This article first appeared in the St. Louis Beacon, Jan. 17, 2013 - A divided board in Riverview Gardens has hired Scott Spurgeon, former superintendent of the Belleville Township High School District, to be the new superintendent in the north St. Louis County district that is unaccredited and under state control.
The vote to hire Spurgeon for three years at $170,000 a year was 2-1, with his hiring favored by members Mark Tranel and Veronica Morrow-Reel of the special administrative board that was appointed by the state in 2010. Lynn Beckwith Jr., head of the board, dissented.