The Missouri Board of Education voted unanimously to strip the district's accreditation, which goes bye-bye on January 1, 2012. The district gets two years to try to establish provisional accreditation, meaning it'll have to meet six of the 14 standards that the state requires. KCTV5 reports that the district is meeting only three standards — and all of those standards are outside the area of academics.
If the district fails, the state will take over.
The district put a positive spin on the situation, issuing a press release saying the state board decision "is the first step to help the district regain full accreditation."
"While we are disappointed with this decision, we understand the basis upon which it was made," interim Superintendent R. Stephen Green said in a statement. "Student achievement remains our top priority, and we will couple with this a focus on restoration and recovery of our accreditation status."
The district clarified in its news release that there will be no "immediate impact on students."
"Schools will continue to operate as normal," the release said. "Children currently enrolled in KCMSD will have valid diplomas and be eligible for scholarships. The unaccredited classification speaks only to the effectiveness of a school district, not its students."
This is all due to poor student performance and test scores. The district lost accreditation in 2000; it's been on provisional accreditation since 2002.
The district was hoping to be reaccredited, but KCTV5 points out that those hopes were a joke.
"No district in the state scored lower than Kansas City on the state's review list," KCTV5 reported.
The district has opened a phone bank to answer questions from parents and the community. It'll run from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. today through Friday. The number to call is 816-418-7266.
The district is also holding a pair of town hall meetings, starting tonight at 6:30 at Paseo Academy (4747 Flora), and tomorrow night at 6:30 at Manual Career and Technical Center (1215 East Truman Road).
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