A proposed 400-unit apartment complex could mean one or many of the following for Skaith Elementary School: trailers, bigger class sizes, revoked student transfers, new school boundaries and at least six new classrooms. All are possibilities, Skaith principal Dr. Matthew Martz and St. Joseph School District assistant to the superintendent Steve Huff said Friday. Thursday evening, Deer Park-area residents protested developer Tim Rowland’s proposed development for southeast St. Joseph, citing concerns with Skaith overcrowding.

Steven L. Craig opened his first business when he was 9. On his parents’ Country Club Village lawn, he started a fireworks stand. Thursday, he was at Missouri Western State University for an announcement: He’s putting $5.5 million toward the university’s business program. Mr. Craig, who’s lived in California since graduating from Savannah High School in 1973, founded Craig Realty Group — a Newport Beach, Calif., company that owns and manages 13 upscale factory outlet centers in six states.

Soaring food prices have claimed another victim: the St. Joseph School District. The district expects its food costs to increase 7 percent between the 2007-08 and 2008-09 budgets. During a Board of Education committee meeting last week, district administrators attributed the hikes to a combination of factors, including price spikes felt globally, lack of local vendor competition and the district’s move toward more healthful, more expensive items. The district is buying more fruits and vegetables and fewer potato chips.

The community needs to find a way to fix bad roads so that the northeast part of town can get a new elementary school, some of the community’s most influential people told the St. Joseph Board of Education Monday evening. Last month, the city of St. Joseph’s Planning Commission unanimously recommended that the City Council deny the school district’s request for a conditional use permit to build a school on the site. The two-lane asphalt country roads in the area are not up to par, commission members said.

Three-year-old Ashleigh Coe couldn’t crawl. Dylan Irvin helped change that. “Dylan got down on the ground with her at preschool and started crawling with her, and now she’s crawling,” said Ashleigh’s mother, Laurie Coe.

James Jones raped a 15-year-old girl when he was 17, a Buchanan County jury decided in 1990. Now 36, Mr. Jones wants to attend his child’s Truman Middle School eighth-grade graduation. But since he’s a convicted sex offender, Missouri law and St. Joseph School District Superintendent Dr. Melody Smith told him “no.”

Two hundred forty-eight students attend Lake Contrary Elementary School. Connie Shirey can rattle off all their names, knows which parent each lives with and almost knows phone numbers by heart.

Rachel Scott saw a girl sitting alone in the Columbine High School cafeteria. So she and her two friends left their table to join the girl. Two student gunmen killed Rachel and 12 others at the Littleton, Colo., school on April 20, 1999.

The St. Joseph School District’s plan for opening and closing schools has hit an unexpected roadblock. St. Joseph’s Planning Commission threw up the block with a unanimous vote against the district’s request for a conditional use permit for a new elementary school on Karnes Road between Woodbine and Leonard roads. Narrow roads that lack sidewalks, curbs and gutters in the area make for a risky school location, commissioners said. The $6 million to $8 million in city funding needed to improve roads near the site isn’t taxpayer friendly, they said. And city funding for those roads is not in sight.

Juan Barrera wants his son’s life to shine brighter than his own. His son, Felipe Barrera, strives to meet that goal. Zach Hill considers his father, Rich Hill, his friend — a fun friend who teaches him right from wrong. Felipe and Zach, both Bode Elementary School students, placed in the National Center for Fathering’s “What My Father Means to Me” essay contest.