DISTRICTS' REPORT CARDS DUE MONDAY

Monday will be show-and-tell day for all 524 Missouri school districts when they disclose their successes and failures in the form of a district report card.

This is the second year schools have been required to publicize such information. The requirement was written into law as part of Senate Bill 380, also known as the Outstanding Schools Act of 1993.

The Outstanding Schools Act requires districts to distribute the report cards to "all media outlets serving the district" and to make copies available "to all district patrons, and to each member of the general assembly representing the legislative district which contains a portion of the school district."

Similar to student report cards, which detail a child's classroom performance, district report cards provide statistical information about a district's performance for the preceding school year in areas such as finances, staff, salaries, class sizes and dropout rates.

The report cards include everything from student achievement test scores to the number of students participating in extracurricular activities in a district.

Chaffee and Nell Holcomb schools have already distributed their district report cards to area media. Both districts received Missouri School Improvement Program reviews by state teams last year. Chaffee received full accreditation, while Nell Holcomb received an accredited with distinction in performance rating, a new accreditation type and the highest in rank.

State revenues accounted for 50.33 percent of Chaffee's operating budget, while Nell Holcomb, a hold-harmless district, received 36.78 percent in state aid during the 1996-97 school year.

Chaffee schools reported a high school dropout rate of 5.57 percent. Nell Holcomb is a kindergarten through eighth-grade district and does not report that information.

Districts were creative in the distribution of their reports last year. Some schools, like Chaffee and Nell Holcomb, typed reports and sent them to area newspapers. Others, like Scott City school district, sent reports home along with student report cards. Still others, like Oak Ridge schools, used their Web site home page to post information.