A recent decision by the Mehlville Board of Education to reduce voluntary transfer student enrollment beginning with the 2005-2006 school year was one of the first of its kind in the region and has attracted the attention of other school districts.

But area administrators say Mehlville’s move to slowly retreat from the Voluntary Interdistrict Choice Corp. program is not affecting their districts’ future participation in the program.

Beginning with the 1999-2000 school year, court-ordered desegregation ended and was replaced with a settlement agreement that continues through the 2008-2009 school year. The corporation, comprised of participating school districts, voted in April to fully reimburse only school districts with per-pupil expenditures less than $6,850, which just includes a handful of area districts.

Districts with higher per-pupil expenditures will be partially funded at that level, but will have to eat any additional costs from their own funds. While no district completely has withdrawn from the program, many are considering whether they should reduce future participation levels.

Mehlville, with a per-pupil expenditure of $6,533.49 during the 2002-2003 school year, is one of the few school districts that will be fully reimbursed by VICC for its transfer students next year. Mehlville also is the third-largest participant of the VICC program.

Mehlville board members voted unanimously May 11 to follow a board-appointed committee recommendation to reduce VICC enrollment by 15 percent every year, beginning with the 2005-2006 school year.

Bruce Ellerman, chief executive officer of VICC, told the Call that Mehlville is a significant district in the corporation.

“Mehlville happens to be the first district that has taken formal action to do something more drastic than the controlled drop,” Ellerman said. “They did that, in that there are factors that are unique to the Mehlville School District. They view the program differently. There are different residential trends, budget issues. Each district gets to make its own decision. I don’t see — I’m not hearing other districts planning to follow the same path automatically. They’re all looking at their own decisions and situations.”

The city of St. Louis is divided into four areas that determine which suburban schools city students can attend if they participate in VICC. Mehlville’s 15 percent decrease should not cause an imbalance in city VICC zones, Ellerman said, but the overall number of new acceptances by all school districts are decreasing while applications are increasing. City VICC boundaries, however, will not be changed, he said.

“We would like to see the program stay around as long as possible, however we recognize the program is not going to be around forever and school districts have to make the right decisions for them so they don’t wind up running into a wall with the end of the program … The smart thing to do is to start slowing down if you know you’re going to hit a wall,” Ellerman said.

The Hancock Place School District, with a per-pupil expenditure of $5,500 per student, is another school district that will receive full reimbursement from the corporation for its VICC students — but unlike Mehlville, has no plans to change its level of incoming transfer students.

The Hancock Place School District is completely committed to the VICC program, Hancock Superintendent Ed Stewart told the Call, and has no immediate plans to reduce numbers of VICC students.

“We really have two reasons. First, we have to consider the finances,” Stewart told the Call. “We are what is considered a low-cost district and will be fully compensated because we only spend $5,500 a student. Financially, we are not losing any money, which is a big consideration.”

The second reason, the superintendent said, is his district’s commitment to diversity.

“The program has worked at Hancock. It’s been very successful,” he said. “We live in a time where diversity is important. We don’t have a lot of local resident minority students. VICC is good for the district. It’s positive for the district.”

The Board of Education in the Lindbergh School District, which spent $7,951 per pupil during the 2002-2003 school year, voted in January to annually reduce its future enrollment by 10 percent starting in the 2004-2005 school year.

“We felt, in fairness to our students, we would reduce our participation somewhat slightly each year knowing the VICC program no longer will be accepting new students,” Lindbergh Assistant Superintendent of Special Services Vicki Oldani said, speaking of the 2008-2009 school year.

Realizing that Lindbergh will not be fully reimbursed for its transfer students by the corporation next year, Oldani said, “At this point, the change in funding would not impact our ability to provide the level of education to all students in the district that we presently are providing.”

VICC enrollment at Lindbergh next year, with the 10 percent decrease, is projected to total 574 students, according to Oldani. The bulk of new enrollment, she said, will be at the elementary level.

This year’s VICC enrollment is 600 students, Lindbergh Superintendent Jim Sandfort told the Call, which is down from previous years in which VICC enrollment had been close to 1,000 students.

“The board spent some time discussing the issue …,” Sandfort said. “The general phase-out taking place really parallels the reduction taking place overall in the VICC program … In putting together an overall approach to VICC, the board is committed to maintaining diversity.

“The board believes diversity is essential to the quality of a good school district,” he added, noting that the board also is dealing with the reality of the nearing financial ending of the program.

The School District of Clayton Board of Education has been considering its future involvement with VICC as well. Board members were scheduled to vote on the matter Monday — after the Call went to press.

Like Mehlville, Clayton conducted a series of public forums designed to inform the public and solicit comment from the community. The dispute in Clayton, according to Clayton Superintendent Don Senti, was not if the district should reduce its enrollment.

“The dispute in Clayton is whether we remain in the program,” Senti told the Call.

Clayton’s per-pupil expenditure is about $12,000, of which only $6,850 will be reimbursed to the district next year for every VICC student.

“We are going to accept new students for the next year,” Senti said. “The whole issue is whether we take new students in the 2005-2006 year. We are sure of the kids we have now. The kids we take next year can remain in the school district until they graduate.”

By staying in the program next year, however, the district will have to come up with an extra $5,150 for each VICC student.

“We’re reducing our budget fairly dramatically. We still think it’s a financially feasible program,” he said. “Diversity is really important to our patrons and our students.”

Mehlville’s consideration of the district’s future participation in VICC began in March 2003 when former board member David Gralike made a motion to establish a committee to study the matter.

Former board member Richard Huddleston, who was board president at that time, served on the committee and was an advocate for the panel’s recommendation right up until his final meeting as a board member in April.

Huddleston told the Call Saturday that he commended the board for following the committee’s recommendation.

“The board and the whole committee needs to be complimented because they stepped up to the plate and took responsibility,” Huddleston said. “They didn’t shove it off to another board five or six years from now …”

Since the district did not opt out of the program, he said, administrators and the board can make gradual adjustments to the budget, staff, buildings and other needs of the district instead of facing a crisis at the end of the program.

Now the district “won’t be left holding the ball,” he said, if the program ends or other districts withdraw.

Gralike told the Call last week, “Despite the fact that many important objectives were accomplished during my two terms, it was difficult not to run for a third term because I was passionate about eliminating the Mehlville School District’s role in the voluntary transfer program. I was proud of our district’s involvement with the desegregation settlement that was finalized in 1999, allowing all school district’s participation to be voluntary, but I was adamant that we completely eliminate the Mehlville School District’s role in the program.

“It has always been my position that the success of public education is based upon local taxes for local children. In one of my last school board meetings, I attempted to absolve the district’s role in the voluntary transfer system, but my motion was negotiated to a review committee. I could not be more pleased with the committee’s recommendation and appreciate the board’s courage to support the committee’s decision,” Gralike added.

Asked why the Mehlville board approved the VICC panel’s recommendation, “I think my statements stand for themselves,” board member Mike Heins told the Call, referring to comments he made during a May 11 board meeting.

Asked if he believed the board’s decision regarding the downsizing of the VICC program would affect the district’s future level of student diversity, Heins said, “I believe my statements stand for themselves.”

Heins declined to make any additional comments about Mehlville’s future participation in the VICC program.

Contacted for comment about Mehlville’s VICC decision, board President Cindy Christopher, Secretary Marea Kluth-Hoppe and board member Rita Diekemper declined to comment. Board members Tom Correnti and Bill Schornheuser did not return this newspaper’s phone calls. Vice President Matthew Chellis was unavailable for comment. Superintendent Tim Ricker declined to comment.