Kansas City area superintendents see fewer staff vacancies as a new school year begins

Support for KCUR's up-to-date podcast comes from Arvest Bank, believing that financial confidence should be within reach for everyone. Whether you're just getting started, planning for your future, or starting a new chapter, Arvest is here to help you plan and meet your goals every step of the way. Details at ourvest.com or 20 locations throughout Kansas City. The iconic bomb pop was invented in Kansas City in 1955. But how exactly did it achieve deep freeze dessert dominance? Join KCWR for People's History of Kansas City Live. Monday, August 31st at the ship in the West Scott Bottoms. Tickets are at kCUR.org slash bomb pop. From KCOR, this is up to date with Steve Kraski. I'm intern Nora Crutcher McGowan. Students around the metro are headed back to the classroom, so it's time to catch up with a couple of area superintendents about how they're preparing for the new school year. On both sides of the state line, students are no longer permitted to use personal cellular devices during the school day. You'll hear about that, salary increases, and more. As Steve spoke with Kansas City Public School Superintendent, Dr. Jennifer Collier, and newly appointed independent school district superintendent, Dr. Vicki Murillo. Listen in. Dr. Collier, before we get back into back to school, some of your students had this amazing opportunity just recently to attend the biggest sporting event in Kansas City history. That was the World Cup. What have you heard from the kids who went and what did they do? Well, it really was a dream come true for many of our students. As you all know, just a couple years ago, our East Bears won state, they were state champs in soccer. And so to get an opportunity like that for soccer to be on the world stage right here in our backyard and to be able to participate, to go and envision themselves potentially doing that one day, that was everything for our students. Do they go to a match or a couple matches? They went to a couple matches, yes, about 30 of our students. And so we had students from all of our high schools that are a part of our girls and boys soccer teams because we have some great teams. Did you get to go to? No, I didn't get a chance to attend. I certainly didn't want to take it. take a ticket from a student. And it was really difficult for our coaches to decide which students would get the opportunity. But we made sure that we had representation from all the high schools. We're anticipating at least three or four of our teams being contenders for state champs again. Good deal. Well, Dr. Morello, what have you been doing to prepare for this new school year as you get ready for classes to begin again? Oh, we've been doing a lot of work. I bet. Always a great and exciting time when you begin a school year. Yeah. Welcoming our new and beginning teachers back, you know, to the district. And then on tomorrow or today, today is Thursday. So we're welcoming all of our staff back to school and they're back in their buildings and getting their classrooms ready. And we've done a lot of professional development, getting our bus drivers ready with the bus routes. I mean, all wheels are in motion. And so it's an exciting time. You know, there's been all this concern in recent years, not only in your district, but really everywhere.

about teacher shortages and what that means. I know going to the four-day school week and independence has helped with some of that. But have you been, has that been a struggle for you, getting enough teachers in the classrooms to make the whole thing go? I think this year was the first year we had this large of a number. We had over 75 new hires. And that's because there was a large number of retirees last year. And so we were able, I almost believe we're fully staffed. I think we're looking for two more teachers, but that's not bad at all at this time of the year. Because as you know and Dr. Collier knows, the number of graduates coming out in education is shrinking right now. So we're all fishing, I say, in the same pond, competing for teachers that are graduating from the universities. And just being able to get out there and recruit teachers becomes really a big piece of what our... HR departments do. I mean, was it a big struggle to get most of your positions filled? And to what extent does the four-day school week help in recruiting? Because teachers like the idea of working four days instead of five. Yes, they do like that. That is a selling point. And so I would like that, too, for the record. I think we all would. But I know that it's still always a struggle to find your math, your science, some of your special education positions. Those are ones that are kind of that high need. and always difficult to find. And what we used to have always, and easy, I'm sure Dr. Collier would support this, usually is a lot of elementary. And that's the two positions we're short right now, as two elementary positions. And so you can tell that the number of candidates are continuing to shrink. But I do think there's a national push to start increasing and really incentivizing students to go into education. Why do you think there are shortages for elementary teachers? I would think, just off the top of my head, that would be an attractive place to work. Yes, I would assume. also. I couldn't tell you why this year, but that is where our last two vacancies are. Yeah. Well, Dr. Collier, what's been your focus as you try to get ready for the 26-27 school year here? Well, as you know, we've had a lot of great things happening in KCPS, really great momentum around accreditation, student achievement increasing, graduation rates, increasing, enrollment increasing for four straight years. Yeah, I wanted to ask you about some of that, yeah. Yeah, so I think this year, what my focus has been so far with staff and going forward is really capitalizing on that momentum and accelerating our growth. This year, you know, I've told our staff we're putting our foot on the gas. We've made some... incremental growth and improvement. I was going to say, what does that look like? Yeah. But it's time for us to take off, particularly around literacy, for everyone who knows that's been my primary big rock since I stepped into this role. It is unacceptable that children cannot read. And so we have invested a lot in that. We've seen growth, as we hadn't really seen a lot of that in the previous years. We've seen growth happening, but it's not enough.

