Kansans Can Success Tour: School board members want to put vision into action

Posted Date: 08/30/2021

Three members of the Hutchinson USD 308 Board of Education who attended the Kansas Can Success Tour on Monday agreed with the vision of adopting a broader view of the skills students need to be successful - and adapting schools to better support those skills. In fact, they are impatient to move faster. 

Board Vice President Lance Patterson said he worried that Kansas school leaders may be “playing it too safe” after more than five years of talking about transforming education. Recognizing that change can be hard for both educators and community members, he believes Hutchinson understands change must occur. “We need to do something. Our schools aren’t growing. We need to differentiate education.”  

Board member Kail Denison agreed on the need to move more quickly. “We don’t want to be in the same place in 20 years,” she said, but noted that if local schools are going to “reinvent” themselves, they will need support from the state Legislature and State Board of Education. 

Board member Tad Dower agreed with the emphasis on “soft skills” - those non-academic skills that students need to be successful on the job, in the community and in their personal lives. But he also stresses that it will take a partnership with parents, community members and others to make these changes. “It can’t all be on schools,” he said. 

All three said they were encouraged by data presented by state education officials about rising Kansas graduation rates, which reached an all-time high in 2020 with higher improvement among traditionally lower-performing groups (low-income students, English Language Learnings and students with disabilities.) The percentage of students who have completed a technical certificate or academic degree or remained enrolled in those programs within two years of graduation increased at an even faster rate. 

 “It’s really encouraging to see some progress in response to the changes we are trying to make,” said Denison. 

Monday afternoon in Pratt, local USD 382 board member Chris Drake, who also presents Region 8 on the KASB Board of Directors, said he was relieved the Kansas Can tour meeting indicated both Kansas and his community were on the right track. “After attending meetings over the past several years, I feel like we have been a little ahead of the curve,” he said. 

Another Pratt board member, Donna Honer-Queal, who serves on the KASB Board of Directors and attended an earlier meeting in Great Bend, said she thinks the direction of Kansas Can “is exciting.” 

Gemma Austin, a long-time board member in USD 349 Stafford, said she attended on behalf of her own board and because her grandchildren attend school in Pratt. She was supportive of the goals and recommendations for schools in the Kansas Can vision, especially the focus on early childhood programs. Although the state provides funding for all students to attend full day kindergarten, Austin noted that preschool programs are more limited and many families in the area do not have access.  

The 50-city tour continues Tuesday with stops in Newton, McPherson and Manhattan. Here is a link to the schedule.