St. Louis-area superintendent to lead Mo. schools

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — Missouri’s next education commissioner pledged after being selected Thursday to improve student achievement in both urban and rural districts.

Chris Nicastro, 58, has served since 2002 as leader of the Hazelwood School District in suburban St. Louis, Missouri’s fifth-largest school system with more than 19,000 students in about 30 schools. She is to take over the state’s top education position Aug. 1.

Nicastro said the majority of Missouri’s 523 school districts “have made tremendous progress” toward meeting student achievement standards. But she noted that about 68,000 of Missouri’s roughly 900,000 public school students — including those in St. Louis — are in districts lacking full state accreditation.

“There remain districts with unacceptable performance and little sign of improvement,” Nicastro said, later adding: “Our greatest challenge is to find a way to meet student needs in every school in every district throughout the state.”

Nicastro will serve as the chief executive for the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, which administers curriculum and graduation requirements and distributes state money to schools. She was chosen by the State Board of Education, a gubernatorially appointed panel that oversees the department.

She replaces Kent King, who died of cancer in January. Nicastro will earn $185,400 annually and is just the fifth person — and first woman — to be selected as education commissioner since the office was created in 1947.

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