The Normandy School District has paid its first bill of more than $424,000 for students who transferred to Francis Howell under a law upheld by the Missouri Supreme Court.
Francis Howell Chief Financial Officer Kevin Supple said he picked up the check on Friday from Normandy. The district had billed Normandy Sept. 3 for the 449 students for who began attending Francis Howell schools when classes began on Aug. 8. Francis Howell plans to send bills monthly and will prepare another this week for the month of September.
In total, the Normandy School Board approved checks last week for more than $846,000 for August transfer payments to 15 districts.
The question of whether unaccredited districts will be able to afford the tuition has been a concern amid the unprecedented migration of students this year in the St. Louis region. The students were able to transfer after the Missouri Supreme Court decision ruled in June that children in unaccredited school systems — such as Riverview Gardens and Normandy — must be able to transfer to an accredited district. The unaccredited district must cover tuition and transportation costs.
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Normandy chose to bus students to Francis Howell, while Riverview Gardens selected Mehlville and later, Kirkwood. Throughout the area, two dozen districts accepted transfer students.
In all, 1,451 students requested to leave Riverview Gardens, and 1,189 asked to leave Normandy schools.
By some estimates, tuition and transportation for transfer students could cost Normandy and Riverview Gardens a collective $30 million — $13.6 million for Normandy and $16.6 million for Riverview Gardens.
State education officials estimate that without financial help, the Normandy School District could go broke by March. The Department of Elementary and Secondary Education has asked Gov. Jay Nixon’s office to seek $6.8 million in emergency funding to help the district make it through the end of the year.
