MARISSA MEIS
USD 308
HUTCHINSON, Kan. — The USD 308 Board of Education approved an exception to the Hutchinson Virtual School (HVS) handbook on Monday (May 8, 2023).
The change will allow HVS students the choice to walk in the 2023 Hutchinson High School (HHS) graduation ceremony. Previously, HVS graduates only had the opportunity to walk in their own ceremony; however, the change will mean that students can opt to join HHS students at the commencement ceremony held at Hutchinson Sports Arena on Sunday, May 21, 2023.
Also at the meeting, the board approved a special meeting to be on May 15, 2023, at 6:00 p.m. at the Hutchinson Career & Technical Education Academy to discuss proposed solutions to the current teacher shortage the district is facing.
"What we'll do this week is we'll take a look again at class sizes," Johnson told the board. "We'll look at these models. We'll do data to those models. That's not to discount the personal side of any one of these decisions. You can't put metrics to that personal side of it. I'd like to be able to come back to you and present where we end up after this week."
Johnson told the board the main concern she heard is that the process feels rushed, but she explained to the parents and teachers at the meetings last week that if they had known they were going to have this shortage sooner, they would have started the planning sooner. It's not that they have more turnover than usual, just fewer applicants than usual.
The reason next Monday's meeting is to be held at HC&TEA is to provide additional space for the public to attend.
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