Educators, parents and probably more than a few students entered the 2015-16 school year with some trepidation.
For the first time in its history, USD 257 had done away with the traditional neighborhood school concept in favor of grade-level attendance centers. All of the district’s kindergartners and preschoolers were designated to attend McKinley Elementary School, regardless of where they lived. First- and second-graders were sent to Jefferson Elementary. Third- and fourth-graders to Lincoln Elementary. The fifth-graders, meanwhile, were dispatched to the third floor of Iola Middle School, the most controversial measure.
But while others worried and fretted, Jack Koehn remained optimistic.
As superintendent of schools, he was confident that both students and teachers would adapt quickly to their new environs.
So far, so good.
“From my perspective — from what I’ve seen on my desk — it’s been nothing but positive,” Koehn said. “From the beginning, the move went faster and better than originally planned.”
Koehn spoke this week during a wide-ranging conversation about a number of topics, including an ongoing push for career technical education programs, traffic safety and balancing the district’s budget.
Attendance centers
Koehn credits the teachers and support staff — custodians, paras, bus drivers, et al — for the successful conversion.
“There were a lot of people who put in a lot of hours to make the move happen, teachers especially,” Koehn said. “It wouldn’t have gone as well as it did, had they not bought into the process. We got off to a good start from the beginning.”
Consolidating specific grades in one building has created both educational and operational efficiencies, Koehn contends.
“I’m sure there are teachers who prefer the old way,” he said. “But there are just as many who have embraced having all of the grades together.”
Early fears about moving fifth-graders to Iola Middle School’s third floor were quickly assuaged. In fact, the fifth- and sixth-grade classes assimilated quickly, and in so doing, freed up much-needed space at Iola’s three elementary schools.
“Just look at the dynamics,” Koehn explained. “You didn’t have enough rooms at the elementaries for all of the things you had to do, but you had extra space at the middle school because of overall student population trends. The third floor at the middle school, we really weren’t using a lot.
“I told the board at the start, that the fifth- and sixth-grade move was going to be the biggest positive out of this whole thing,” he continued. “That age group is so unique. With Brad (Crusinbery, principal for grades 5 and 6) it’s gone very well.”
Still, it’s not perfect, he admits.
Each of the buildings still has myriad maintenance and traffic safety issues. Accessibility to second-floor classrooms remains problematic. Lincoln needs a new fire alarm system (price: $12,000), while keeping water from seeping in through cracks in the foundations of several buildings has become the stuff of legend.
“We’re still fighting those things,” he said “We’ve been fighting them for decades.”
Parking and traffic safety around each of the elementaries and IMS remain a problem.
“We knew we weren’t going to solve the parking issue,” he said. “We don’t have enough space. We just can’t create more land to make parking better. We’ve tried to do everything to make it work as best we can.”
The district has considered staggered start and end times for each of the elementary schools, but Koehn isn’t sure whether that system would work any better than the one in place now.
“A lot of that falls on the individual,” he said, “and they’re figuring out ways to make it work.”
Koehn noted the district continues to use a shuttle bus to take students from one school to another before and after school. He encourages more families to take advantage.
“That even solves this push for greater walkability,” he explained. “Kids can walk to whichever school they want, then catch a shuttle to where they need to go. There may have been one or two mix-ups at the start of the year, but they ironed themselves out quickly.
“I’ve yet to have anybody come up to me, since we’ve started the attendance centers, and tell me this was a mistake,” Koehn said. “Nobody on the board has, either. There just hasn’t been a lot of negative from this standpoint. I’m sure there may be some out there, but it hasn’t gotten to me.”
As an aside, Koehn is hopeful Iola officials will consider some type of traffic signal or crosswalk at the old Allen County Hospital curve.
With a new grocery and other housing planned for the site, the city has discussed what, if any, changes should be done to the curve.
