OVERLAND PARK, Kan. — Imagine telling your child they have to leave their friends and teachers for another school. That’s what a letter says that was sent home to some parents in the Shawnee Mission School District on Monday, May 19.
Overcrowding is a huge problem in Overland Park elementary schools. Last month Superintendent Jim Hinson heard from concerned parents about how overcrowding would affect their children next year.
We now know a letter was sent home on Monday that says some students will be forced to move.
Starting in the fall students who attend Brookridge and Briarwood elementary schools on in-district transfers will be returned to the school in their home areas. Exceptions will be made for incoming 6th graders who want to finish at the school. Siblings of those children won’t be able to stay. Superintendent Hinson asked parents last month what they wanted to see happen.
“How do we accommodate for student growth so we’re not having this conversation two years down the road?” Hinson asked. “So long term — again — this doesn’t solve our issue here, but would you like the district to look at 6, 7, 8 middle schools? Is that what I’m hearing from you?”
A boundary change is also taking effect for Brookridge students.
Many parents are upset that it has come to this. Two years ago Nrookridge took in more than 100 students from a nearby school that closed.
