JEFFERSON CITY • Members of the Missouri Board of Education began the unprecedented task Monday of remaking the Normandy school system, which is about to become the first district in the state to fall under their direct oversight.
They approved a budget. They set the calendar. They rehired Superintendent Ty McNichols and about a third of the district’s teachers.
And over four hours, it became clear that restarting the troubled Normandy School District would go much deeper than finances and personnel: The state board would be poised to break new ground. No one has successfully transformed a high-poverty school system.
“This is new territory. There’s no question it is,” Education Commissioner Chris Nicastro said. “It’s clear to all of us something different has to happen. We can’t afford to allow our urban school districts to fail, and we can’t continue combining one with another and expect the problems to go away.”
People are also reading…
That’s what happened in 2010 when the state board dissolved the failing Wellston district and sent those children to Normandy schools.
Monday’s move also stands apart from St. Louis and Riverview Gardens, where the state board stripped control from elected school boards but took no oversight authority.
Among the changes for the 3,000 children who will attend the Normandy Schools Collaborative will be a longer school year this coming term — 183 days, compared with the 174 days required by the state. The following year, they will be in class almost year-round, with 194 instructional days.
State education officials said they will work attracting strong teachers and principals.
“You really want to say, ‘Come work in Normandy if you want to make history,’” said Michael Jones of St. Louis, vice president of the board. “Because that’s what we’ll be trying to do.”
REDUCED TRANSFERS, COSTS
In May, the state board voted to lapse the unaccredited Normandy district and replace it with the Normandy Schools Collaborative. The new district will be removed from elected school board control and given to an appointed board. For the first time, the state will have the final say in financial, academic and policy decisions for a school district.
By 2013, Normandy had lost accreditation and had become the worst performing school system in Missouri. This spring, it also was buckling under the expenses associated with the state’s school transfer law.
Under the law, about 1,000 children transferred from Normandy to higher performing districts in the region. The resulting $1.5 million in monthly tuition and transportation costs drained Normandy and led to discussions that prompted the takeover.
The state board on Monday took several steps to reduce transfer expenses. First it voted to waive the accreditation status of the Normandy collaborative, rather than classify the new district as unaccredited. This will stop any new transfers out of the district. Then the state board approved a budget that reduces the tuition the collaborative will pay to receiving districts: an annual $7,200 a student. This past year, the district paid on average $12,200 per transfer student.
It will be up to the 20 districts that accepted Normandy students to decide whether the children will remain in their schools. Representatives for the Francis Howell and Ferguson-Florissant districts, which enroll the most Normandy transfers, said their boards must digest the state board’s actions before making a decision.
The state board went further and curtailed the number of existing transfer students who could remain in their new schools. The 131 transfer students who have not attended school in Normandy for at least one semester must return to the district or find another option this fall. Transportation for students who transferred to Francis Howell schools will continue.
Board member Victor Lenz of St. Louis County supported the move to scale back the transfer program. Too many parents moved to the district solely to transfer their children, he said.
“We have an academic problem that has been exacerbated by the financial situation,” Lenz said of Normandy.
A few board members said they wanted to give the benefit of the doubt to parents who had transferred children without having first sent them to Normandy schools.
“Many of them made what was in their mind a rational decision: to enroll their child in an accredited school district,” said board member Charlie Shields of St. Joseph.
Curtailing transfers would cut the program’s expenses in half, to about $6.5 million in this year. It’s an amount officials say the new Normandy can more easily absorb.
NEW DISTRICT LEADERS
The state board appointed three members of Normandy’s new governing board: Charles Pearson, the head of Innovative Education Solutions; Richard Ryffel, a banker and former chairman of Beyond Housing; and Reginald Dickson, a board member of St. Louis Community College. Two to four more appointees will be added, Nicastro said.
Unlike appointed boards that govern Riverview Gardens and St. Louis Public Schools, this one will report directly to the state Board of Education.
Every quarter, Normandy’s new board will report on the district’s progress. Targets will be set.
“We’re going to give it our all, certainly,” Ryffel said after the meeting.
State board members said high expectations must be set for the adults in Normandy, starting with its new leaders.
“The role of this board as appointed by the state Board of Education will be pivotal in the success of the district,” said Peter Herschend of Branson, state board president. “If they do their job, and they hold the academic leadership feet to the fire, we can look for change to begin. If they don’t, nothing will happen. It’s as simple as that.”
Education department staff told the state board that during visits this year, they found classrooms of children who were ready to learn.
“The climate was safe. The hallways were clean. The kids were in their classrooms,” said Margie Vandeven, deputy commissioner of education. But the level of teaching was not rigorous enough, she added.
The vast majority of children in Normandy schools score below grade level in reading, Vandeven said. “If people continue to believe these students will not be able to pull out of this, we will have zero success.”
The state board approved the rehiring of 71 of Normandy’s 250 teachers at their current salaries. It is possible that more Normandy teachers will be rehired. The pool of outside candidates is expected to be small given that most teachers secure work in the spring for the following school year.
Those who reapplied had to submit lesson plans, writing samples and evaluations. Their applications were scored.
Herschend asked whether department set the bar high.
“As long as it’s tough,” Herschend said. “It’s got to be tough.”
Jessica Bock of the Post-Dispatch contributed to this report.
