NORMANDY • Several times a day, the new leader of Normandy schools takes the back stairs to the room two floors below his office, where parents are filling out forms to transfer their children out of his schools.
Superintendent Tyrone McNichols listens, with his hands in his pockets, to their frustrations. And then he tries to persuade them to stay. He tells them about the new reading curriculum at the elementary schools. He tells them about the principals he’s put in place at the high school and middle school.
He tells them about the sharper focus on science, technology, engineering and math that they’ll see throughout the district. And he promises to get them answers whenever they need them.
A few parents have decided to stick with Normandy. Most have not.
“I won’t be back here ever again,” said Keena Fredrick, after completing transfer forms Wednesday afternoon.
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Two weeks into his job, McNichols, 48, is facing a situation in this north St. Louis County school district that’s largely unprecedented.
A recent Missouri Supreme Court ruling is forcing him and other superintendents to comply with the state’s school transfer statute. It allows children living in unaccredited districts such as Normandy and Riverview Gardens to enroll in any higher-performing school district in the same or adjoining county.
As a result, McNichols has no idea how many children will show up when the school year begins on Aug. 19. He has no idea how much of his $50.1 million budget will be left to operate schools, once his district covers the tuition and transportation costs of the children who leave.
The impact of even six high school students transferring from Normandy to Ferguson-Florissant — where annual tuition for secondary students is $10,697.89 — would be equivalent to one average teacher’s salary. McNichols is hopeful that no more than a couple hundred of last year’s 4,200 students will leave. But he’s also planning for the worst.
He says he’s not losing sleep over the uncertainties.
“I see it as an opportunity,” he said. “It’s an opportunity to make a difference on a school district that has challenges.”
On Thursday morning, a constant trickle of parents came and went from the Board of Education meeting room at the Normandy School District offices on Lucas & Hunt Road. At that point, the district had processed transfer forms for about 300 students.
Zandra Chatman filled out a form to transfer her daughter, in middle school, to Ladue, Pattonville or Ferguson-Florissant schools. She paid no attention to the flat-screen television on one wall, and a slide show on another. Both flashed positive images of the district, such as the partnership it has with the Magic House, eighth-grade algebra courses, safety upgrades that were part of a recent bond issue, and a college savings plan.
Chatman said no image of the district could change her mind. No one could persuade her to keep her daughter in Normandy schools, she said. “They have no concern for the parents or the children,” she said. “It’s so many things.”
As she walked out the door, McNichols stopped her. For the next 15 minutes he listened to her frustrations with Lucas Crossing Elementary School, where her daughter attended last year. He listened to her complaints that district staff didn’t respond when she had questions. She told him it’s impossible for her to attend parent meetings that conflict with her work schedule, and how she can’t get information from the district’s website because she lacks Internet access.
“Their focus is on the wrong things,” added Tandra Stokes, another parent, who was standing beside Chatman.
“I hear what you’re saying,” McNichols said. “All that stuff is in the past.”
McNichols says he knew that turning around the Normandy district would be a challenging job. The school system lost accreditation in January. And then in June, the Missouri Supreme Court ruling was issued.
More recently, McNichols decided Normandy would send buses to the Francis Howell School District in St. Charles County — 20 miles away — for transfer students who need transportation. The state education department has advised Normandy and Riverview Gardens to provide transportation to just one district — and a second when space is no longer available — rather than provide transportation to any district as state law provides.
The Francis Howell decision has sparked questions from parents and politicians wondering if it was a ploy to keep students from leaving. McNichols said it was a choice based solely on the Francis Howell district’s strong academic performance, available space, and proximity to highways and interstates.
“Highway miles, we believe, will be more efficient,” he said. “Twenty miles on the highway is different from 20 miles on city streets.”
Before taking over as superintendent, McNichols spent 10 years in Hazelwood schools as an assistant superintendent and as an elementary school principal. Before that he worked in the Kirkwood, Clayton, St. Louis and Pattonville districts.
Riverview Gardens, the other unaccredited district in the region, also has a new superintendent, Scott Spurgeon.
McNichols said he’s putting a team in place to get his schools on a better path. He has hired Derrick Mitchell away from St. Louis Public Schools to lead Normandy High School. Mitchell served as principal of Vashon High School in St. Louis, where improvements in academics and behavior have caught the attention of U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan, who visited the school last year to highlight reform efforts.
McNichols has also hired GeNita Williams away from Jennings School District, where she led the turnaround of Jennings Junior High. McNichols expects Williams to do the same in Normandy.
But some parents who want to leave say they’re not willing to wait.
“It’s a good thing for these kids to go to other schools,” said Tracy Alston, after filling out forms to send two of her children to school in University City.
Normandy officials will continue holding transfer registration at school district headquarters until July 18. After that, it will be by appointment only until July 31. Parents should learn which schools their children will attend by Aug. 9.
For now, McNichols will continue going from his new office to the transfer room, to make his plea to parents.
“We’re not going to be able to fix everything,” he said. “But we’re going to try.”
