## Facts

- A Missouri school district serving the Normandy attendance area was designated “unaccredited,” triggering resident students’ transfer rights under Mo. Rev. Stat. § 167.131.
- During the 2013–2014 school year, roughly 930 students transferred from the unaccredited district to accredited neighboring districts pursuant to § 167.131.
- The State Board later “lapsed” the former district and created the Normandy Schools Collaborative (NSC) to operate within the same boundaries under continued state control.
- After NSC’s creation, the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) advised receiving districts that accepting new transfer students would be “optional” for 2014–2015.
- DESE adopted a policy allowing only previously transferred students to continue or request transfers and barring other resident students from transferring for 2014–2015.
- Parents and students sued NSC, the State Board, DESE, and receiving districts, seeking declaratory and injunctive relief to enforce transfer rights under § 167.131.
- The trial court entered a permanent injunction preventing enforcement of the transfer-limiting policy and preventing receiving districts from refusing eligible transfers based on that policy.
- Defendants appealed.

## Issues

1. Whether lapsing the prior district and creating NSC changed the area’s “unaccredited” status for purposes of Mo. Rev. Stat. § 167.131.
2. Whether resident students within NSC’s boundaries retained § 167.131 transfer rights for the 2014–2015 school year.
3. Whether the State Board or DESE could, by policy or administrative classification, limit or extinguish transfer rights created by § 167.131.
4. Whether receiving accredited districts could refuse to accept transfer students based on DESE’s “optional” transfer guidance.

## Decision

- The Missouri Court of Appeals affirmed the permanent injunction.
- The court held that the creation of NSC did not terminate the unaccredited status relevant to § 167.131.
- The court held that students residing within NSC’s boundaries retained the statutory right to transfer to accredited districts.
- The court held that DESE and the State Board lacked authority to create policy-based exceptions that conflicted with § 167.131.
- The court held that receiving districts were required to accept eligible transfer students and could not rely on DESE’s contrary policy.

## Legal Principles

- When the statutory conditions in Mo. Rev. Stat. § 167.131 are met, resident students have a mandatory statutory right to attend public school in an accredited district, with corresponding payment obligations imposed on the unaccredited district.
- Administrative agencies may not amend, narrow, or create exceptions to unambiguous statutory rights through policy statements, classifications, or reorganization measures.
- For § 167.131 purposes, reconstituting an unaccredited school system under a new entity does not negate statutory transfer rights where the same territory remains without an accredited district.
- Receiving districts subject to § 167.131 may not treat transfers as discretionary when the statute makes acceptance mandatory.

## Conclusion

The court concluded that state-directed restructuring of an unaccredited district into NSC could not be used to restrict or end § 167.131 transfer rights, and it upheld injunctive relief requiring state education actors and receiving districts to comply with the statute’s mandatory transfer scheme.


Massey v. Normandy School Collaborative, 492 S.W.3d 189 (Mo. Ct. App. E.D. 2016)