After reviewing the district's years of struggling academic performance, today the State Board of Education took no action on a request from the Kansas City school district for provisional accreditation. This means that the district will remain unaccredited. The Department of Elementary and Secondary Education notified the district earlier this month that it would not recommend a change in accreditation to the State Board of Education at its October meeting.

At the September State Board of Education meeting, Dr. Steve Green, Kansas City schools superintendent, requested that the Department recommend changing the district’s accreditation and that the State Board classify the district as provisionally accredited.

“We have carefully considered the district’s request and its progress this year, but we want to ensure that progress is sustainable,” said Peter Herschend, president of the State Board of Education. “We owe it to the children to use the accountability system to accurately reflect the district’s performance.”

The district’s first performance report under the Missouri School Improvement Program 5 (MSIP 5) showed progress from prior years in three of four academic areas, yet 70 percent of Kansas City students are not reading or performing math at grade level. Commissioner Nicastro told the district that one year of progress was not enough to determine a sustainable trend.

The district remained at unaccredited levels during the seven years of MSIP 4. MSIP 5 requires data from the three most recent annual performance reports to identify trends and status in performance outcomes. The state board has the discretion to deny provisional accreditation based on those factors. This is the first year MSIP 5 standards have been used.

The State Board of Education classified the Kansas City Public School District as unaccredited in 2012.

The Department will continue to work closely with the Kansas City School District to help maintain its progress and build upon its improvement efforts.