Hickman Mills School District expresses frustration with latest actions from Missouri education officials

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (KCTV) - A decision to delay the release of Annual Performance Report scores from the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) has a local school district expressing its frustration.

On Tuesday, Hickman Mills C-1 School District voiced its displeasure with the process from state education officials. Citing an April 2024 plan to change APR scoring in an effort to increase their timeliness in reporting data, Hickman Mills Superintendent Yaw Obeng said DESE officials are nearly halfway through the school year with continued delays in sharing critical data.

After initially saying information would be released to the media on Nov. 4 and to the public on Nov. 12, DESE said Tuesday the information now would be held until Nov. 19 and Nov. 25.

That delay has Obeng concerned that state officials will continue to ignore Hickman Mills’ request for accreditation status.

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“As of today, DESE has not responded to our October 31 open letter requesting a vote for accreditation reclassification during the December 3 state board meeting, nor has DESE even responded acknowledging that they have received our letter,” Obeng said.

“We fear that the new timing of this release could be used as a pretext to avoid discussing our accreditation status at the state board of education meeting scheduled for December 3,” said HMC-1 School Board President Irene Kendrick. “Or DESE once again making changes to the scoring system, which would be a disservice to our students, staff and community.”

Obeng said the district has worked with area supervisors from DESE to reach a point where they believe they’ve made the grade for full accreditation and area “eager to celebrate the accomplishments.”

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