(St. Louis Public Radio) JEFFERSON CITY – The Jennings School District’s steady improvement in recent years was rewarded Tuesday with full accreditation, but requests for upgrades by the St. Louis Public Schools and Riverview Gardens were put on hold.
The state board of education paid special attention to the Riverview Gardens request to move from unaccredited to provisionally accredited because the change would affect the ability of students who live in the north St. Louis County district to transfer elsewhere.
In recognition of Riverview Gardens’ improvement – its annual performance score has moved to 79.3 percent from 28.6 percent in just two years – the state board said it would take another look at the district’s status at the end of the current school year. Normally, such reviews take place annually in December.
The board asked the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education to come up with a procedure for the expedited review for discussion at its meeting in January. The effort could be adapted for use with other improving districts, including Normandy, which is the only other unaccredited district in Missouri.
