EDWARDSVILLE — The Edwardsville School Board has suspended the district’s superintendent, Patrick Shelton, with pay pending an investigation.
Allen Duncan, who had been serving as an assistant superintendent, was named acting superintendent.
Shelton had led the district, which has about 7,200 students in K-12, since July 2021. His contract includes a base annual pay of $195,000 and provides 108 sick days per year, plus vacation and personal days. The contract runs through 2028.
The school board voted unanimously Thursday for the suspension.
Shelton came to Edwardsville from Lee’s Summit, a district in the Kansas City suburbs. He has also held leadership positions in Parkway School District.
In April 2024, officers from the Edwardsville teachers union sent a letter to Shelton and the school board over their concerns about the district’s leadership.
The union blamed low staff morale on rapid changes to school schedules, curriculum and technology, plus a shortage of substitutes. The letter also stated that there had been “an increase in negative student behaviors,” for which students were not being held accountable.
In March of this year, the school board pproved a plan to lay off 16 teachers, a rare decision in public schools. Shelton said at the time that class sizes would not increase as a result of the layoffs and no programs would be eliminated.
The school district “is financially healthy today, and we need to ensure that we continue to maintain that financial health,” Shelton said at the board meeting on March 24.
Edwardsville is the third district in the St. Louis area to suspend or fire its top administrator this year.
In March, Ferguson-Florissant in St. Louis County ousted Joseph Davis, who had been placed on leave after he was accused of sexual harassment and discrimination.
Francis Howell in St. Charles County entered into a “separation agreement” with Mike Dominguez this summer, shortly after he was to start the job. The agreement provided him with nearly a year’s salary.
Thursday’s vote in Edwardsville came during a closed executive session. A spokesperson for the school district said in an email Saturday that the district would not be commenting on a “personnel issue.”
Duncan, the new acting superintendent, has spent his entire career in Edwardsville, beginning as a high school social studies teacher.
Blythe Bernhard of the Post-Dispatch contributed to this report.
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Colleen Schrappen | Post-Dispatch
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