Gov. Blunt signs law on school district boundaries

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) -- Parents in the Kansas City area who want their children in Independence schools got one step closer to their goal Wednesday, when Gov. Matt Blunt signed a law changing the process for moving school district boundaries.

Sen. Victor Callahan, D-Independence, pushed for the change, saying thousands of Independence and Sugar Creek residents live within the Kansas City School District but would prefer their children attend school in the Independence district.

Under current law, residents can petition for a vote to change district boundaries, and if one district's voters agree and the other's voters object, the decision goes to an arbitration board.

The bill requires arbitrators to approve the change if the receiving district's scores merit being accredited in its latest annual state review and the losing district's scores merit an unaccredited status.

The Independence district met all 14 performance standards in its 2006 review. Kansas City schools met just three of those standards but are currently provisionally accredited.

Districts must meet nine standards for full accreditation and six for provisional status. Their accreditation level is typically determined every five years, but can be done more often.

The bill also allows a public vote to occur at an earlier election than provided for under the old law.

Some Kansas City Democrats argue the change could result in segregation of Kansas City area schools, with white students fleeing to Independence and black students being left in Kansas City.

The underlying legislation also extends the First Steps program for developmentally disabled toddlers and other special education programs that would have expired if the Legislature did not act.

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School district bill is SB112.

On the Net:

Legislature: http://www.moga.mo.gov