Even as lawmakers and others got ready to craft possible changes to the transfer law, EducationPlus released guidelines for the next round of student transfers beginning this coming August.
The first round was a rushed affair. The Missouri Supreme Court did not uphold the transfer law until June 11, though the suit involved had been winding its way through the courts for several years and had already been upheld by the high court once.
But once the latest opinion was handed down, districts scurried to try to figure out how it could be implemented. The Department of Elementary and Secondary Education released a set of guidelines that has been revised several times since, but it made clear from the start that it was made up of suggestions only, not anything with the force of law.
Last week, EducationPlus -- formerly known as Cooperating School Districts -- put out a new timeline that it said had been put together by a committee of local school officials, even though it acknowledged that no one knows what the law will be when the next school year begins in August. The organization devised the logistics for last summer's transfers.
Starting this week, students in Normandy and Riverview Gardens who are currently in the transfer program were asked to file a form no later than Feb. 3 stating their intent to return to their new district when school resumes after the summer break.
Districts receiving transfer students would then put together a database of all those students who say they will be coming back. The families of those students will be contacted for appointments between May 15 and June 30 to complete a process that verifies their residency in one of the two unaccredited districts.
Students new to the process who want to transfer would complete an application at their home district. In Normandy, questions should be directed to assistant superintendent Trish Adkins at tadkins@normandysd.org; in Riverview Gardens, questions should be directed to associate superintendent Darlynn Bosley at dbosley@rgsd.k12.mo.us.
Placements would be made in July, with a lottery to determine placement for new transfer students. Receiving districts will be responsible for notifying students of where they will be attending class.
In addition to the timeline from EducationPlus and the guidelines from DESE, the Children’s Education Alliance of Missouri, which has been active in helping families maneuver their way through the transfer process, is holding a series of meetings for parents in Normandy and Riverview Gardens this month.
