Last Thursday the Missouri Board of Education today appointed a three-person Special Administrative Board to assume governance of the Riverview Gardens School District, effective July 1.
Commissioner of Education Chris L. Nicastro recommended and the board approved Lynn Beckwith, Veronica Morrow-Reel and Mark Tranel for the SAB.
Beckwith, a veteran of the St. Louis Public Schools and former superintendent of the University City School District, currently serves as professor of urban education at the University of Missouri-St. Louis.
A loan coordinator for Citizens National Bank and member of the Dellwood Board of Aldermen, Morrow-Reel is a resident of the Riverview Gardens Schools District and has been active in district activities for many years.
Tranel is director of the Public Policy Research Center at UMSL, former director of development for the Economic Council of St. Louis County and district resident who has been active on district committees for years.
The district will lapse on June 30 according to state law because of its failure to regain accredited status. All current contracts between the school board and current staff and vendors will terminate at that time. The SAB will have to issue new contracts for all administrators, employees and vendors for the next school year.
The SAB does not have authority until July 1, but it will begin working immediately to prepare for the transition in leadership of the district, Nicastro said.
The 6,600-student school district, located in North County, has been unaccredited since 2007 and by law should have lapsed in 2009, at which time an extension was granted.