The Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) has released the statewide Annual Performance Reports (APRs) for the 2022-23 school year. APRs demonstrate the progress local education agencies (LEAs) and their individual buildings are making towards meeting the Standards and Indicators in the sixth version of the Missouri School Improvement Program (MSIP 6).

There are several key considerations when reviewing the 2023 APR data:

The State Board of Education (State Board) announced that Senator Karla Eslinger will assume the role as the state’s next commissioner for the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) effective June 1, 2024, after concluding her work in the Missouri Senate during the 2024 legislative session.

Today, Meghan Menchella, a social studies teacher at Crestview Middle School in the Rockwood School District, was presented with the national Milken Educator Award.

Today, Leah Lawrence, a seventh grade English Language Arts (ELA) teacher at Hardin Middle School in the City of St. Charles School District, was presented with the national Milken Educator Award.

The Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) has awarded the first-ever state-funded “Grow Your Own” grants to 125 local education agencies (LEAs). Review the list of those grant recipients here. DESE’s Fiscal Year 2024 budget includes $2.5 million to support one-time grants of $10,000 to LEAs to create or strengthen their local “Grow Your Own” program, designed to increase recruitment of quality teachers in LEAs across the state.

At today’s State Board of Education (State Board) meeting, board members accepted the recommendation made by Commissioner of Education Margie Vandeven to complete the transition back to local governance for the Normandy Schools Collaborative and the Riverview Gardens School District. With this action, the Normandy Joint Executive Governing Board (JEGB) and the Riverview Gardens Special Administrative Board (SAB) are dissolved and will now be referred to as local boards of education in each respective district.

Missouri Commissioner of Education Margie Vandeven announced she will be stepping down from her position effective July 1, 2024. She has served as the Commissioner of Education for more than seven years, from January 2015 to December 2017, and again January 2019 to present.

During today’s regularly scheduled board meeting, State Board of Education President Charlie Shields announced that he had received Commissioner Vandeven’s resignation and invited her to share remarks.

Today, Governor Mike Parson announced a total of 566 school districts, charter schools, and nonpublic schools have received grant funds from the second round of funding for the School Safety Grant Program.

Today, the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) and Odyssey, a platform that helps states connect families to public funding and education services, announced the launch of the Missouri Close the Gap Grant program. This is a one-time grant of up to $1,500 for parents/guardians who reside in Missouri to use for allowable education expenses. Applications are now open and must be submitted by October 25, 2023.