Brian Marston, Karen Collins-Adams and Allisa "AJ" Foster won the three seats on the St. Louis Board of Education.
Sitting board President Toni Cousins, the lone incumbent running for reelection, will not return to the board after a fourth-place finish, according to final unofficial results. Cousins did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The closely watched race comes as district leadership has faced increased scrutiny after the board fired former Superintendent Keisha Scarlett for allegedly misusing funds and violating hiring protocols. Scarlett has denied any wrongdoing.
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The total number of votes cast in the school board race was 116,323 compared to the 129,205 votes cast in the 2021 school board race, indicating lower engagement this year. People could vote for up to three candidates in this race. The city reported 50,477 ballots cast for a 25.7% turnout, well below the 29.2% turnout four years ago.
At the St. Louis Skatium in the Patch neighborhood, Marston thanked a crowd of friends, community and family members for supporting his run for the board.
“I want everyone to try to think of something they can do to help support St. Louis Public Schools because it’s going to take all of us,” Marston said. “It was a community effort to win this election. Now begins the real community effort to do the work.”
Foster and Collins-Adams watched the final results come in separately with their family and friends.
Foster, who will be the youngest board member, said she is looking forward to working with the newly elected members and the current board members.
“I’m ready to listen to our students. I’m ready to listen to our teachers and advocate on their behalf,” Foster said. “I’m ready to make St. Louis a positive environment, and I think the best way to do that is through our schools.”
Collins-Adams said she enjoyed meeting families across the city during the campaign and vowed to bring what she learned from them to her role on the board.
“They wanted change, and they will have good, positive change at St. Louis Public Schools,” Collins-Adams said.
The newly elected members will join Tracy Hykes, Emily Hubbard, Donna Jones and Ben Conover, who was appointed in February after Sadie Weiss resigned in January, citing unethical behavior from the board.
Candidates Krystal Barnett, Zach Davis and Andre Walker, who ran together on a slate, finished well behind the winning candidates in sixth, seventh and eighth place, respectively.
Barnett and Davis gathered Tuesday night with supporters at the Drip Community Coffeehouse in Tower Grove South, while Walker missed the watch party due to a family emergency.
The slate was endorsed by the legal advocacy group Coalition with STL Kids. The coalition is led by local organizer Chester Asher, who has ties to the Opportunity Trust. He also attended the gathering Tuesday night. Davis, Barnett, Asher and other supporters huddled in a single embrace after hearing the final results.
“The people have spoken, and I accept what the people have to say,” Davis said.
Barnett agreed, “We want St. Louis Public Schools to be great, and we congratulate the new board members. Now it’s time to move forward.”
Barnett added that she hopes the winning candidates do right by the children in the SLPS district. She said this was her first time running a campaign of this nature.
“I had almost 9,000 votes. I did my best in this campaign, and I’m really proud of myself,” Barnett said. She and Davis said they might run again in the next election.
The next board has a long list of issues to tackle, including decreasing student enrollment, possible changes to federal funding and school closures in the 2026-27 academic year.
In a statement, SLPS superintendent Millicent Borishade said she looks forward to working with both the new members of the board and the city’s newly elected mayor, Cara Spencer.
“SLPS is in full support of the City of St. Louis’ citizens having used their voices to elect the leadership that will continue to help shape SLPS and the City of St. Louis for the next several years,” Borishade said.
According to the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, the U.S. Department of Education has paused the release of some pandemic-era funding to school districts in the state.
A letter sent to states on March 28 said the Education Department will no longer liquidate any pre-approved projects, leaving school districts on the hook for millions of dollars' worth of projects they were supposed to be reimbursed for. DESE said it plans to ask for extensions, but it’s unclear whether SLPS has been impacted.
Election results must be certified by April 22, and board members are expected to be sworn in within two weeks of the election.
This story has been updated to add comments from several board candidates.
