When Superintendent Ty McNichols began leading the Normandy School District last month, he knew that regaining accreditation would be an uphill climb.
That hill appears to be more like a mountain based on today鈥檚 release of Missouri school district performance data.
The reports show great divides between the unaccredited Normandy and Riverview Gardens school systems and provisional accreditation 鈥 the designation both districts must earn to stop the expensive outflow of student transfers. The reports also paint a troublesome picture for 50度灰视频 Public Schools, where scores had been on the rise in recent years but now appear to have regressed.
Under a new scoring system this year, school districts receive points in such areas as academic achievement, college and career readiness, attendance and graduation rates.
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Districts must earn 50 percent or more of those points to be provisionally accredited, and 70 percent or more to be fully accredited. In the 2012-13 school year, Normandy earned 11 percent of the points. Riverview Gardens received 28.6 percent. 50度灰视频 Public Schools scored 24.6 percent, once again in the range of the state鈥檚 worst rating.
Changes in any accreditation status are subject to review by the Missouri Board of Education. Under the new scoring system, accreditation reviews won鈥檛 happen for at least another year or two, Missouri Education Commissioner Chris Nicastro said Thursday. That safeguards the 50度灰视频 district from losing accreditation this year, as well as the potential out-migration of transfer students.
In Normandy and Riverview Gardens, school officials have the pressure of time. They must improve to the point of provisional accreditation in the next year or two, or else face insolvency as they pay millions of dollars for the tuition and transportation of transfer students.
鈥淚t鈥檚 doable,鈥 McNichols said of Normandy鈥檚 journey. 鈥淚t鈥檚 going to be hard work. No one is fooling themselves to think it is easy.鈥
鈥淭he mission we have in front of us is absolutely doable,鈥 Riverview Gardens Superintendent Scott Spurgeon said in a different interview. 鈥淭he talents of both the staff and students are outstanding. This is going to be a tremendous success story.鈥
For many Missouri districts, the annual performance ratings are merely about bragging rights. But for the school systems on the lower end, the performance ratings can trigger a state takeover and other consequences.
That reality was amplified in June by a Missouri Supreme Court ruling that allowed students in the worst-performing districts 鈥 those deemed unaccredited by the state Board of Education 鈥 to transfer to higher-performing schools at their home district鈥檚 expense.
The transfer of about 2,600 students out of the Normandy and Riverview Gardens school systems is estimated to cost the two districts this year a combined $35 million in tuition and transportation costs.
鈥淚t is a model that could prove to be unsustainable,鈥 Commissioner Nicastro said in a conference call with reporters Thursday.
The department is revamping its approach to how it works with struggling school districts. Last week, the Board of Education directed the department to increase its support and monitoring of failing districts.
鈥淲e鈥檝e got to grapple with that issue,鈥 Nicastro said. 鈥淭hese are all our kids.鈥
In the case of Normandy, the out-migration of nearly 1,100 students leaves the district with an estimated $15 million in tuition and transportation bills. Its $50.1 million budget may not be enough to cover the rest of the school year. Nevertheless, McNichols and the district staff are focusing on literacy and science, technology and math education. Principals and teachers have told students they鈥檙e expecting near-perfect attendance and good behavior, McNichols said.
Riverview Gardens Superintendent Scott Spurgeon is pressing parents and others in the community to prioritize education by reading at night and asking students at barber shops and grocery stores about their classes.
鈥淭he student transfer situation has definitely brought the value of education to the forefront,鈥 he said.
50度灰视频 Public Schools, which received provisional accreditation last fall, must also perform twice as well or else face losing accreditation again in two years or less. Superintendent Kelvin Adams said the scores were 鈥渂leak.鈥 They partly reflect the district not adjusting deftly enough to the new scoring system, he said.
Thirty-four of the district鈥檚 72 schools performed at a level low enough that they would be unaccredited if the state designated such ratings to individual schools. Twenty schools in the district received scores of more than 70 percent.
鈥淚 don鈥檛 sleep anyway at night, so this means I鈥檒l sleep a little bit less,鈥 Adams said.
Each year, the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education evaluates school districts based on such measures as test score performance, attendance, graduation rates and college placement. And every four to five years, those metrics become more difficult.
This year, for example, rather than getting points for merely offering advanced placement courses in high school, students must do well on them. The measuring stick has changed for attendance and standardized test performance as well. It鈥檚 all part of an effort to prepare Missouri students to succeed in college and careers, Nicastro said.
