State School Board says no for now on Hickman Mills’ re-accreditation status

By Kathy Feist

About a dozen people from the Hickman Mills School District and 20 students attended a ”Made the Grade” watch party this morning at the Real World Learning Center in hopes of a re-accreditation announcement by the state school board. 

They watched a live 30-minute power point presentation–both impressive and emotional– by Superintendent Yaw Obeng before the board members of the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) in Jefferson City. 

But there would be no celebration at Hickman Mills schools. Board members said no to reinstating full accreditation to Hickman Mills. 

“To be very clear, tremendous work is happening at Hickman Mills and the board supports its efforts,” stated Board President Charles Shields. “But I am confident there will be no action from this board at this time.”

“We feel there is a need to maintain a degree of fidelity to our reclassification system,” he further explained. 

DESE has introduced a reclassification system that relies on composite scores from three years rather than just a single year in order to be reclassified. 

There are three classifications: partial accreditation (50-69%),  full accreditation (70-94%) and accredited with distinction (95-100%).

Hickman Mills’ APR scores reached 72.7% this past year.  In the past, simply reaching 70% would have reclassified Hickman Mills as fully accredited. 

Under the new reclassification standards, a school district must reach a composite score of 70 percent or more in order to obtain full accreditation status. 

Hickman Mills’ scores have been: 62.2% in 2022; 62.5% in 2023, and 72.7% in 2024. Its composite score is 68.3%.

Board members agreed that based on estimated scores from Hickman Mills’ 2024 data, the trend on composites are closer to 70%. However, unlike Kansas City Public Schools which received full accreditation in 2022 despite their scores, the rules will not bend for Hickman Mills.

“It’s a tough decision. But we feel fidelity to our 518 school districts is important,” Shields repeated.

Shields is referring to the 60 schools (including Grandview and Center) that would lose their full accreditation status if DESE chose to use the old system. That’s a large number, considering only six schools in Missouri were rated “provisionally accredited” prior to the pandemic. 

The board members decided in January that DESE would wait one more year before it downgrades–or upgrades–accreditation categories for school districts, giving many a chance to improve their composite scores.

Hickman Mills’ Improvements

In 2022, knowing that students would be behind due to the pandemic closures, DESE scratched the previous APR scoring system and created a new one, now called Missouri School Improvement Program (MSIP6). Considered more rigorous, scores are based on academic achievement, academic growth, attendance, school readiness, student readiness for the next academic level and beyond, graduation rates, and planning for improvement.

So how did Hickman Mills fare this year? 

Below are highlights from Obeng’s presentation. (The full power point presentation with more details can be found here.)

“I hope you see how hard we worked,” Obeng choked with emotion, a testament to the stress accrued during his 5- year determination to achieve re-accreditation. 

• The district received a score of 96.7% on Continuous Improvement over the past three years. 
• Academic Improvement was 72.7%.
• Testing students three times a year, Hickman Mills projects over a 3% growth in Missouri Assessment Program (MAP) proficiency scores in Math and Reading, Grades K-9. Math proficiency increase of 6.3% over three years and Reading proficiency at 14% over two years. 
• Hickman Mills has a fund balance between 40% to 54%, necessary for re-accreditation. 
• Hickman Mills started a Real World Learning Center last year where students can “engage success on different pathways.” 
• A newly implemented full-day Pre-K program available every school day has increased enrollment.
• Hickman Mills began a Student Achievement Plan, in which each student has key areas of improvement identified and strategies to achieve them. 
• The graduation rate is 92.1%.
• Teacher salaries were increased after a successful school tax levy vote. The district, once known for having the lowest teacher salaries in Kansas City, became one with the highest paying salaries. 
• Teacher retention is 74% to 86%. 
• The community has supported two bonds and a tax levy in the past three years.
• Around $2.6 million was spent on safety. 
• Two middle schools were created.

After one successful power point slide after another, Obeng ended his presentation on a high note. 

“We are going to climb. We are going to soar,” he exclaimed before he choked with emotion, “Regardless of where we are.”  

The Telegraph reached out to the Hickman Mills School District for comment but received no response.