School District of U City: DESE Confirms Accreditation

The Missouri State Board of Education met Tuesday determine accreditation classifications for school districts that needed classification or reclassification for the 4th Cycle of the Missouri School Improvement Program (MSIP).

The School District of University City was one of the districts up for review.

The nine school districts that were classified included: Climax Springs R-IV, Gorin R-III, Hickman Mills C-I, Morgan Co. R-I, Normandy, Scott Co. Central, Spickard R-II, University City and Winfield R-IV.

All of the classification changes are effective immediately except for Normandy, which is effective Jan. 1, 2013. The Normandy School District was unaccredited after years of underperformance.

A comparison of Normandy’s data shows their students’ 2012 MAP test scores in the bottom of the state below Kansas City and St. Louis school districts, which are already unaccredited.

“This decision was 20 years in the making,” said State Board member Mike Jones, who represents the St. Louis area. “How long do you stay in a model with a district where the children are not getting what they need? They don’t get a do over. It’s got to get better or you’ve got to do something else.”

Commissioner of Education Chris L. Nicastro expressed concern about the gap between minority achievement and non-minority achievement in the state.

"The minority achievement gap is everyone’s concern. We need to come together as a state, a community. We all need to address it," said Nicastro. "It is unacceptable that we continue to graduate students that are not ready to succeed."

By state law, an unaccredited school district has two full years to achieve accreditation by demonstrating a sustainable level of academic progress.

Classification actions taken Tuesday include:

Missouri has 520 school districts for the 2012-2013 school year and 506 of those are fully accredited. Three districts are currently unaccredited including St. Louis Public Schools, Kansas City Missouri School District and Riverview Gardens.

Normandy remains provisionally accredited through January 1, 2013.

Eleven districts are provisionally accredited: Calhoun R-VIII, Caruthersville 18, Gilliam C-4, Gorin R-III, Hayti R-II, Hickman Mills C-I, Jennings, Malta Bend R-V, Normandy, Spickard R-II and Swedeborg R-III.