K-12 Education

Every student in the Shawnee Mission School District will be assigned either a MacBook Air or an iPad Air provided by the district. Students will be allowed to take the computers home with them. When school starts next fall, every...

Jim Hinson came to the Shawnee Mission School District as its new superintendent just six months ago, and in those first six months, he listened, evaluated and started making some changes. And Hinson says there are more changes to come. Technology...

Shawnee Mission teachers are again this year asking the school board to stand with them to oppose bills in the Kansas Legislature intended to reduce educators' bargaining rights, says Nancy Fritz, president of the Shawnee Mission NEA (National Education...

Shawnee Mission Superintendent Jim Hinson marked day 87 of his 87-day listening tour Wednesday by sharing some of what he has heard, asking for even more input, and making a promise to the community. It was the first appearance for...

Five days after starting the 2013-14 school year, Shawnee Mission School District teachers have a tentative new contract. The agreement calls for a one-time stipend equal to two percent of base pay for a full-time employee. The district also will...

The Shawnee Mission School District will start the school year with a budget that generally avoids the deep cuts of previous years, but also doesn't leave room to restore those losses. The schools are getting no additional per pupil...

Last month band students and parents turned out in big numbers to protest cuts to the band program at SM East. The school now says that all of the band-related courses at SM East will be taught again next...

The SM East band community took its case to the Shawnee Mission School Board Monday night in an attempt to keep the band director's job a full-time position. SM East band students and their protest signs greeted even early arrivals...

Calling it a district with a "great tradition," Dr. Jim Hinson on Monday officially accepted his appointment as the next superintendent of Shawnee Mission Schools. "You always do what is best for kids," Hinson told the board Monday night immediately...

It's likely that the public comment portion of Monday's Shawnee Mission School Board meeting won't be filled with happy tunes. SM East Band Boosters leaders say they expect somewhere around 50 parents and perhaps that many students and alumni to...

A group of SM East parents are in the process of organizing a massive display of dismay at news that next year's proposed school staffing plan would cut the Band Director from a full-time to a half-time position. Should the...

"I haven't had a bad year, ever," Dr. Gene Johnson said of his 44 years in education shortly after his retirement was announced Thursday. Johnson, who will turn 66 in January, said the timing of his announcement had more to...