Staff Report

Lindbergh and Mehlville school district residents can determine whether their local schools are making the grade by reviewing report cards recently released by the Mis-souri Department of Elementary and Se-condary Education.

The report cards, released Nov. 16, chronicle the state of each public school district and its schools to help the public evaluate how the district performed during the 2004-2005 school year.

This is the 10th consecutive year that the report cards, mandated by Senate Bill 380 — the Outstanding Schools Act — have been issued.

This is the first year that DESE has re-leased the report cards. Report cards previously were issued by each school district.

Information encompassing enrollment, graduation/dropout rates, staff, staff ratios, teacher salaries, finances, per-pupil expenditures and test scores is included in the report cards.

Information contained in the 2004-2005 report cards for the Lindbergh and Mehl-ville school districts includes:

Enrollment

• Lindbergh — The overall district enrollment was reported at 5,488, up from the previous year’s enrollment of 5,437. The district reported a 95.6 percent attendance rate, down slightly from the 95.8 percent reported the previous year. The state’s attendance rate was 94 percent, un-changed from the previous year.

• Mehlville — This district reported an overall district enrollment of 11,582, down from the previous year’s enrollment of 11,727. The district reported a 94.8 percent attendance rate, down slightly from the 95 percent reported the previous year.

Graduation/Dropout ratio

• Lindbergh — Lindbergh posted a graduation rate of 93.9 percent, up from the previous year’s rate of 93.1 percent. State-wide, the graduation rate for the 2004-2005 school year was 85.7 percent. The district’s dropout rate was 1.4 percent, down from last year’s rate of 1.8 percent. Missouri’s dropout rate was reported as 3.8 percent, up from last year’s rate of 3.4 percent. Of Lindbergh’s graduates, 47.7 percent went on to a four-year college/university, 37.3 percent to a two-year college and 4.5 percent to a technical institution.

Statewide, 38 percent of graduates went on to a four-year college/university, 26.1 percent to a two-year college and 4.3 percent to a technical institution.

• Mehlville — Mehlville posted a graduation rate of 87.9 percent, up slightly from the previous year’s rate of 87.5 percent. The district’s dropout rate was 2.4 percent, unchanged from the previous year. Of Mehlville’s graduates, 40 percent went on to a four-year college/university, 44.9 percent to a two-year college and 4.3 percent to a technical institution.

Staff ratios

• Lindbergh — The ratio of students to classroom teachers during the 2004-2005 school year was 19 to 1. The reported ratio of students to administrators was 249 to 1. Statewide, the ratio of students to classroom teachers was 19 to 1 and the ratio of students to administrators was 207 to 1.

• Mehlville — This district’s ratio of students to classroom teachers during the 2004-2005 school year was 20 to 1. The reported ratio of students to administrators was 309 to 1.

Salaries

• Lindbergh — For the 2004-2005 school year, the average teacher’s salary was $49,808, up from the previous year’s average salary of $48,961. Statewide, the average teacher’s salary was $39,066, up from the previous year’s average salary of $38,214.

The average administrator’s salary in the Lindbergh School District was $98,396, up from the previous year’s average salary of $96,820. Statewide, the average administrator’s salary was $72,889, up from the previous year’s average salary of $71,279.

• Mehlville — For the 2004-2005 school year, the average teacher’s salary was $47,886, up from the previous year’s average salary of $47,001. The average administrator’s salary in the Mehlville School District was $93,777, down from the previous year’s average salary of $95,594.

Staff

• Lindbergh — Of the district’s professional staff, 74.4 percent held advanced degrees, up from 73.4 percent the previous year. Statewide, 49.5 percent of professional staff held advanced degree, up from 47.5 percent the previous year.

Lindbergh’s professional staff had an average of 12.9 years of experience, un-changed from the previous year. State-wide, professional staff had an average of 12.8 years of experience, down slightly from 12.9 years the previous year.

• Mehlville — Of the district’s professional staff, 68.6 percent held advanced degrees, up from 67.1 percent the previous year. Mehlville’s professional staff had an average of 13.5 years of experience, up slightly from 13.4 years the previous year.

Finances

• Lindbergh — For the 2004-2005 school year, Lindbergh’s assessed valuation was $1,005,911,360, down from last year’s assessed valuation of $1,006,033,730.

The school district’s tax rate was $3.1492 per $100 of assessed valuation. Of the district’s funding, 89.81 percent came from local sources, 7.5 percent from state sources and 2.69 percent from federal sources.

• Mehlville — For the 2004-2005 school year, Mehlville’s assessed valuation was $1,376,521,790, up from last year’s assessed valuation of $1,371,484,080.

The district’s tax rate was $3.952 per $100 of assessed valuation. Of the district’s funding, 81.42 percent came from local sources, 15.04 percent from state sources and 3.54 percent from federal sources.

Per-pupil expenditures

• Lindbergh — The average per-pupil expenditure for the 2004-2005 school year was $8,015.09 up from the previous year’s per-pupil expenditure of $7,731.60. The average cost to educate a student in Mis-souri was $7,679, up from the previous year’s cost of $7,456.

• Mehlville — The average per-pupil expenditure for the 2004-2005 school year was $6,841.96, down from the previous year’s per-pupil expenditure of $6,974.18.

ACT scores

• Lindbergh — During the past year, 311 Lindbergh graduates — 74.8 percent — took the ACT, posting a composite score of 22.5, up slightly from the previous year’s composite score of 22.4. Statewide, 34,638 graduates — 70 percent — took the ACT, posting a composite score of 21.6, up slightly from the previous year’s composite score of 21.5.

• Mehlville — During the past year, 589 Mehlville graduates — 64.8 percent — took the ACT, posting a composite score of 21.8 percent, down slightly from the previous year’s composite score of 22.