The Hutchinson USD 308 Board of Education tabled a resolution that would close the ESC/TSC/TLC building in August 2025 at its regular meeting Monday evening.
Superintendent Dr. Dawn Johnson read resolution 2024-014 to the board and said it would close the building no later than Aug. 1, 2025, pending agreement with the YMCA, the future users of the building.
Board Member Lance Patterson recused himself from the vote due to his affiliation with the Boys & Girls Club and the potential conflict of interest with the building.
Board Member Valarie Gibson-Smith motioned to table the vote, saying that the board still has many questions, making the decision difficult to make.
“It’s a lot to process because you don’t want to disrupt the entities working there,” Board Member Darcie Canfield-Riggs said.
Board President Laura Corey said the clause that mandates a completed agreement with the YMCA makes approving the resolution more comfortable to her.
“I think this gives us some flexibility,” Board Member Tad Dower said, agreeing with Corey.
The board tabled the resolution in a 4-2 vote, with Dower and President Laura Corey dissenting and Board Members Cheryl Thompson, Darcie Canfield-Riggs, Gleysha Mendez-Rosario and Valarie Gibson-Smith voting to table the resolution.
The board unanimously approved the 2024-2025 Johnson said the numbers are different for each grade. The amounts will be officially published as follows:
15 Kindergarteners
21 First Grade
8 Second Grade
38 Third Grade
50+ for 4th - 12 Grade
Graber Elementary School had the most out-of-district requests, Johnson said.
“We want to take all students who want to come to our district,” Johnson said. “This, for us, is not about limiting capacity but making sure we are transparent and complying with the law.”
In other business, the board approved a list of write-offs for the district. Assistant Superintendent of Finance Sheila Meggers said the write-off item comes up on the consent agenda every year.
“We have an asset management process in the district,” Meggers said. “Every item we purchase more than $500 gets tagged and is tracked every year. It provides accountability. We know if there’s an abnormally large amount of items missing. It’s a great accountability piece for us.”
Meggers added reasons for writing off assets may include warranties, parting out equipment, disposing of equipment, auction selling or theft.
Out of the district’s 9,143 tracked assets, 31 were written off at Monday’s meeting. The board unanimously improved the item.
Following Meggers’ presentation, Adrienne Childs with the Parents as Teachers of Hutchinson shared a department report with the board. She said the program has been successful and is the best it has been in her 23 years of working with it.
“We believe the early years of a child’s life is an essential part of development and provide the foundation for success in school and in life. Parents as Teachers is different from other opportunities offered in the community.
Childs said the program is funded by a Kansas Department of Education grant which is matched by the school district in a $0.50 to $1.00 ratio.
Childs said the program has four staff members and serves 66 families throughout the community, with 19 families being newly enrolled this year. 84 children have been served with 31 being new to the program.
“It’s important to me that our program does not require you to qualify based on income,” Childs said. “I know there’s lots of discussion about the needs of programs. Right now, we are in a place that’s the best we’ve ever been with optimal space and setup.”
Hutchinson Parents as Teachers is currently located at 200 East Sherman.