In Missouri, the St. Louis Student Transfer Program was established to increase racial integration in metropolitan area public schools under a Settlement Agreement reached in the St. Louis desegregation case and approved by the Federal Court in 1983. This Settlement Agreement allows African-American students residing in the City of St. Louis to attend one of several participating school districts in St. Louis County, provided certain eligibility requirements regarding residency and behavior records are met. The program also provides for non-African-American students who live in participating suburban school districts to transfer into St. Louis Magnet Schools in the city.
In 1999, a revised Settlement Agreement was reached amongst the various parties which transformed the federally supervised program into a “voluntary” program under the jurisdiction of a newly established 501( c )( 3 ) non-profit corporation, the Voluntary Interdistrict Choice Corporation (VICC), with the agreement that suburban school districts would continue accepting new transfer students and maintain certain targeted enrollment levels for at least a ten-year period ending in 2008–2009. This new agreement included language specifying that the program could be extended to accept new students beyond the 2008–2009 original ending date for new enrollments. A five-year extension pursuant to this provision was unanimously approved by the VICC Board in June, 2007. As a result, new students are continuing to be enrolled by districts
through at least the 2013–2014 school year. Once enrolled, students are allowed to continue their education in their chosen suburban district through graduation. Due to the success of the program, an additional extension for new enrollments could be considered in the future.
Originally under the supervision of the Federal Courts, the St. Louis Student Transfer program is now managed by a non-profit corporation governed by a board of directors comprised of superintendents of the participating school districts who decide policy and make decisions about the program in accordance with the provisions of the governing Settlement Agreement. Each board member’s vote is weighted in proportion to the number of transfer students his/her district receives.
The St. Louis Student Transfer program removes barriers to educational success and gives young people from a variety of racial and cultural backgrounds the tools that they need today to work together to meet the challenges of tomorrow. While no formal report on program effectiveness is required by the Federal Court or the State of Missouri, past studies conducted by VICC show a higher graduation rate (80—100 percent depending on county district versus 49 percent in the city), higher attendance rates (92 percent versus 89 percent), higher achievement levels over time on state standardized tests (as measured by the Missouri Assessment Program—MAP—test index scores) and more positive attitudes and success in integrated environments.
Source: VICC