Brad Christ

I love St. Louis County and all it has to offer — I grew up in Shrewsbury, went to Affton Public Schools, SLUH, and DePaul, and now my wife Erin and I are raising our four kids — Vivian, Hazel, Olive, and George — right here in Sappington.

I'm running to keep South County the kind of place where families like ours can thrive for generations to come.

To my wife and best friend, Erin, and to all moms across Missouri for your love and selflessness — Happy Mother's Day!

Modern car engines are cleaner and more efficient than ever before, making the requirement for emissions testing in the St. Louis area an antiquated mandate.

This is a broken program, and it’s time for common sense reform. Join me to initiate emissions testing reform: http://bradchristformo.com/emissionspetition

It is always a good week when my family gets to come visit me in the Capitol for the Governor’s BBQ. Also, Monday was Ken Waller Day. Ken always wore American flag suits, hence the patriotic gear! Plus I got to see my buddy Dane’s two meatballs, Kroy and Truss 😃 Two weeks of session left, thanks for all the support!

Missouri’s current emissions testing program is antiquated, redundant, and costly.

Modern vehicles are engineered to meet strict EPA standards. As older, less efficient vehicles from previous decades leave our roads, the necessity for mandatory testing diminishes. It is time to save the state and drivers both time and money.

Let's end a program the market itself is rejecting. www.bradchristformo.com/emissionspetition

As many are aware but some may not be, HB 2933 is a bill dealing with the withdrawal of school districts if they so choose from the Special School District of St. Louis County. To provide you with an update on the legislation I would like to give you a full synopsis thus far:

First, let me be very clear, the intention has never been to eliminate SSD. Since filing this bill against the wishes of the biggest school district in the State, many narratives have been twisted through many channels. My full intention, as always, is to support my constituents and district in the House of Representatives. This bill is about students and families; and not institutions.

Second, I also want to be transparent about the conception of the bill. About twice a year, I have lunch with Lindbergh superintendent Dr. Tony Lake to catch up on district or State education issues and to grow our relationship. We agree on certain issues and disagree on some as well, which is and should be very normal. However, regardless of any issue I will always help them where I can. For example, while they opposed SB 727 a couple years ago, I helped them fix a foundation formula issue for their specific district providing an avenue for significant additional funding. I just worked with and helped them fix an issue in Representative Taylor’s property tax bill that is currently working its way through the legislative body. Point being, while I am a believer in educational reform, I am not anti-public school and continue to support public schools. We can do both! I will always work with anyone on any issue if it is the right thing to do. Last Summer/Fall, Dr. Lake set a lunch with me and asked me about my experience with SSD. I told him what I would tell you. I am very active in my district and when I speak with SSD parents, more times than not, they have or have had issues and concerns. That was then proceeded by his issues and concerns with SSD and his student/family population. As we continued the conversation over a few months, while I did more research, and with his and his board’s encouragement, we put this bill together and I filed it.

So, what does this bill do? To give you a statewide picture, St. Louis County and Pemiscot County are the only counties in the State that have a county wide special school district. I tried to keep this bill very simple and very local. A local decision of their elected board and a local decision of the entire community on the ballot. If a school district wants to remove themselves from SSD, first the school board must vote to approve it. If approved by the board, it would then trigger the entire school district to vote on it, on the ballot. If approved by the community, then that SSD levee collection within boundaries of the school district would go to them instead of SSD, so they can use it to build out their special needs services. So, to be clear, the superintendent would have to pitch and sell their board on how and why they should do it, that board has to say yes, and then it is up to them to also pitch this to the community and voters, and for the voters to approve removal from SSD. It is a pretty clean and democratic process in my eyes with major local input of local elected officials, the school district, and all constituents.

Since I have filed this and continue to learn more about SSD, for every parent that has concerns with my bill, I have also had the opposite that heavily support the bill due to their personal struggles with SSD. Other points discovered for reform that I feel are worth noting:

● I found other school districts that are interested in the legislation. This link (https://www.stltoday.com/news/local/education/article_4ea40ae1-ec25-484e-9da4-db55db85699f.html) is a Post-Dispatch article from last year where Hazelwood School District is being quoted as supporting and exploring alternative options. SSD has also had struggles staffing the various demographic areas of the county.

● There have been safety concerns within the district. This link (https://www.stltoday.com/news/local/education/article_7f38de56-0cf9-4721-9e43-56dcfcbacd67.html) is a Post-Dispatch article that highlights safety concerns from teachers and parents in SSD.

● I have learned that a few years ago, they were in a significant surplus and are now operating at over a $50M deficit. Here is a link(https://www.ksdk.com/article/news/local/st-louis-special-school-district-concerns-students-teacher-shortage-budget/63-18860e74-b9b3-40b7-b4ab-4f9572cb742a) addressing these concerns. At that type of deficit to our taxpayers, I would fully support a State audit.

● Just recently, a federal DOJ probe revealed violation of federal law and awful information about seclusion rooms and restraints on children within SSD. That is attached in this link (https://www.stlpr.org/education/2026-02-23/st-louis-special-school-district-federal-law-violations) and is blatant and unacceptable child abuse.

