To the editor:

The Mehlville School District has seen a steady decline in academic performance since 2010. There are resources that show this like the state Department of Elementary and Secondary Education website.

Recently the board supported removing Mehlville from using the Missouri Assessment Program (MAP) testing as a benchmark for performance. Mehlville was not the only district to request this, as Lindbergh, Affton and other districts made the same request.

The Success Ready Students Network, the new assessment program touted by the current board, was created in January of 2022 and commissioned in the spring of 2022. There is no evidence of the performance of this new program.

If you spend time on the district website there is no mention of the current academic shortfalls and no published plan to improve academic performance. The current board consists of two members who have served two terms or more and one who has served over three terms. During that time the district’s performance has declined drastically.

The Mehlville School District represents the Mehlville/Oakville community. It will require action by the community to change the continued downward trend of academic performance. Mehlville is no longer a lower tax district with the recent increases over the past several years, yet it continues to underperform.

An election is coming in April. I am hopeful the Mehlville Community will decide to make the changes needed to help our students. It is well past time for a change.

Ben Droney

Oakville

Editor’s note: Ben Droney unsuccessfully ran for the Mehlville BOE in 2022.