Posted Date: 03/20/2024
Great Bend USD 428 is a central Kansas district of 2,900 students. I visited as part of my tour of schools that perform above expectations based on family income and student disability rates. Great . . .
Posted Date: 03/05/2024
Kansas public school enrollment declined slightly this year. There were about 5,200 fewer students according to data compiled by the Kansas State Department of Education. Other states have also . . .
Posted Date: 03/04/2024
Geary County USD 475 in Junction City is the state’s eighth largest district with almost 7,500 students. I visited in October as part of my tour of successful districts. Due to its proximity to Fort . . .
Posted Date: 03/04/2024
Labette County USD 506 is located in Altamont, in the southeast corner of the state. I visited as part of my tour of districts that do significantly better than expected based on their percentage of . . .
Posted Date: 03/04/2024
Baxter Springs USD 508 is located in southeast Kansas on the Oklahoma border. The district serves about 860 students with nearly 80 percent of those being high needs. Baxter Springs has . . .
Posted Date: 03/04/2024
Frontenac USD 249 in southeast Kansas serves about 1,000 students. The number of students with high needs is 55.8 percent, about 10 percentage points below the state average. In the years 2016-2020, . . .
Posted Date: 02/09/2024
Chronic absenteeism is linked to lower academic performance, and students who already lag in outcomes miss school at higher rates. Absenteeism increased during the COVID pandemic, both in Kansas and . . .
Posted Date: 02/01/2024
Kansas Republican leaders have said they will propose reducing the statewide 20-mill school levy in the 2024 legislative session. The levy is part of how the state funds public education and without . . .
Posted Date: 03/04/2024
In September I visited six districts in North Central Kansas that had graduation rates and postsecondary success rates well above what would be expected, based on their enrollment and percentage of . . .
Posted Date: 12/13/2023
My final stop among six high-performing districts was Twin Valley USD 240, which serves several small communities north of Salina. Twin Valley’s five-year postsecondary effective rate for 2015-2020 . . .