● AND FINALLY, this link (https://drive.google.com/file/d/12q7MYMXjV4TOFopUS7H9bHkF9O_idCIv/view) is a study from 1998 completed by the SSD Governing Council on determining whether a plan should be developed whereby the local school districts assume a greater responsibility and authority in the education of children with disabilities in St. Louis County and one of the outcomes of this study completed by SSD suggests a potential redesign model that would allow for the voluntary assumption of responsibility by districts willing and able to take it on, which is exactly what this bill attempts to accomplish.

My point in all that being, something here is very amiss and reform is needed in some fashion. I think this is a clean good bill and a decision that makes this a very local decision and not a Jefferson City decision. And again, this isn’t some pie in the sky idea where we are gambling on the education of our special needs children in this bill. Every school district in the State operates this way and many have very great special needs services.

That being said, I know this is very sensitive and complex, and am very open to improvements on this bill. I truly want what is best for the special needs students of my district and all of St. Louis County. I heard from many parents, teachers, schools, etc. through my office and at the public hearing on the bill. The Lindbergh administration and board came and testified in support of the bill. Unfortunately, despite being at the hearing, many SSD admin and board members did not testify. The public hearing video may be viewed at the following archive link: (https://sg001-harmony.sliq.net/00325/Harmony/en/PowerBrowser/PowerBrowserV2/20200831/-1/14675?mediaStartTime=20260325173828&mediaEndTime=20260325191828&viewMode=3&globalStreamId=4) (the link only allows a certain length, the rest of the hearing can be found on https://house.mo.gov/MediaCenter.aspx on Archive Video date 03/25/2026 in the General Laws committee). After listening to all feedback, I created an amendment that was added to the bill in committee that adds the following:

● Bans seclusion rooms to avoid the child abuse seen within the DOJ probe.

● The levee transferred is to be dedicated to special needs services in the school district withdrawing from SSD. This ensures taxpayer money intended for special needs services will continue to be for those services with the withdrawing school district.

● If an SSD teacher seeks employment with the withdrawing school district, then their tenure would transfer. Some withdrawing teachers and school districts may want those teachers to remain in those schools, and I do not want to disrupt their tenure.

● Children within the current SSD phase three schools shall be grandfathered in with the withdrawing school paying the tuition. These are some of our children with the most challenging needs and any disruption to these families can be the hardest. This will ensure the least disruption of services to all children.

● Again, as stated above, Pemiscot County is the only other county in the State with this structure. Their county and school districts asked to be and were removed from the bill as they have no reform concerns.

Where does this bill go next? Not to get into the weeds on internal bill movement policy, but the bill is currently in rules committee. If voted out of rules, it will then head to the floor calendar for perfection and debate, where the bill can be further modified. If then approved by a House vote it would head to the Senate for that entire process to happen in that chamber. With only four weeks left in our legislative session, the outcome of this passing is bleak. If that is the outcome, I encourage this legislation to be a jump start for reform between SSD and their partner districts, as well as for robust and professional discussion in our community on the best way to serve our special needs children.

As always, please contact my office if you would like to further this discussion. Also, Dr. Lake at Lindbergh has been very helpful and more than willing to discuss their desire for this legislation and the mechanics of what future local Lindbergh special needs services could do for our community. Have a great day and thank you!

To say G was locked in for his first track meet is an understatement 😂😂

Parents shouldn’t have to wonder if their neighborhood is getting less safe.

I support fully funding law enforcement and holding violent offenders accountable, while making sure taxpayer dollars are spent wisely.

If government wastes money, families pay for it.

That’s why I’m committed to digging into spending, cutting what doesn’t work, and demanding transparency.

I was honored for the second year in a row to have another priority public safety bill signed by our Governor yesterday. Safe communities and supporting our first responders should never be in question. SB 888 modifies provisions relating to the criminal systems.

- Allows for record sharing to enhance the ability of law enforcement and prosecutors to track cases and juvenile adjudication history.
- Adds increased penalties for sexual criminal offenses.
- Supports sentencing reform efforts by streamlining processes and adding transparency in parole eligibility calculation.

"Missouri must address the revolving door for repeat violent offenders—and that includes juveniles," said Governor Kehoe. "I would like to thank the members of the General Assembly for getting this priority legislation to my desk. This bill delivers for law enforcement, prosecutors, and the safety of our communities by giving our criminal justice system the authority to respond to serious juvenile and adult offenses and strengthening sentencing transparency. Together, we are continuing to build on our Safer Missouri public safety initiative."

It was also amazing to have my beautiful wife, Erin, by my side. Added bonus, my father Ray Christ and cousin Michael Christ (his first trip ever to the Capitol) were able to join. I will continue to work hard for our district and region everyday in Jefferson City.

Safety isn’t complicated.

I’m working to strengthen coordination with law enforcement and make sure our justice system actually protects victims and neighborhoods.

Families deserve to feel secure where they live.