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Kingsville

Kingsville schools supported with bond, levy increase.

The Kingsville R-1 school district is currently experiencing a healthy stage of growth, due in part to the strong support of district patrons in April of 2001.

Earlier this spring, the voters of Kingsville school district approved a $1.6 million construction bond issue, as well as a 52-cent general levy increase. The levy increase was instrumental in allowing the Kingsville School Board to approve a significant pay raise during their April regular session meeting.

Superintendent Larry Potthast credits that pay boost, which brings beginning teachers salaries in Kingsville within a few hundred dollars of beginning teachers salaries in Holden, with the district's strong teacher retention for the 2001-02 school year.

Over the past few years, the small Kingsville district has had difficulty retaining teachers. For a district which generally has one teacher per elementary grade, turn over of as many as eight teachers a year has made educational consistency difficult. At the same time, however, several long-standing teachers with the Kingsville district have helped anchor both the elementary and secondary schools.

The levy increase will also help the district improve a declining end-of-year balance and catch up with other needed school improvements and purchases of educational materials. At the same time that R-1 voters gave strong support to the levy issue, they also approved a $1.6 construction plan that includes a new six-classroom elementary school wing.

As growth throughout rural Johnson County has continued, the Kingsville School Board and administration have recognized the need to prepare for added students. Three years ago, the school board approved separating an elementary grade into two classes for the first time in memory. Since then, construction on several new subdivisions within the Kingsville district has begun, and an influx of new families is expected.

The six new classrooms will not only allow the district greater flexibility with the elementary school, it will allow the secondary school use of more of the district's classroom space.

Kingsville R-1 is rated a 1-A school, and it contains 50.43 square miles with a total assessed valuation of about $16 million. The district underwent its second-round Missouri School Improvement Program evaluation in February of 2000 and received an accredited rating.

Some 277 students attended the Kingsville schools at the beginning of the 2000-01 school year. Both the elementary and the high school are located under one roof, but in separate wings. Total elementary enrollment was 156 students with 18 teachers, and secondary school enrollment for grades seven through 12 was 121 students with 15 teachers.

The Kingsville district prides itself on allowing a lot of teachers' attention for each student, with a student-to-teacher ratio of about eight to one.

High school students have access to courses taught from other sites through interactive television through the WeMet consortium, as well as dual-credit courses taught locally and through ITV with Central Missouri State University.

Extracurricular activities include elementary basketball in January and February, junior high basketball for boys and girls and junior high quiz bowl.

High school athletics include girls volleyball, basketball and softball; and boys basketball and baseball.

The school music program includes choir and band for students between grades five and 12. There is also a high school quiz bowl team, FCCLA and FFA.

The school is a member of the Golden Valley Conference, and competes with conference schools in athletics, a music festival and quiz bowl competitions. Other Golden Valley schools include Chilhowee, Leeton, Calhoun, Montrose, Lakeland and Ballard.

The elementary principal is Michele Norman. She has been with the district for two years. Kevin Coleman, who began as high school principal at the beginning of last school year, is a graduate of Kingsville High School. Coleman has implemented a number of changes at the secondary level to improve discipline and change course scheduling from a 10-class block schedule to a daily seven-period school day.

For more information, contact the school district at (816)597-3422, (816)597-3956 or (816)720-3804.