Expectations of declining enrollment in the Shawnee Mission School District have prompted a review of school boundaries through the summer with a vote on recommendations tentatively set for October.
School board members discussed a framework on Monday presented by Overland Park consultant RSP & Associates for evaluating efficient use of each of its school buildings. Initial work started last spring following a report that enrollment is on a downward trend and advising the district to start looking at equity in class sizes and which facilities are crowded or underused.
Declining birth rates were a prime reason cited for the steadily ebbing student count, the report said. The report estimated that the district enrollment would be down by 538 students — about 2.1% — 10 years from now. A loss of student enrollment can have dire consequences for state school funding, which is based on student enrollment.
An administrative work group has taken initial steps to begin a boundary study. Todd White of RSP walked the school board through the framework. It suggests a floor of 300 students as a defining benchmark of an underutilized elementary school building and a ceiling of 575 students.
The full presentation to the school board is below.
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Open in new tab Board members will then decide how urgent the need is to make changes based on enrollment, and what those changes will be.
According to the guiding principles from the administrative work group, the district would prioritize maintaining the feeder system (so the same cohort of students could continue through the upper grades), make the most efficient use of buildings without exceeding future capacity and make boundaries that maximize district resources.
Superintendent Michael Schumacher said the study is being undertaken because the district is approaching a potential bond referendum.
“Before we ask our community to support that bond referendum we wanted to make sure they had all of the information. So if there’s going to be any boundary discussion we wanted that to take place prior to the bond conversation,” he said.
Mark your calendars
The suggested timeline for the study calls for four meetings of a boundary work group beginning Aug. 25. Public input would be Sept. 28 and 29 and Oct. 5 and 6. Recommendations would come before the full school board on Oct. 26.
Board member Jamie Borgman said declining enrollment is not unique to Shawnee Mission. “Any time we mention boundary work, we all get nervous. I just wanted to normalize this for our community,” she said.
Board member Heather Ousley said she appreciated the framework for the discussions. “It’s not a light process even with the tools. It’s very heavy,” she said. “This is not anything anyone wants to be doing, but if you have to do difficult work it’s best to have a map for it.”
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