Governor also provides $1 million for intensive reading instruction in Normandy and Riverview Gardens
ST. LOUIS – Gov. Jay Nixon today visited the newly-established Normandy Kindergarten Center to announce an historic agreement among St. Louis-area superintendents and education leaders to provide a range of services aimed at improving the educational performance and financial stability of the Normandy and Riverview Gardens school districts. The goal of the agreement, reached after a number of meetings with the Governor’s office, is to ensure all students receive a quality education and to put Normandy and Riverview on a path to regain state accreditation.
As part of a restructuring plan, the governing board of the Normandy Schools Collaborative recently approved a plan to move kindergarten students to their own center at the former Bel-Nor elementary school and move sixth graders to the district’s elementary schools.
In addition, the Governor announced that he is providing $1 million in state funds for intensive reading instruction in Normandy and Riverview Gardens.
“We are here today to demonstrate the commitment of my administration, and the education leaders in this region, to actions that will ensure that all our children get the education they need and deserve to reach their full, God-given potential,” Gov. Nixon said. “Today, I am pleased to announce a historic agreement among St. Louis area superintendents to provide a range of resources aimed at improving student achievement and educational opportunities, while helping Normandy and Riverview implement their plans to regain accreditation from the state Board of Education.”
All 22 area school districts that are receiving transfer students have agreed to undertake one or more of the following:
- Providing teacher training and professional development programs;
- Deploying specialists in reading and math instruction to help teachers improve student achievement;
- Designing curricula that will improve academic performance;
- Providing instructional coaches to assist with high school AP courses in American government, statistics, English and biology;
- Reducing tuition for students transferring out of the Normandy Schools Collaborative and Riverview Gardens school districts; and
- Reducing costs by using the combined purchasing power and existing contracts of the districts.
A steering committee including Dr. Kelvin Adams, St. Louis Public Schools; Karen Hall, Maplewood-Richmond Heights; Dr. Donna Jahnke, Ladue; Dr. Chris Kilbride, Ritenour; Dr. Charles Pearson, Normandy Schools Collaborative; Dr. Sarah Riss, Webster Groves; Dr. Scott Spurgeon, Riverview Gardens, and Dr. Tom Williams, Kirkwood, has been formed to coordinate these plans and expedite their implementation.
In addition, EducationPlus, a non-profit education consortium that serves public schools in the St. Louis region, will conduct an audit of the Normandy Schools Collaborative’s information technology systems, analyze academic performance data, and assess the curriculum to ensure all required courses are being taught by qualified teachers.
“It is important to note that some school districts already are supporting Normandy and Riverview Gardens in ways large and small. But the depth and breadth of this new collaborative effort – taken in the best interests of all the region’s children – is, quite frankly, unprecedented,”Gov. Nixon said. “It is tremendously encouraging to see the spirit of regionalism flourishing here, at such a critical time for St. Louis and for public education.”
The Fiscal Year 2015 budget included $3.5 million for intensive reading instruction in unaccredited and provisionally accredited school districts, of which $1 million was previously released: $500,000 to Normandy Schools Collaborative and $500,000 to the Riverview Gardens School District. This funding provides for teacher training, technology and other tools to promote early literacy. The Governor’s action today provides the remaining $2.5 million according to the following allocation: $500,000 for Normandy Schools Collaborative; $500,000 for Riverview Gardens School District; $1 million for St. Louis Public Schools; and $500,000 for Kansas City Public Schools.
Gov. Nixon has made public education a top priority of his administration: expanding access to early childhood education, providing record funding for K-12 classrooms, and holding down college tuition increases. As a result, math and reading scores have increased on his watch and Missouri’s high school graduation rate is in the top 10 in the nation. According to data, Missouri’s high school graduation rate has increased 5 percentage points since the 2010-11 school year, the fifth largest increase in the nation.
