The superintendent of Kansas City Public Schools went to Jefferson City Tuesday to make his case that the district should regain provisional accreditation early. Superintendent Steve Green pointed to a dramatic improvement in school performance reports and an audit that found no issues.
Green says a policy that would allow students to transfer out of unaccredited schools would harm the district’s progress.
“The transfer law is a serious threat to the trajectory and the projection and the directions that we have right now. If that we’re to happen to us, we’ve looked at it internally, and it would cripple us,” says Green. “It would cripple the progress that we’ve been making over the past two years.”
Green says if students start attending neighboring districts it could mean a more than 60 percent budget cut for the Kansas City district.
Kansas city came near to reaching provisional accreditation last year and hit the range this year. It was the first year to use a new evaluation based on test scores, attendance, and other data. Kansas City schools got a boost because students were improving even though most did not hit proficiency goals in core subjects.
The Missouri Board of Education will make a decision on whether to restore provision accreditation to the district in the next month or two.