 

"Our organization is singularly dedicated to ensuring our community is well-positioned for growth. We know there is a strong link between schools and community economic vitality. The District's long-range plan is data-informed, includes public input and should be the guidepost for decision making. We cannot allow political games to dictate the future of our school district. Our children and our community deserve better."

During Hawn's speech Monday night, she said that the Chamber does not favor any specific school closings and never has done so.

"For the record, the Chamber board isn't in favor of any certain school closing and never has been. Our board supports having a long-range plan and strategy as well as taking action to move our district forward. As well as supporting the administration."

Here is the transcript of Hawn's full comments at the board work session Monday night:

"We spent many hours working on the long-range plan through Vision Forward with many community meetings. We would like to encourage you to stay on a path forward.

Reasons would be:

1 • The district’s fall 2025 enrollment dipped to 9,781 students — the lowest in recent history. Birth rates are down and the student population will continue to decline unless the community and district act proactively. These facts mean that we cannot simply maintain the status quo. The school district must adapt to remain efficient, sustainable, and capable of delivering excellent educational outcomes.

2 • Many of the district’s buildings are over 60 years old; updating or consolidating is not only prudent, but necessary to provide a competitive learning environment that attracts families and businesses. Forward-thinking facility planning supports academic excellence and helps control long-term costs (maintenance, utilities, staff, etc.).

3 • Straying from the long-range plan affects the growth of St. Joseph. Local businesses need a well-educated workforce and an environment that attracts families. Parents aren’t attracted to outdated, undersized or inefficient schools. If young families don’t want to send their kids to school here, they won’t want to work for our companies, which will affect St. Joseph’s ability to retain businesses.

4 • As Mrs. Studer addressed, the long-range plan rightly identifies teacher recruitment and retention, and student performance improvement as key areas of focus. When we invest in our people, we strengthen not only our classrooms but the entire community’s future.

5 • The choices the Board makes now (about facility consolidation, redrawing boundaries and school configurations) will affect the district, the city, and our region for decades.

For the record, the Chamber board isn’t in favor of any certain school closing and never has been. Our board supports having a long-range plan and strategy as well as taking action to move our district forward. As well as supporting the administration.

We urge the Board to act with vision, courage and a willingness to invest in the future."

SJSD's Special Board of Education Meeting is meeting at 5:30 p.m. Wednesday at the Troester Media Center. The board will continue the district's facility plans.