We need more of our students being able to read. And so that's where we're talking about really accelerating and ensuring that more and more of our students are reading on great level and above. That's our primary focus. But we're also looking in the area of math. We know that our students need to be well-rounded. And so we want to ensure that there's growth in all four content areas as well as in other areas that students can achieve. The arts has been a really important part of the work that we're doing. That's my background. And so I believe that every child, regardless of their social economic status, should have access to arts. And we've really elevated that around the district. I think that's really been helpful to us in terms of attracting. families and students to our schools are beyond the four walls, really emphasizing learning outside of the classroom. I think all of those things are things that are drawing families and students back to Kansas City public schools. You know, you've talked in the past on this program about reading being a big concern. You know, we've been talking about this for years. Why is that still a big issue in Kansas City, Missouri? What's your diagnosis of what's causing that to still be an issue? Well, I think through the years there's been just national shifts around how we teach reading. And I think this shift to the science of reading, I think, is going to be helpful for many people. What does that mean? It's really looking at phonics, phonemic awareness, and ensuring that children learn those as they are learning to read, getting that fluency, but also focusing in on the comprehension piece. And so I think because we've had different methods of teaching, reading that I don't think always work like. I don't believe balance literacy was the best thing, but that was a major shift nationally. And I think people bought into it and we were trying it. And it wasn't very effective. And it is not that teachers aren't working hard and leaders aren't working hard. I think sometimes we're focusing on the wrong things. But I think it's been proven now that the science of reading is effective when we look at the Mississippi miracle. That is something that took place across the entire state of Mississippi, really focusing in on that science of reading as well as some other components. And they're seeing... I mean, amazing growth happening and reading across their state. And so I think nationally... Many people are now following that and implementing systems within their school districts to mirror some of those same measures of growth that we're seeing happening there. How big of an issue with this do you have an independence, Dr. Morella? What are you saying? In looking at the data, it is something we have to continue to focus on. And I was really excited when I learned that the teachers in an independent school district had gone through the training of a science of reading. It's not 100% every teacher, but that is a really significant shift.

for across a nation for teaching students to become well-rounded in literacy. And so I do believe that we're on an upswing. We have some really good growth data. I would always love to see proficiency rates continue to climb, but knowing that we can clearly see our students move across the band and really follow that and tie it back to and getting teacher voice around that has really seemed to propel. the ISD schools to that next level. And I look forward to seeing what we do. Does it go without saying that everything still begins with reading? Is that still the foundational skill you got to have? You got to have it. That hasn't changed, yeah. You know, this idea that reading is still an issue. If you were talking to a group of parents from your district right now, I'm just guessing that you would say, hey, read at home as much as possible to your kids. I'm also guessing that many of your patrons in your district are folks who might be working a couple different jobs. They're not at home in the evening to work with their kids. I mean, this issue is a little more complicated than maybe outsiders might. give you credit for. Absolutely. You know, teaching, reading, literacy is not easy work. You know, people look and say, schools, why don't you just do it? It's not simple, especially when you're talking about addressing students that are experiencing poverty. There are many factors that weigh into their readiness for school. We focus a lot on English as second language learners, which is important. I believe children in poverty are interacting with literature. and reading in similar ways to those students. Just because they were born here doesn't mean they have a vocabulary. or the skills necessary to really accelerate in learning. And so I think we have to approach them with that same level of care and intentionality. And that's what we're doing at KCPS, trying to provide those same supports for all of our children. And I think that's why we're seeing the growth. But even with that, it's not simple, easy work. And sometimes when people look at data points, numbers on the paper, they make judgments about the teachers in the classroom and the leaders. But it's a heavy lift. And it's not something that we can. can just put on the shoulders of our parents. Sometimes some of them may have time to do it. Some may not. Some of them may not even have the skills themselves to be able to teach their own children. Yeah. Because when we look at literacy across Kansas City, there are about 250,000 adults that are unable to read. And so I think this literacy issue is a community issue. It's not just on the shoulders of schools alone. We need help. And so we need partners helping us with this. We need people to invest in our schools so we can provide. the supports that are necessary. We need all of our teachers doing the letters training, what Dr. Marillo was talking about. That letters training is very important. We require all of our kindergarten through third grade teachers to go through that letters training because it's important that they understand that science of reading. We need reading interventionists. We need high dosage tutoring, which is one of the highest yield strategies.

