Is school district an important factor for SFH rental properties?

[Matthew Holland]

I'm looking to purchase a turnkey rental property and have been talking to a company, Maverick Investor Group.  I've been looking at some of their St Louis properties but noticed that a couple are in very poor school districts.

For example, this one on their website has Greatschools rating of 1,2, and 2 (out of 10).  

https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/3742-Avondale-A...

I asked their Senior Portfolio Strategist, Phil Alexander about this and he responded with the following:

"I did not realize you were intending to live there... that is the only reason I can reasonably imagine the high quality (or not) of the schools would be an issue. Going beyond that, I suspect the schools in Florissant will be more highly regarded than St Louis itself. The Florissant properties are in terrific primarily owner occupied neighborhoods and all have VERY high end renovation standards - probably head and shoulders above any turnkey provider I've ever known... and Maverick is one of the earliest players in this industry coming up on our 11th anniversary. The high end nature of the St Louis market properties attracts higher quality tenants and provides a better exit strategy environment than most other markets' properties."

I was under the impression that in general, for single family home rentals, having better school districts would increase the desirability of the home for families.  Is it not the case that there is a correlation between better schools and higher quality tenants?  Would love to get some feedback from the BP community.