“The curve has always been a point of concern for us,” Koehn said. “It’s a dangerous place, just because it’s a curve. Any improvements they do there in terms of safety, we would welcome. I know traffic lights are expensive. I understand that.”
Career and technical education
Koehn remains one of the strongest advocates for a regional technical program to be built at a centralized location.
Players include Allen County’s three school districts — Humboldt, Iola and Moran — Allen Community College, Neosho County Community College, Fort Scott Community College, and regional business leaders.
Koehn pointed to a recent study in Pittsburg that revealed only 25 percent of its high school graduates wound up earning a degree at a four-year university.
“I can’t imagine our demographics are much different,” he said.
“We also know jobs requiring four-year degrees aren’t increasing, but jobs requiring some type of extra schooling are increasing a great deal. We offer some pathways, and that’s great, but we need to do more in that area. Our building trades needs to be revived, as well as things like HVAC (heating, ventilation and air-conditioning), IT (Information technology), production welding, masonry, electricians, plumbing, all those kinds of things.”
But such courses are expensive to offer, making a collaborative effort the only realistic scenario for USD 257.
The model Koehn favors has ACC receive the state funding — courtesy of Kansas’ Senate Bill 155 technical education program — to offer the dual-credit courses at a central facility. (The old Diebolt Lumber site in LaHarpe has been proposed by multiple parties.)
“I wouldn’t expect it to be big at the start,” he said. “Just start with one or two programs, then let’s get the kinks worked out so we can grow.”
As for USD 257’s investment, Koehn said the district may be asked to supply some equipment on occasion, “but by and large, all we’d have to provide is the kids.”
Obstacles remain.
“Location is important, and we’re going to have to get some help, from business and industry,” he said. “That said, I am optimistic. I will be very disappointed if we don’t get this at some level, and I think we can have something going in a year or two. If we can get somebody to provide a place for the college to lease, then we’re home free.”
Budget
While dollars grow ever tighter in Topeka, USD 257 is warily optimistic it can make it through the school year.
One cost-saving measure was through its outsourcing of its food service department in 2014 with OPAA Food Service, a private company.
With OPAA handling all of the expenses for meal preparation, USD 257 no longer has to subsidize its food service program, to the tune of $250,000 annually.
“Without that savings, we couldn’t have set up our 1-to-1 program,” in which each middle school student received a Chrome book to use during the school year. (High-schoolers will get Chrome books starting in the fall.)
“All of our teachers have gotten laptops to take home. Most other districts have already been doing that for some time,” Koehn said. “Our teachers have gotten 7 percent raises over the past two years. Nobody else in the state was able to do that.”
The raises have allowed USD 257 to narrow a wage gap with neighboring districts.
“We need to catch up,” he continued. “We’re not there yet.”
The district cleared another major budgetary hurdle by purchasing two school buses this year.
“We knew we were going to have to buy six buses over a five-year period,” Koehn said. “This was the year we bought two. That we got through that process, knock on wood, we’re in pretty good shape.”
A mild fall and winter, coupled with lower than projected fuel prices also has eased the strain on district spending.
“We’re setting pretty good compared to where we were in past years,” he said. “Of course, that could change once the Legislature comes in, if they need to take back state aid because of their revenue problems.”
The district lost some state aid from its capital outlay fund this year because of the new block grant system, but those losses were mitigated by a higher-than-expected valuation, thanks to the Enbridge pipeline project.
Strategic planning
A group of district patrons has met on several occasions through the fall to take a big-picture look at USD 257, with several items of interest, including its facilities, finding and retaining staff, preparing students for colleges or careers, and school, parent and community partnerships.
A final report will be presented to the USD 257 Board of Education by the end of January.
“This will be a plan, not developed by us, but by the people in the community,” Koehn said. “By the time we’re done, we’ll have had some 80 people with some input.”
A productive 2016
“Bottom line, this semester has gone great,” Koehn said. “The direction we’re headed, the things we’re doing, we’re focusing on things that will really help kids. I’m excited about it.”
