Hundreds of students living in the Normandy School District boarded buses to distant schools in the Francis Howell district Thursday, marking the first wave of a transfer process that in coming weeks will send an additional 2,200 students to new school districts across the region.
The first day for those students was relatively calm, though there were some transportation glitches, such as buses taking children to the wrong schools.
Buses began driving through Normandy neighborhoods just after dawn Thursday, offering rides to 475 students who opted for transfers to Francis Howell.
A few minutes after 6 a.m., Toni Smith watched a bus pull away with her daughter and two other children headed for middle schools. Her son had left on a bus headed for Francis Howell Central High at 5:37 a.m.
“How did you find out about transportation?” she asked another parent at the stop. Both did not find out the exact pickup time until Wednesday. They said they felt “frantic” trying to nail down details before the first day of school Thursday.
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Despite the hiccups, officials and students at Francis Howell said they were happy to welcome the new students.
“We will work to make them feel like Francis Howell students, not Normandy students,” said Sonny Arnel, principal at Francis Howell Central High School. “They are going to be our students.”
Transfer students already were getting active in their new district before classes began Thursday, signing up for band, football and other activities, he said.
Under a Missouri Supreme Court ruling, students in unaccredited districts have the right to attend higher-performing schools, with the cost of transportation and tuition falling on the home district.
Students also will be bused to Mehlville and Kirkwood schools, from Riverview Gardens, the other district deemed unaccredited by the state Board of Education. The Ferguson-Florissant district also was enrolling hundreds of children.
Even as students were starting classes in Francis Howell, others were continuing to work through a potential legal issue. The Children’s Education Alliance of Missouri is still exploring a possible lawsuit against the Mehlville district for setting class-size limits that prevented dozens of students from transferring there.
But Mehlville Superintendent Eric Knost issued a statement Thursday saying the district has “mutually agreed to continue talks with all districts involved to formulate resolutions.”
‘THEY WANT
TO BE HERE’
The Francis Howell district did not provide information Thursday on how many of the transfer students who enrolled at the district made it to the first day of class. The district banned media access to its classrooms and designated certain students and parents to speak to reporters.
Students at Francis Howell Central High, which has 54 of the 475 transferring Normandy students, said they are excited to welcome their new classmates.
“They want to be here for a reason,” said Nicole Sutton, 17, a senior. “They are passionate to be here, and we are passionate that it will work out great.”
Sean Earl, 17, another senior at Francis Howell Central, said he is confident the Normandy students will fit in well at the school in St. Charles County.
“They are coming from 35 miles away,” he said. “It is up to us to be respectful and incorporate them into our school.”
Sean said the key to successful integration is in the hands of the Francis Howell students.
But for transfers, the transition process will also mean adapting to long bus rides and earlier pickup times. All of the students have commutes of at least 20 miles.
Some have farther to go to their new schools. The trek to Daniel Boone Elementary — where 14 Normandy students will attend — is closer to 40 miles away from some homes.
A half-dozen transfer students met their bus at 6:11 a.m. Thursday at Page and Woodruff avenues. Their pickup time had been 7:35 a.m. when they attended Normandy schools.
Among the students was Keisha Hill, a transferring sixth-grader at Francis Howell Middle, who said she hopes to play violin in the school orchestra. Keisha, 11, said she is relieved to get away from the bad behavior of some Normandy students.
“I’m a great kid, and I don’t get in trouble,” she said.
THE WELCOME WAGON
Parents chosen by Francis Howell to talk with reporters said negative comments about the Normandy transfer program during a contentious public hearing last month weren’t representative of the entire district.
Joe Falcomata, who has two children in the district, said he was “initially appalled at the face put on the district by a few parents.” That’s why he and his wife decided to help welcome Normandy parents and students to Francis Howell. That included providing gift bags to students at Castlio Elementary School, where his daughter is a third-grader.
The Falcomatas also are participating in a welcoming program at Saeger Middle School, where they have a son in seventh grade.
Parent Kimberly Thompson said she was concerned at first about class sizes and teachers being overwhelmed by additional students. But after talking with administrators, those initial misgivings are gone, she added. “The children are going to do just fine,” Thompson said.
Jessica Bock, Markia Holt and Ymani Wince of the Post-Dispatch contributed to this report.
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