Ferguson-Florissant Board Race Gets Heated over Ferguson Ad

While many parents and teachers turned out to hear about Ferguson-Florissant's 2013-14 budget woes, their attention briefly turned toward the upcoming board election Wednesday night and one candidate's concerns.

During the board announcement section, , spoke about his concerns over practices of others.

Henson said he was concerned about an advertisement placed in the Ferguson Times by fellow board member Leslie Hogshead, which states her position regarding a previous vote over the lifetime health insurance for former district Superintendent Jeff Spiegel.

The ad says she didn't vote to support the measure.

In 2010, the Ferguson-Florissant Board of Education approved a vote to give Spiegel and his wife lifetime health insurance benefits after his retirement from the district. Spiegel retired in June 2011. According to a KMOV report, officials said the district could have saved tens of thousands of dollars, in its current budget state, if the board had not agreed to provide the lifetime coverage.

Hogshead said she is campaigning on the fact that her vote on the matter did not count.

But, according to Henson and other reports, Hogshead did vote to support the bill over the phone.

“I was legally not allowed because I was out of town,” Hogshead said Wednesday night.

Hogshead cited the Missouri's Sunshine Law as reason the vote didn’t count.

The state’s Sunshine Law states that members of an elected public body must be physically present and in attendance at a meeting for a roll call vote, except in case of an emergency where less of a quorum could participate and vote by phone or Internet.

Henson said it's not a matter of whether the vote counted, but what was said on the phone. He said he doesn't understand the point of Hogshead distancing herself from the issue.

The election will be held April 2. There are four candidates for two seats, including Henson, Hogshead, Keith Brown and Larry Thomas.