The latest episode of Politically Speaking features St. Louis Public Radio’s Jason Rosenbaum and Kate Grumke talking with three school board members from St. Louis County districts about how they’ve navigated the COVID-19 pandemic.

Rosenbaum and Grumke talked with Katie Kaufmann of Maplewood Richmond Heights, Kristy Davis of Parkway and Miranda Jones of Jennings. All three serve on boards that had to make difficult decisions during the past 20 months, including when to bring students back for in-person learning and whether to institute mask mandates.

Here’s what Kaufmann, Davis and Jones talked about during the show:

• A previous episode of Politically Speaking with state Rep. Doug Richey, R-Clay County, who contends school boards need to alter how they handle comments from the public.
• Whether they knew what they were signing up for when they ran for school board posts, including dealing with an increasingly hostile meeting environment.
• Their districts’ experiences with virtual learning and when their districts chose to resume in-person school. 
• Whether districts are entering a different phase of the pandemic, now that vaccines are becoming available for younger children.

Follow Jason on Twitter: @jrosenbaum

Follow Kate Grumke on Twitter: @KGrumke