Feature Story

The start of the new year means many Olathe USD 233 middle and high school students have more than just a spring semester of schoolwork to look forward to. 

Students in six of the district’s middle and two high schools will be tackling a range of community needs as part of Olathe Students Care (OSC), funded by The Table Leaf Foundation, a nonprofit organization based in the Kansas City metropolitan area.

School funding can feel complicated and disconnected from the classroom, but it plays a major role in the opportunities students experience every day. 

In January’s episode of the KSDE Insight Podcast, we break down how school funding works in Kansas, where the money comes from, and how funding decisions affect class sizes, programs, and student supports.

During a special meeting on Dec. 16, the Kansas State Board of Education met with the representatives of Hazard Young Attea (HYA) Associates, the firm selected through a bidding process to lead the search for the next Kansas education commissioner. 

Fueled with coffee, adrenaline and little sleep, three Kansas State School for the Blind (KSSB) students can call themselves national champions of the ninth season of Make48, a competition television series on the This Old House Makers Roku Channel. 

“It felt so rewarding because we finished with like 10 seconds left,” said Viviana Petelin, a KSSB student from Olathe, who described the end of the timed competition they won. “We wanted to win, and we wanted to make history as the first blind team to win nationals.” 

Members of the Kansas State Board of Education heard during their December meeting how the Kansas school improvement model is beginning to align systems that will lead to greater student achievement.