Missouri school transfer ruling opens old wounds - NorthJersey.com

Missouri school transfer ruling opens old wounds - NorthJersey.com:

Missouri school transfer ruling opens old wounds

THURSDAY AUGUST 8, 2013, 11:51 AM

ALAN SCHER ZAGIER AND HEATHER HOLLINGSWORTH

ASSOCIATED PRESS

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AP

Christina Holmes, left, 29, of the Normandy Schood District in St. Louis County holds her infant Kerian, one month old, as she discusses the school transfer program in Normandy, Mo. standing next to three of her children, left to right, Daevion 12,, Amelian, 10, and Andrew, 8, Wednesday, Aug. 7, 2013.

ST. CHARLES, Mo. (AP) — Beth Gratta has heard the whispers, read the venomous online comments and watched with dismay as some of her friends and neighbors publicly condemned a plan to bus 475 students from a distressed urban school district nearly 30 miles away to her children's better-performing suburban schools.
Yet Gratta, who teaches in another area district, said she is hopeful that her daughters, ages 7 and 13, and other students will be more accommodating than the parents, politicians and community leaders who worry the newcomers will bring increased delinquency, larger class sizes and lower test scores.
She'll find out soon: Classes began Thursday in the Francis Howell district. Nearly 2,600 students from the unaccredited Normandy and Riverview Gardens districts in St. Louis County are leaving for better-performing schools elsewhere after a recent Missouri Supreme Court ruling upheld such moves.
"The apprehension is still there," Gratta said. "A lot of the parents feel their children's

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