HUTCHINSON, Kan. — The Hutchinson USD 308 Board of Education approved a change that shifts the students on the east side of 61 highway from Graber boundary to McCandless boundary effective for the 2023-24 school year as part of its meeting on Monday. Deputy Superintendent Krystal Young, presented the boundary shift to Board members for discussion.
According to USD 308 Superintendent Dr. Dawn Johnson, the change is due to an enrollment imbalance between the two centers.
"Graber Elementary has 273 students and McCandless Elementary has 201 students," Johnson said. "As a result of the growth in housing capacity at Commerce Gardens, our student population in the area south of K-61 is growing. We currently bus students from south of K-61 to Graber Elementary, so if we made a change and bussed to McCandless Elementary, our costs would remain relatively the same."
The intent is to get as many students as possible into classes with their individual grade.
"As a result of lower enrollment at McCandless, we have three combined-level classes," Johnson said. "We have one class that comprises both first and second graders, one class comprised of both third and fourth graders, and one class comprised of both fifth and sixth graders. We would like to create some equity in class sizes in order to provide a quality education for all students at each grade level. The rigor of our new language arts curriculum scaffolds learning from one year to the next, so having combined classrooms makes both teaching and learning an additional challenge. "
The district is working on a longer-term study and committee process to better use its buildings that will be continuing over the next year. The results of that study will be presented to the board once it is complete.
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