The Francis Howell Transfer Decision: One Family’s Disappointment

“It’s a slap in the face.” That was parent Cameral Cotton’s response to the Francis Howell School District’s decision to not allow students from the Normandy School District to return this fall. A series of decisions from the Missouri State Board of Education and the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education made the action possible. Freshman Mar’Kita Fields, senior Mark Fields, and fifth grader Georgina Montgomery are among the 350 Normandy students who had applied to return to Francis Howell.

Some Normandy residents complained that the transfer law made it possible to move into the district and transfer without having attended a Normandy school. Now, some parents are talking about moving just to avoid the non-accredited district.

Cotton said her children won’t be returning to Normandy. “I’ll move out of the district,” Cotton said. Cotton, like so many Normandy parents, said she will do anything to ensure her kids have access to a quality education.

When Cotton and I first met, she was hopeful that all three of her children would be able to return to Francis Howell. She smiled as she spoke about what the district had done for her kids. Watch the Show-Me Institute video below to find out her reaction to Francis Howell’s decision to turn away transfer students.