A special administrative board will continue to oversee the Riverview Gardens School District in north St. Louis County through June 2022, the Missouri Board of Education voted Tuesday.
The state board also appointed Mary Oswald to the special administrative board to replace original member Mark Tranel, who is retiring. Oswald is a retired teacher and former member of the elected Riverview Gardens School Board.
Riverview Gardens lost its state accreditation in 2007 following poor academic and financial performance. The special administrative board took over in 2010.
“Riverview Gardens’ performance has improved under the (special administrative board), but there is still work to do,” said Margie Vandeven, state commissioner of elementary and secondary education, in a statement. “We believe extending the (special administrative board)’s governance is in the best interest of students and will continue to move the district toward full accreditation.”
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The other two members of the special administrative board are Lynn Beckwith Jr. and Veronica Morrow-Reel.
In 2013, the Missouri Supreme Court upheld a state law enabling children in unaccredited districts to transfer to better-performing districts throughout St. Louis County.
By the end of 2016, Riverview Gardens had earned provisional accreditation from the state, and the hundreds of transfer students have been gradually returning. The district has scored in the full accreditation range for the past four years on the state’s annual performance report.
Riverview Gardens and the Normandy Schools Collaborative remain the only St. Louis-area districts under provisional accreditation.
St. Louis Public Schools regained full accreditation in 2017. Last month, Missouri education officials voted to return oversight of the district to the city school district’s elected board after 12 years under a special administrative board.