A decision by Riverview Gardens School District officials to send buses to the Mehlville schools in south St. Louis County has angered parents wishing to transfer their children under a Missouri Supreme Court ruling.
And it also left Mehlville Superintendent Eric Knost questioning the rationale. Just after Riverview’s special governing board made its decision Tuesday, Knost said he welcomes the students, but most classrooms in Mehlville are at capacity, leaving little availability for students who try to transfer into his schools.
“I communicated that to Riverview,” Knost said. “I asked the superintendent to communicate that to the board. If they have a high number of students who wish to transfer out of their district to Mehlville, we will have difficulty accepting a high number of students.”
The decision to send buses to Mehlville is the latest development after high court ruling in June upheld the state’s school transfer statute. The statute says students living in unaccredited school districts, such as Riverview Gardens and Normandy, may transfer to higher-performing public schools in the same or adjoining county. The failing school districts must cover the cost of tuition as well as provide transportation.
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The Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education is advising Normandy and Riverview Gardens to provide buses to just one district, and select a second district once classrooms in that district are full. Normandy officials have selected Francis Howell schools in St. Charles County.
Riverview Gardens Superintendent Scott Spurgeon said Tuesday that the selection of Mehlville — a district 22 miles away — was based on criteria such as performance data and tuition cost. He urged parents planning to transfer their children out of Riverview Gardens to reconsider and give the district a few more years to improve.
“We don’t want to lose any of our students,” Spurgeon said during the meeting at Westview Middle School.
Some parents at the meeting said they were waiting to hear the transportation choice before deciding where to enroll their children next year. But they had other closer school districts in mind, such as Clayton and Hazelwood.
“What they’re trying to do is keep us in this district rather than let us go where we want to put our kids,” said Bethanie Pollard, who wants to transfer her two daughters out of Riverview Gardens schools. “I think they are trying to pull a fast one.”
Mehlville has about 11,000 students in its 11 grade schools, four middle schools and two high schools. It is the southernmost district in the county, and its headquarters on Lemay Ferry Road is about 22 miles from the Riverview Gardens headquarters.
“I’m not even sure where that’s located,” said Monicee Cox, a Riverview Gardens parent with a daughter in elementary school.
Much of the frustration over the issue centers on the lack of direction in the state school transfer statute. The recent Supreme Court ruling didn’t give districts any direction other than to enroll students.
“The biggest problem is the Supreme Court made a decision, and I’m not at all going to second-guess their decision, but it’s a decision with a lot of fallout and no instruction manual,” Knost said.
The situation already has triggered calls for the Missouri Legislature to immediately convene a special session to address the issue. An online petition at change.org had more than 400 signatures on Tuesday evening. It asks Gov. Jay Nixon to “do anything in your power to amend the statute; keeping unaccredited district transfers within the boundaries of their home county, ONLY.”
But Nixon said he is not likely to act immediately on the issue. “At this particular juncture I don’t think that’s an issue that warrants a special session,” Nixon said at bill signing ceremony Tuesday.
Meanwhile, at a meeting Tuesday night for parents in the Normandy School District, representatives of Children’s Education Alliance of Missouri said if families wanted to get their children enrolled this August, it was best to follow the guidelines released by state education officials for school districts, rather than to fight for more options in terms of transportation to other districts.
“We can try and change it for following years, but for August, this is how it will be,” said Katie Casas, state policy director for the organization, which advocates for school choice. The group held a similar meeting last month for Riverview Gardens parents.
As of this week, Francis Howell administrators say they’ve received inquiries from 35 families about transferring.
Lorrine Word-Goodloe, who had a daughter in a Normandy school this year, said she’s considering it, although she’s not happy about the distance.
“When I heard Francis Howell, I had a fit,” Word-Goodloe said.
Earlene Campbell wants to send her 13-year-old daughter to Ritenour because her oldest son went there and had a good experience. It’s also closer than Francis Howell.
Ladue officials say the district has had inquiries from 69 families; Clayton, 232 students; Ferguson-Florissant, 214 families; and Hazelwood, 381 students.
Also on Tuesday, Normandy officials began processing requests to transfer. Parents said the line had about 75 people at the district office shortly after it opened at 8 a.m.
Nancy Cambria of the Post-Dispatch contributed to this report.
