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Kansas City Schools Remain Unaccredited

The Mo. State Board of Education meets on Oct. 22, 2013.  They chose to take no action on a request to consider reclassifying the K.C. School District, which has been unaccredited since Jan. 2012.
Marshall Griffin/St. Louis Public Radio
The Mo. State Board of Education meets on Oct. 22, 2013. They chose to take no action on a request to consider reclassifying the K.C. School District, which has been unaccredited since Jan. 2012.

Public schools in Kansas City, Missouri, will remain unaccredited.

The State Board of Education on Tuesday chose to take no action on a request by Kansas City Schools Superintendent R. Stephen Green to grant provisional accreditation, based on this year's assessment scores in which the district placed within the provisional range.  But State Board President Peter Herschend says there hasn't been sufficient improvement sustained over a period of time.

"It's like a baseball team having a winning streak of one – that's not a streak," Herschend told reporters.  "That's a good performance, glad they won, but they sure didn't win the division title."

Education Commissioner Chris Nicastro had also recommended leaving Kansas City schools unaccredited.  The district is also awaiting the outcome of a lawsuit before the Missouri Supreme Court that has so far delayed implementation of the state's student transfer law in Kansas City.

"We are in the business of getting kids educated so kids can read well, and they can do math well, and they can do social science and science well," Herschend said.  "(Kansas City schools) made progress, but they didn't get off the floor."

Superintendent Green has released the following statement:

"Today the state board took no immediate action on our request for provisional accreditation. We appreciate theState Board, especially President Peter Herschend, not only for its thoughtful deliberations during this process, butfor allowing our team to make a comprehensive presentation on our academic progress last month. The issue of thisschool system's accreditation will ultimately impact thousands of children across our city and region, and today'sconsideration demonstrates the board's willingness to thoroughly vet our request.The board had three options regarding our status – they could have voted in favor of provisional accreditation, theycould have denied our request or they could continue to deliberate. They chose not to take action at this time. Wewill do everything we can to help them make an informed decision as they progress.The actions that KCPS is taking toward regaining full accreditation and beyond will continue full throttle, withoutdelay and without distraction. We will continue to meet with DESE monthly, as we have during the last two years,and we'll do everything possible to produce the third consecutive year of increased student achievement desired byDESE and Commissioner Chris Nicastro. As I mentioned in a letter to our team this morning: we can't let upnow."

 

Follow Marshall Griffin on Twitter:  @MarshallGReport

Copyright 2021 St. Louis Public Radio. To see more, visit St. Louis Public Radio.

Missouri Public Radio State House Reporter Marshall Griffin is a proud alumnus of the University of Mississippi (a.k.a., Ole Miss), and has been in radio for over 20 years, starting out as a deejay. His big break in news came when the first President Bush ordered the invasion of Panama in 1989. Marshall was working the graveyard shift at a rock station, and began ripping news bulletins off the old AP teletype and reading updates between songs. From there on, his radio career turned toward news reporting and anchoring. In 1999, he became the capital bureau chief for Florida's Radio Networks, and in 2003 he became News Director at WFSU-FM/Florida Public Radio. During his time in Tallahassee he covered seven legislative sessions, Governor Jeb Bush's administration, four hurricanes, the Terri Schiavo saga, and the 2000 presidential recount. Before coming to Missouri, he enjoyed a brief stint in the Blue Ridge Mountains, reporting and anchoring for WWNC-AM in Asheville, North Carolina. Marshall lives in Jefferson City with his wife, Julie, their dogs, Max and Mason, and their cat, Honey.
Marshall Griffin
St. Louis Public Radio State House Reporter Marshall Griffin is a native of Mississippi and proud alumnus of Ole Miss (welcome to the SEC, Mizzou!). He has been in radio for over 20 years, starting out as a deejay. His big break in news came when the first President Bush ordered the invasion of Panama in 1989. Marshall was working the graveyard shift at a rock station, and began ripping news bulletins off an old AP teletype and reading updates between songs. From there on, his radio career turned toward news reporting and anchoring. In 1999, he became the capital bureau chief for Florida's Radio Networks, and in 2003 he became News Director at WFSU-FM/Florida Public Radio. During his time in Tallahassee he covered seven legislative sessions, Governor Jeb Bush's administration, four hurricanes, the Terri Schiavo saga, and the 2000 presidential recount. Before coming to Missouri, he enjoyed a brief stint in the Blue Ridge Mountains, reporting and anchoring for WWNC-AM in Asheville, North Carolina. Marshall lives in Jefferson City with his wife, Julie, their dogs, Max and Liberty Belle, and their cat, Honey.