This week, I understand St. Louis Mayor Francis G. Slay's official slate of candidates for the St Louis School Board was announced.

I don't know who they are though, and can't find an article nor a mayoral press release about it.

I have heard the slate includes former Mayor Vince Schoemehl, now CEO of Grand Center Inc., and Bob Archibald, head of the Missouri Historical Society. Also Ron Jackson, who I believe is the husband of former school board president Hattie Jackson.

According to Jo Mannies' column in the St Louis Post-Dispatch, current board member Amy Hilgemann is backing a 4-member slate consisting of Yolanda Brown, Mark Harrington, Peter Downs and Antonio French.

Mr. French is a controversial character, publisher of the Public Defender indie newspaper, which has not appeared for a few months, despite his taking subscriptions. I've never met him, but on the StLouisT e-mail list, he is the source of often challenging debate.

Another candidate I know of is John Kintree, who has been active in promoting community-based technology efforts for many years, including as a volunteer in the St. Louis Public Schools.

On the Missouri School Boards Association website there is a pamphlet for school board candidate training. It lists the qualifications for school board membership. Bizarrely, St. Louis School Board members' qualifications are different from those in the rest of the state.