For two years, Diane McCrary’s daughter has been able to attend one of the region’s best public middle schools. And she was enrolled and ready to start this fall at Clayton High, another top performer.
, the Legislature’s measure to modify a controversial student transfer law would change that: Before she enrolls in a higher-performing school, she must first spend a semester in one of the worst.
About 200 students are in a similar situation.
All live in the unaccredited school districts of Normandy and Riverview Gardens — and as such are entitled under the current transfer law to enroll in superior public schools. But the group of 200 have never attended the failing schools in their neighborhoods.
People are also reading…
Most — like McCrary’s daughter — previously enrolled in private schools. In 2013, when the Missouri Supreme Court upheld the state’s transfer law, they migrated to high-performing public schools tuition-free.
Now, a bill that has cleared the Legislature would deny transfers unless those students first attended their home school districts for a semester.
“We’re in a horrible situation,†said McCrary, a longtime resident of the Normandy district.
The current transfer law, which requires a home district to pay the cost of tuition and transportation, nearly bankrupted Normandy last year.
The Legislature has attempted to create a fix the past two years; Nixon last year vetoed the Legislature’s bill, which included an option for students to transfer to private, nonreligious schools. That option does not exist in this year’s version.
But the bill has been criticized for failing to include a tuition cap. , and Riverview Gardens officials also have said without a tuition cap, the district will continue to drain resources from students who choose to stay.
The provision in the bill says that students in unaccredited districts must attend an unaccredited school for one semester before transferring to an accredited school within their district. If those slots are full, students in unaccredited schools in urban or metropolitan areas such as ºüÀêÊÓƵ, Kansas City, St. Joseph, Springfield and Columbia may then transfer out of the district to an accredited one. They also may leave for an approved charter school or a virtual program.
Under the current law, all students living within a failing district’s boundaries have the option to transfer.
The Children’s Education Alliance of Missouri, which supports the expansion of school choice, is urging Nixon to sign the bill. But the organization also recognizes that the measure is not perfect and will hurt some families.
“The resilience and willingness to fight for their kids’ education has been enormous,†said Peter Franzen, associate executive director. “They have been subjected to a very bumpy road.â€
House bill sponsor Rep. David Wood, R-Versailles, said the semester requirement is to prevent people from moving to unaccredited districts or claiming residency, simply to be able to then transfer to schools elsewhere.
“We don’t want to penalize them, we just want to stop parents from taking advantage of the situation,†he said. He said the provision wouldn’t apply to students entering kindergarten or first grade.
McCrary has lived in the footprint of Normandy schools for 15 years.Her daughter went to private school before transferring to Brentwood Middle School two years ago. She is signed up to start as a freshman in August at Clayton High.
Most private schools completed their enrollment process months ago. And selling her home — which was down $17,000 in a recent appraisal — is not an option, McCrary said.
“It’s stressful because we don’t really know,†she said. “We’ve gone through this twice now.†Last summer, she was one of seven parents who filed a lawsuit when the State Board of Education took steps that would have cut off transfers for students living within the newly formed Normandy Schools Collaborative.
After the suit was filed, the board reversed its decision and allowed students to transfer who had not attended Normandy schools but lived in the district.
Now, McCrary and other families in similar circumstances are waiting to see what will happen to the bill. They would like to be grandfathered in, McCrary said.
A spokesman from Nixon’s office said Tuesday that the bill continues to be under review.
