SCHOOL MUST IMPROVE OR CLOSE DOORS; SUPERINTENDENTS INSIST DEADLINE WILL BE MET

Under Missouri's new education law, Leopold and Altenburg school districts have two years to meet minimum guidelines or close their doors.

But superintendents for both districts say the schools easily will meet the deadline for improvements.

Robert Turner, superintendent at Leopold schools, said: "We are not looking at merging or closing our doors. We know we are doing a good job here and we will do everything we can to keep the doors open."

Leopold and Altenburg are among three dozen small, rural school districts that don't meet the state's minimum standards under a classification system that labels schools unclassified, AA, AAA.

The new law, which goes into affect Aug. 28, gives unclassified districts two years to improve or face merger.

Leopold is Missouri's largest unclassified district, with 203 students. It is also one of just two unclassified districts that operate a high school.

Altenburg Superintendent Richard Hoffman said his school district, with 79 students, started the improvements needed to reach accreditation before the law was changed. Work will be stepped up to meet the two-year deadline.

"We kind of anticipated that we would need to work for classification in the near future," he said. "We didn't anticipate that it would have to be completed within a two-year period."

Altenburg is in the midst of erecting a building, a project initiated two years ago.

"The building will allow us to do many of the things we need to do," Hoffman said.

For example, grades one, two and three had been included in one class. The regulations limit combined classes to two grades. "We will be changing some teaching assignments and hiring a part-time librarian."

Missouri is also in the middle of changing its accreditation system. School officials have been evaluating districts according to new standards. When implemented, districts will be accredited or provisionally accredited and unaccredited.

Three of six years of the phase-in have been completed. However, until the re-evaluation process is complete, the old classification system remains in effect.

"We are in a unique position," said Turner. Leopold is unclassified under Missouri's old classification system, but is provisionally accredited under the new system.

Turner said he is sending a letter to state officials asking if the provisional accreditation will be considered when looking at the district.

"If they will judge us on the new system rather than the old system, that law doesn't affect us," Turner said. If not, he said, Leopold is prepared to make the changes needed to become classified.

"We are not that far away from being classified," he said. "We would probably have to hire an additional staff member and provide more time for administrators to do their jobs. But we think we should be evaluated on the new system."

Hoffman is watching what happens at Leopold.

"We're really hoping that Leopold gets a variance," he said. "We would much rather meet the standards of the School Improvement Plan than the old system."

The current classification system relies heavily on quantitative data like a minimum number of minutes students spend in physical education or music, a minimum number of library books, and a minimum number of minutes administrators must devote to their duties.

School officials were not overly concerned about their unclassified status because students in the school districts were achieving well.

The new system also takes academic outcomes, how well students perform, into account. "Our kids have performed very well academically," Turner said.

The drop-out rate is low. Most graduates attend post-secondary education. Leopold graduates earn top scholarships and two Leopold graduates have served as student representatives to Southeast Missouri State University's Board of Regents.

"We didn't really see where some of these (accreditation requirements) would benefit us," Turner said. "And it was going to cost money."

Hoffman agreed that since penalties were virtually non-existent and students were doing well, the district wasn't rushing to change.

"We had a great deal more flexibility as to how we used our staff," Hoffman said. "As long as I felt our public was satisfied and our students were doing well."

He said Altenburg students score well on the statewide MMAT (Missouri Mastery and Achievement Test) and are successful in high school.

Hoffman said the new accreditation system allows more flexibility.

For example, Altenburg School has a small library. "But we have a regional library a block and a half from school," he said. "It doesn't make sense to create another library. We would much rather incorporate that resource with what we already have."

Hoffman said the same law that requires districts to become classified also provides Altenburg with money to make the changes.

Under the most recent simulation Hoffman has received, the district's per-pupil expenditure will more than double.

"That extra funding will more than cover the cost of additional staff," he said.

But Hoffman is cautious. "There are still so many questions about Senate Bill 380 and with the potential appeals and court decisions that funding could erode."