Board of education to vote on KCPS accreditation Tuesday

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — When the Missouri state board of education meets at 8:30 a.m. Tuesday in Jefferson City, it can vote whether or not to restore full accreditation to Kansas City, Missouri, Public Schools.

The district misplaced accreditation in 2000; the primary public faculty district within the nation to accomplish that.

In the years since, it has gained, misplaced, and regained provisional accreditation, however by no means obtained full accreditation.

The Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education stated its metrics qualify KCPS for full accreditation and it has really useful the board approve the qualification Tuesday.

“I talked about giving people hope when I started [in 2016]. Everything we’ve been doing, people now can say it’s been working. No matter how hard it was, no matter how uncomfortable it made us, it was the right thing to do,” Superintendent Dr. Mark Bedell instructed KSHB 41 News anchor Dia Wall in an unique interview.

Bedell shall be in Jefferson City for the vote.

Over the previous 22 years, highschool diplomas from KCPS have nonetheless been legitimate and college students had been eligible to go on to faculty.

But the district had to pay tuition for college students who transferred to different accredited districts.

Since 2000, KCPS has misplaced greater than half its pupil inhabitants; from roughly 30,000 college students in 2000 to 14,000 in 2021. As a consequence, it has closed and consolidated faculty buildings.

To regain accreditation, the district had to present consecutive years of assembly or exceeding state requirements in a range of classes from commencement charges to standardized testing.

Bedell admitted work within the district doesn’t cease with regaining accreditation. He hopes to construct on the momentum.

“We’ve got a lot of work to do. I want our district to be at or above state averages in every measurable outcome. I want us outperforming every urban school district in the United States,” he stated. “And we can do it.”

The board of education meets at 8:30 a.m. KCPS plans to maintain a information convention in Kansas City at 3 p.m.