State officials announce permanent closer of school in Dexter and 11 other state schools

DEXTER, Mo., (KBSI) – The Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education has announced the permanent closure of 12 schools for severely disabled students in Missouri.

Missouri is the only state left that operates a system of separate state operated schools for children with severe disabilities and some of those schools are set to close.

On that list is Crowley Ridge School in Dexter.

According to a statement released by the state board of education this is the first step in providing more opportunities and strengthening education for all students enrolled in Missouri schools for the severely disabled.

Mark Wheatley is the  Assistant Special Education Commissioner for DESI.  Wheatley shares that federal law requires all students with special needs receive education and where those students are moved to will be up to the students IEP team as these schools only serve children considered severely disabled.

“So IDA requires that students with disabilities receive access to a free and appropriate public education in the least restrictive environment. And that decision, ultimately, is not a decision for DC or MSD. That’s a decision for the IEP team. And so that IEP team, it’s really critical to recognize the parents and the students are two primary members of that IEP team, the sending school district because even though they attend MSD, the league in which they live is the educational, entity responsible for providing education and ensuring faith” says Wheatley.

 The department shares that this comes after struggles with declining enrollment with 36% fewer students.

Wheatley says their department spent several years on research to come to the conclusion to close the schools. Due to staffing issues and a drop in children attending state schools Wheatley shares for the safety and best education needs of children they made the decision to permanently close the 12 schools. 6 of the schools are still open and will remain open until the end of this school year to allow IEP teams time to find the best options for each child. Crowley Ridge is included in that 6 and the other 6 schools were under temporary immediate closure but are already closed permanently.

These schools in Missouri are set to close by June 2026:

Briarwood in Harrisonville, Citadel in Potosi, College View in Joplin,  Crowley Ridge in Dexter, Delmar Cobble in Columbia, Dogwood Hills in Eldon, Gateway/Hubert Wheeler in St. Louis, Lakeview Woods in Lee’s Summit, Lillian Schaper in Bowling Green, Ozark Hills in Salem, Prairie View in Marshall and Rolling Meadow in Higginsville.

All these schools will be closed by June 2026.