State School Board Votes to Close Wellston
The Missouri State School Board voted today to close the Wellston School District. Wellston students will be Normandy students after this school year.
Normandy is only provisionally accredited; its student MAP scores are better than Wellston’s, but not by much. Normandy has shown admirable willingness to accept new students; however, it hasn’t demonstrated that it can provide a significantly better education than Wellston did.
If Wellston students were given a choice, some might wish to attend Normandy, and others would probably prefer other schools. It’s too bad that the board assigned everyone to a single district and did not allow the students and their families to make the decision.
Wellston students are left with one option besides Normandy: They can attend the St. Louis Public Schools’ Virtual School.
Last week I heard an interview on NPR of one mother who said that she was upset by the school board’s decision. She said that there is serious rivalry between the Wellston and the Normandy students, and that conflicts arise whenever they get together. I anticipate that she would have appreciated having more choice in her child’s education.
Comment by Christine Harbin — December 18, 2009 @ 10:43 a.m.
I sympathize with that mother’s concerns. Sadly, there are very few good options available.
Comment by Andrew Hanson — December 21, 2009 @ 7:33 p.m.