Big School Vote in Kansas City! Will It Come to St. Louis Next?

Voters in the section of the Kansas City school district that lies in the suburbs of Independence and Sugar Creek approved a boundary change, switching their schools to the suburban school districts and out of Kansas City. The Kansas City Star has the round-up here. The fact that voters in both the old and new districts approved the switch likely means it will move forward smoothly, but a recent change to state law requiring approval from only voters within the area intending to move, rather than the voters from both the old and new districts, made the change easier.

The new law applied only to unaccredited or provisionally accredited school districts, and I wonder whether it applies to St. Louis as well. I think this is the relevant statute. It states that it applies only to cities with more than 350,000 people — which would, at least for now, exclude St. Louis. But it adds, "and in any other school district if the local board of education does not anticipate a return to accredited status …"

So my question is, what is preventing parents in the St. Louis School District from seceding and incorporating into neighboring suburban districts? Especially if, as I understand it, only the people in the area moving need to approve the vote? Somebody who knows more about this than I do should feel free to correct me if I’m wrong, at david.stokes@showmeinstitute.org.