U City School District Received Reprieve Says School Board Member

UPDATED: Story updated at 11:00 a.m. with comment from Joylynn Pruitt Superintendent of the School District of University City.

The University City School District will continue to keep its full accreditation status.

On Tuesday, the State Board of Education voted to delay until next year making an accreditation classification for University City.

Currently, the district meets 8 of 14 accreditation standards. Nine points denotes full accreditation. A state review now, could potentially find the district provisionally accredited. However, the state board's decision to hold over the accreditation review until next year means the district keeps its full accreditation status. The district last underwent a state accreditation review in 2008.

The action gives the school district more time to continue to implement academic reforms it hopes will maintain its full accreditation status.

Comment from Joylynn Pruitt,  Superintendent of the School District of University City:

I attended the State Board meeting yesterday (Tuesday) to hear any discussion that might occur about University City's classification. The Board voted unanimously to hold our status of fully accredited, which I personally feel is a recognition of the work we are doing and the positive impact it is having for students. We made greater gains this year and in the past several years than we have in many years, particularly in the area of student performance.

Do we still have work to do? Absolutely, and we will continue to stay focused on that work. Our academic reform efforts in the past three years with the instructional core model have shown a significant impact, and we have strategies in place to continue those gains and garner additional APR points.

Linda Russell Wesley, Director of Communications for the School District of University City, issued the following statement regarding the State Board's decision:

The State Board voted yesterday (Tuesday) to hold University City at its current classification of fully accredited, which allows us to continue our focused work to improve academic achievement for all students. While the APR data is a numerical measure and there are general standards tied to APR points and accreditation, it is not the only factor the Board considered yesterday in determining classification status. University City has shown improvement in all 14 areas of the APR for the past two years, and we have aggressive plans in place to improve additional areas of the APR this year and further increase our APR overall.

University City School Board member and Senator Maria Chappelle-Nadal (D-University City) gave the following statement to University City Patch on Tuesday regarding the state board's decision:

For the last 5 years, the annual progress report (APR) for University City has been equivalent to a provisional accreditation (7, 7, 7, 7, 8). This is a fact that can not be denied. Between 5 and 10 years ago, the APR was equivalent to a full accreditation. The School District has benefitted from a waiver in the last few years to extend a full MSIP (Missouri School Improvement Program) review.

As Senator, I believe school districts such as University City have received a reprieve this year. However, next year I expect the State Board of Education to buckle down with new standards that are put in place. Districts such as University City need to realize that only for so long will the State Board allow these opportunities. 

I have communicated with Commissioner Nicastro regarding the school districts within the 14th Senate District and requested two things. 1) Provide Normandy an extension for MSIP (Missouri School Improvement Program) review since they inherited the Wellston School District, and 2) look at the numbers in University City carefully and honestly.

I think the State Board of Education had reservations in assigning a provisional accreditation status to University City knowing that it would take an additional five years to remove that status and also knowing there will be new state standards put in place next year. It was a difficult decision for them to make.

As a senator, I would say this is the right time for stakeholders - that are not already involved - to become more engaged in the details and strategic planning of the district when it comes to laying out a pathway towards a legitimate full accreditation with new standards.

School Board member Rod Jennings gave the following statement to University City Patch regarding the State Board's decision:

We're just going to stay the course. This is what we worked hard for and I think many people didn't take us seriously when we said that we are going to keep our accreditation and work to improve it. We're just working good together as a board and as an administration and school district.

I think DESE (Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education) is looking at all the progress that we have made and progress is good. We're not stagnant. We're not falling backwards. We've worked hard and we're going to continue to work hard.