October 22, 2026
The Missouri State Board of Education met in Jefferson City on October 20 to discuss changes to the state’s new A–F school and district grading framework, advance the search for a permanent education commissioner, and address other matters affecting public education across Missouri. After the meeting, DESE Interim Commissioner, Dr. Stacey Preis, abruptly announced her resignation. A full recording of the open session meeting can be found here.
A–F School Grading Framework Moves Forward
One of the meeting’s primary topics was the state’s A–F grading framework, which will assign public schools, charter schools, and school districts an overall grade intended to communicate academic performance and progress to families and communities. Private schools may opt in to participate in this framework, but are not obligated.
Board members approved adjustments emphasizing student growth and improvement, with scores broken down by subject area and a more traditional grading scale. The framework considers academic achievement, student growth, progress toward proficiency, and a few additional measures for high schools, including graduation rates and success-ready graduate indicators.
The state expects to release the first school and district grade cards in December 2026, with additional releases in spring of 2027 and fall of 2027. Each of these iterations will be based on a different set of testing data (24-25, 25-26, 26-27, respectively), but literacy measures will not be included in the grade until the fall 20027 release.
School officials from across the state have expressed frustration with the new framework, citing it as a political play. Many have expressed concern regarding the nature of the calculations, the inconsistency and continued alteration of those calculations, the inequity of this grading system with regard to high-poverty populations, and the fact that the grades rely almost exclusively on end of year state testing data. Board member Vincent Schoemehl Jr. echoed many of these concerns to the Board as a whole, claiming the DESE seems to have a lot of sticks, but very few carrots for school Districts. This generated applause from the crowd of hundreds of school administrators from across the state.
Leadership Changes at DESE
The meeting also brought an unexpected leadership change. Dr. Stacey Preis resigned as Missouri’s interim commissioner of education, effective immediately, following the meeting. Preis had assumed the interim role in June after Dr. Karla Eslinger’s departure. During her press conference, Preis indicated that the Board would be better served by a different commissioner with their current set of priorities. She neglected to comment on which priorities she was referring to. She also chose not to comment on what indirect, outside pressures had urged her to step down.
On October 21, the State Board appointed Lisa Sireno, DESE’s deputy commissioner of learning services, to serve as interim commissioner, effective that day.
The board also voted to hire The K12 Search Group to assist in recruiting and evaluating candidates for the permanent commissioner position. The State Board will retain responsibility for selecting the next commissioner.
What Does this Mean for Missouri Schools?
The October meeting highlighted two issues with statewide implications: how school performance will be measured and communicated, and who will lead Missouri’s public education system during the transition.
As the A–F framework advances, district staff and community members should watch for additional guidance from the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE), including information about draft data, scoring procedures, and the multiple planned releases.
Diamond R-IV School District will continue to monitor state-level developments and share relevant information with staff, families, and community members as additional details become available.
A Note from Mr. Paullus
Diamond School District stands by the fact that no single letter grade can illustrate our successes. This grade does not show the number of students that we feed, transport, care for, or nurture. It does not reflect the extra hours that our instructional staff pour into our kids, nor does it reflect the strong relationships between our community and school District. This grade reflects our perceived performance on MAP/EOC assessments, but we know that our successes are much deeper than that figure.
These next few months will be confusing and fast-paced with regard to state data. Over the next 12 months, we will receive three different letter grades based on three different sets of calculations using different testing data. In the same timeframe we will also receive two different APR measures, which are the ones actually used to determine our accreditation.
Our District will work to keep our community informed of all of these figures and what they do or do not mean. More importantly, we will continue to tell you the whole story, which is much more complex than a single letter. Thank you for continuing to support our District.