STE. GENEVIEVE, Mo. The Ste. Genevieve County R-II Board of Education has unanimously approved a resolution opposing Missouri’s new A-F school grading system, joining a growing number of districts statewide rejecting a letter-grade framework created by executive order.
The board adopted the resolution at its regular open-session meeting on Oct. 19, 2026, held at the Early Childhood Center Multipurpose Room, according to the meeting agenda; the vote is recorded in official meeting minutes published by Sun Times News Online. Board member Philip Kwan made the motion to adopt the resolution, and board member Martha Resinger seconded it; the measure passed unanimously.
What the A-F system is — and why the board objects
Missouri’s A–F framework gives public schools, districts and charter schools an annual letter grade based on measures such as test performance and how much students improve. High school grades also factor in graduation rates and measures of readiness for life after high school. For a closer look at how the grades are calculated and why districts are pushing back, read SEMO Link’s guide to Missouri’s A–F school grading system.
The text of the Ste. Genevieve resolution was not included in the published minutes. A resolution template circulated by the Missouri School Boards’ Association titled “Opposing the A-F School Grading System and Urging Legislative Action” has been adopted by multiple Missouri districts; it argues the system rests on an executive order rather than state law or formal rulemaking, relies almost entirely on state test results and the four-year graduation rate, and makes no adjustment for differences in the students a school serves. It urges the General Assembly to prohibit a single summative letter grade or at minimum require that any state rating system be authorized in statute and adopted through rulemaking with public comment and to fully fund the foundation formula.
Other Missouri districts have taken the same step this fall, including Van-Far, Hermitage R-IV and Webster Groves.
Professional development, enrollment and Prop SG
The Oct. 19 meeting also featured a report from Assistant Superintendent Dr. John Boyd, Jr. on the district’s Professional Development Day held Sept. 28, and an enrollment report from Superintendent Dr. Paul Taylor covering the state-counted enrollment from the last Wednesday of September, per the minutes.
Taylor also updated the board on the remaining projects funded by Prop SG, the district’s $20 million no-tax-increase bond issue approved by voters in April 2022, according to the minutes and the district’s own reporting.
One of those projects a new wrestling practice facility behind the Ste. Genevieve High School Performing Arts Center was recently dedicated in a ribbon-cutting ceremony followed by community tours and a halftime recognition of former Dragon wrestlers during the varsity football game against North County. The facility includes a large wrestling practice area, locker rooms, an office, storage space and a golf simulator room, and is designed to serve other programs as well, including golf, cheer, band, color guard, cross country, track and field and football. (Reports differ on whether the ceremony coincided with the Oct. 23 or Oct. 30 game against North County.)
Special education program spotlighted
Rounding out the meeting’s unfinished business, Middle School Principal Dr. Scott Mercer and Director of Student Services Dr. Jami Drury presented an overview of the high school’s high-needs Life Skills classroom serving special education students, the minutes show.
The Oct. 19 minutes published by Sun Times News Online are drafts and remain subject to final board approval.