HUTCHINSON, Kan. — Krystal Young with Hutchinson USD 308 explained to Hutch Post where the growth in number of kids is that prompted the boundaries for Graber and McCandless Elementary being adjusted by the Board of Education earlier this month for the upcoming school year.
"It's on the east side of K-61, really it's right around the Commerce Gardens area," Young said. "If we go back a few years, Commerce Gardens started to build up in about 2019 and have added 10 buildings currently. In those 10 buildings, they are housing many more students than before. When we did the boundary change, that shifted that area."
It really is about the physical size of the buildings.
"As we look to the future, we want to think about where do we have the ability to take the most students? McCandless is a larger school. It has the ability to be what we would call a three track school, which means we have three of every grade level, whereas Graber doesn't. Graber would hit capacity earlier than McCandless would."
Parents will receive more information as soon as they have it.
"We have about 38 families that will be impacted by this shift," Young said. "A little bit later this month or in early April, they will get a letter from us that kind of tells them, hey, this is what you need to be looking forward to. McCandless is planning a welcome to McCandless event. We want to get that date in the letter and then we'll also tell them, what does enrollment look like for you and things to look forward to at the beginning of the school year."
The goal is to even out the class sizes so that as many classes as possible across the district can be for a single grade level.
CLICK HERE to download the Hutch Post mobile app.
CLICK HERE to sign up for the daily Hutch Post email news update.