The former executive director of North Side Community School could receive nearly $300,000 in public funding from the school even as he develops another charter school in south St. Louis.
Chester Asher signed a three-year contract with North Side in 2019 with an annual salary of $160,000. One year into his term, the charter school agreed to part ways with Asher, who stepped down to “fully commit his energy and talents for social justice,†according to a letter sent to school families.
Asher received a one-time payout of $86,796 in June in return for dropping all claims against the school, under the terms of his separation agreement. North Side will pay out an additional $210,817 to Asher for the remainder of his contract through June 2022, minus the take-home pay from any other job he takes.
Charter schools are publicly funded but operated by separate boards outside of school districts.
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Asher is now pursuing plans to open a charter school called Ali Academy in the Carondelet neighborhood. After leaving North Side, Asher became an entrepreneur-in-residence at the Opportunity Trust, which typically pays prospective leaders annual salaries of $90,000 to $125,000 to develop and open charter schools.
Mia Howard of the Opportunity Trust said Asher is not receiving a salary from the education reform organization.
“He reached out to us upon separating (from North Side) and said he was interested in starting a school in St. Louis,†Howard said. “If he was going to pursue that path and we don’t have to pay his salary, we wanted to make sure he’s getting the benefit of our programming. We are giving him the opportunity to build a world-class school with dedicated coaching and support.â€
North Side co-founder John Grote came out of retirement over the summer to replace Asher as director for one year, with a salary of $130,000. Grote said the settlement of Asher’s contract was a mutual agreement with the school’s board of directors.
Asher said opening a new charter school in south St. Louis is one career option he’s exploring.
“When you start your own school you get to pick your board, you get to hire that first batch of teachers and staff members to develop a culture, rather than it being a midstream change,†he said.
North Side opened in 2009 in the Kingsway East neighborhood and consistently posts high scores on state performance reports.
Grote said there were “standard transition problems†after Asher joined North Side for the 2019-2020 school year. Teachers reported low morale in the first month of school with the transition to a more rigorous curriculum. By November, a teacher told board members they were “struggling with the pressure of the pace and extent of changes taking place at North Side … and a desire not to lose the community feel of North Side.â€
Robyn Love-Clarke, a parent at North Side, told board members in October that there had been a loss of community spirit at the school and that her children were not as easygoing as in the past, especially missing the traditional Friday “field day†activities.
Board members and parents voiced concerns last fall about the influence of Opportunity Trust on the school’s culture and curriculum. The nonprofit helped fund the national search that led to Asher’s appointment at North Side, and has contributed at least $182,650 to the school for professional development, laptops and other programming.
When asked about the concerns from North Side board members, Howard of Opportunity Trust said, “we only care about kids, families and outcomes.â€
North Side’s payout to Asher after a mutual termination of the contract raises questions about the board’s stewardship of public funds, said local lawyer Mark Pedroli of the Sunshine and Government Accountability Project.
“If (Asher) left to pursue other interests, why are they paying him all this money?†Pedroli said. “It is concerning. It seems like a giant waste of taxpayer money.â€
Before coming to North Side, Asher led the Chattahoochee Hills Charter School in Georgia for close to two years. The school, which had an environmental focus where children helped grow crops and raise farm animals, became more focused on desk time and test scores, parents said.
“Until Asher came to the charter school it was a wonderful place, and by the time he’d been there for a year, everything changed and it was not recognizable from what it used to be,†said Kristie Baeumert, a former Chattahoochie Hills parent.
The Georgia school had an 84% teacher turnover rate under Asher, Baeumert said. During Asher’s one-year tenure at North Side, the school lost 23 staff members, including a majority of its elementary school teachers.
Asher said the complaints and teacher turnover reflect his high standards for the students.
“Wherever I go I’m going to look for excellence. Black and brown kids deserve that,†Asher said. “I’ve been blessed I’ve found a lot of people who are ready to do the hard work and sadly I’ve found a lot of people who want to maintain the status quo.â€
