As of July 1, the Riverview Gardens School District will join St. Louis Public Schools as public school districts in the St. Louis area governed by a Special Administrative Board.
Tuesday evening, Missouri Education Commissioner Chris Nicastro – a former superintendent of the district when known as “Chris Wright” – said she would recommend the appointment of a three-person SAB after the district lapses on June 30.
Nicastro will recommend three names to the State Board of Elementary and Secondary Education today (Thursday).
The State Board declared the Riverview Gardens School District to be unaccredited in June 2007, due to chronically low academic performance. By state law, the district’s administration should have been dissolved after two years when it remained unaccredited. The State postponed action for a year, which led to the deadline June 30, 2010.
“The district will lapse on June 30,” Nicastro said Tuesday. “‘Lapse’ is the term used in state law. It means that a district closes. The students can then be assigned to other districts or be served by a new, reorganized district under new governance. The latter choice is the one we’ve made for Riverview.”
Nicastro said an appointed three-person will assume the leadership of the district on July 1. This would nullify all existing district contracts with teachers, staff and vendors.
Nicastro said that though the elected school board will have no jurisdiction after June 30, “they can and will provide important counsel throughout this process.”
The SAB serves for a three-year term but may be reappointed.