for moving literacy, those things cost. And so it has to be support from the entire community, from families, and the responsibility cannot just rest on one stakeholder group alone. Just quickly, Dr. Collier, I talked to Vicki here about their fully, almost fully staffed in independence. How are you doing when it comes to having your position staffed? We're doing well considering. So, in fact, we just had. What's well look like? Okay. So this year, we're starting the year with 13 vacancies in core content areas. However, we partner with. That strikes me as a pretty low number. That is low considering, as you all know, I was a chief human resource officer for KCPS for six years. When I stepped into that role, we would start the year. What about 50 or 60 vacancies? I was going to say. And so we have really worked hard through the years to come up with strategies to address some of our needs. Well, one of those, you just gave a, what, an historic 5% base salary increase, which I'm sure helped a little bit. It helped tremendously. And I think it's important that we really continue to keep at the forefront, the importance of paying our... teachers a livable wage. We cannot expect for them to pour from an empty cup. And if they are struggling with their own resources, taking care of their own families, then how can they focus on the classroom? And so that has been a priority in KCPS. And it has helped us fill many of our vacancies. Now, Dr. Merlo, you're fairly new to the district, but what are you hearing from teachers and families about student performance since you cut out one day of the school week a couple years ago? Has there been any change? No, there hasn't been any decline. We've been able to sustain and saw some incremental jumps. Are you surprised by that? Well, what I have found in looking at the calendar is that the minutes and the days were extended and the year was extended. So there's still the same amount of time as being spent in the classroom. It just looks different than a five-day week. When students aren't in the classroom on that fifth day, what are they doing? Well, there's some that we always have every Monday where the students can come in that would like tutoring. So I've kind of named it office hours. They also have access through their Chromebooks to their classrooms. Canvas is what they use for the high school. I'm looking at what we can do around Google classroom for K5 and getting some besides just having. packets or their resources going home, but is there things that our students can engage in online in that elementary setting also? So some students are actually involved in the educational process on that fifth day. What about other students who maybe aren't? Well, from my understanding, most of them somewhere are still connected to things at the school, but it also becomes a day for choice for them, exactly what they're doing. And still, the co-in extracurricular activities are taking place on that day. Dr. Collier, does the four-day school week make any sense in Kansas City, Missouri? I don't know.

know that it's a fit for Kansas City public schools. When I think about the needs of many of our families, I'm afraid that that could potentially create a hardship for some of our working families. They would have child care needs on that Friday or Monday, whatever day it is, right? Absolutely. We would have to do something like that. So right now, I think we're sticking with the five day. Yeah. And you do know that independence does provide that child care. They do have options for families on that fifth day. More about back to school. When we come back, stick around. When you support KCUR, you help connect our community. This August, take another meaningful step to continue that impact. KCUR is offering free access to giving docs, a simple, secure way to create your will. Go to KCUR.org.org slash will. I'm

120 years ago, Maude Wagner ran away from small town Kansas to the carnival, where she had her meet-cute moment at the fairgrounds. Maude meets Gus. Pretty much approaches him and says, I'd like to be a tattooed woman. Gus says, I'm looking for a wife. And she said, I'll go on a date with you, but only if you teach me how to tattoo. Today, Maude and Gus Wagner are one of the most famous tattooed couples in American history. Hear all about them on our podcast, a people's history of Kansas City. You know, last year, the state of Missouri passed this law banning cell phones from bell to bell during the school day. How well did students and families take to this? Because, you know, still some parents want their kids, Dr. Collier, to have their phones. Yeah, so we sort of anticipated this happening. You know, we were hearing from the legislature that this was potentially coming down. So we did. Were you glad for it? To some degree, I do feel that cell phones oftentimes get in the way of learning, the way that they're being utilized in the classrooms, taking away from instruction. You hesitated a little bit. I would think you just would embrace it wholeheartedly. Like this is a big step forward for every teacher in your district. Well, I think what we were hoping for was to not have cell phone usage during instructional time, but perhaps like at lunch periods, passing periods, things like that. But instead it's a... Bell the bell band. It's from the morning to the end of the day. And originally when the legislation came forward, it did include times during the day when students could use their devices. But somewhere along the way, that language was removed and it became very restrictive. But one of the things I think that helped us, we did almost a four year of engagement. As soon as we learned that that was coming down, we engaged with our students. families, staff, and everyone. So everyone knew that this was going to be coming in some form. So I believe we were ready for it when it came. We explained to everyone that this is not necessarily a K-CPS alone decision. This is state legislation, law that we must follow. And so I think it helped people understand why we were doing it. Have you had problems as a result? Parents who need to get a hold of kids during the day and there's an emergency of some kind? Problems have been minimal. Okay. And I think that engagement is what really helped us get to this place, you know, talking with folks, preparing them for this new reality. Dr. Merlo, in Independence, what's your sense of what the reaction to this has been? Well, they've really put in a policy around it. And from my understanding, as they did roll it out with parent communication, staff communication, and the student communication. And really, it was just that the devices had to be off and out of sight. Yeah. From the beginning of the day to the end of the day. And seeing how that was monitored class by class, I can't tell you, you know, if it was exactly the same across the board. But I do believe the staff embraced it and our students were becoming very compliant with it. Because we know what the research says, that if you get distracted by your cell phone, sometimes it can take you three to five minutes to re-engage and catch. So that's a loss of learning if we're in there. You know, the data is still early. There hasn't been a whole lot of experience with this yet, but what little we do know is there hasn't been much of an impact on student performance as a result of these cell phone bans. Yes, and I think it's too early to really be able to pull it. Yeah, we've only had one year. Yeah. Well, some educators are, I'm wondering what they've said about this change because one principal over in the Hickman Mills district, Dr. Collier, said banning it was more of a distraction and students were...

