By Maria Hickey, KWMU
St. Louis, MO. – The state is taking over control of the Wellston School District in St. Louis County.
The Missouri Board of Education voted unanimously Thursday not to re-accredit the district. The district had been without accreditation since June 2003, the maximum time allowed under state statute.
Department of Elementary and Secondary Education spokesman Jim Morris says the board is likely to appoint a three-member panel to oversee the district.
"Wellson schools will remain open, the operation of the state should be temporary." Morris said. "That might be a matter of a few months, or a few years, but in any case our goal would be to return governance to local people."
The district lost accreditation due to low test scores. Morris says this is the first time a district has been dissolved in Missouri.