We're still finding ways around the ban. Are you seeing that the same thing in Kansas City? I think anywhere you're going to see some students finding ways around it. I mean, I think that's just the nature of teenagers. We were all teenagers, right? And whenever there was a rule implemented, we'd like to find ways around it. So I think that's going to happen. I don't think that that is just an experience in one school district. But I think overall, many of our students are following the policy and they are complying. And I'm sure there's some outliers that are there. The students still have their laptops, right? Yes, they have their laptops. And one of the things that we asked our students, how would you like for us to implement this? This is going to happen. Do you want us to get yonder bags and take them from you, store them from you, or would you like to keep them? Our students said, please trust us to be responsible. We'd like to keep them with us and on our person. So we allowed our students to do that. Do you do that in independence? They do. And I can tell you a little bit when this was coming down in Iowa, they did give us some autonomy to set up how we wanted to implement and Governor Reynolds did. And the one piece, when I had my high school students together, they really knew that there were students that weren't following rules and yonder bags came up for maybe after the first or second that students would put it in yonder. But they also were really persistent around, will be very compliant in the learning environment, but be allowed to use them during lunch or passing. And we were allowed to do that in Iowa. So still working through maybe there's ways in which we can continue to have dialogue with the legislators around this. As you point out, you came to independence from a district up in Iowa, right? Yes. Yeah. Okay. Well, Dr. Collier, toward the end of last school year, the school, the student district advisory council reported that bullying is a concern of students. Is it more prevalent during the actual school day or does a lot of it happen after hours or what are you seeing? Well, I think from what our students are telling us, they're seeing it primarily during the school hours. That's where most of it is being reported. When it's being reported, one of the things that we have really focused on is really defining what is bullying because what we have found is that many students. use a term bully or say that they're being bullied, and that's not necessarily the case. And so it's really helping, even for our data keeping sake, making sure that we have a clear differentiation between an isolated incident and what would be ongoing bullying. But in any case, we have a campaign that we are working on this year, really empowering our students to let us know when things are happening. They will have ways to communicate where they don't necessarily have to go to a person in their building.

But there will be QR codes all around their building where they can communicate, hey, this is happening to me. Are students taking advantage of that? They will be. It will be implemented this year. And so the principals will be notified, but so will folks in central office. So that will help us better gauge what is going on in buildings and also allow us to intervene as necessary so that we can make sure that our students feel that the environment is safe for them. Because every parent out there listening to this is thinking, God forbid, that happens to my kid, right? That would just be so destructive. How about an independence, Dr. Merle? I haven't really pulled the data to see how. what the reports look like, but I would agree with Dr. Collier, really helping and being very clear and providing clarity around what is bullying and what is one-time incidents and helping students understand and staff as reports are made to them of where to provide that support for that student and how to get the right resources in place when a student does feel like and it classifies as bullying. Is this idea that students have a place to report this? Is that the best way you think to combat something like this? I think for us it is. Once again, I do town halls and all of my high schools twice a year. Every high school I go to twice a year. And any of these issues like bullying, cell phones, all of these are all things that we're talking to the students about and getting their feedback. And that suggestion actually came from students. They wanted a way to report things. where they didn't have to go face to face with an adult necessarily. If they felt uncomfortable, they wanted to be able to report that, and they wanted someone outside of their school to also be aware. So we designed that in response to what our students said they needed. So I do think it will be effective. When a student reports it, what happens then? Then at that point, the principal is notified as well, and they will follow up, but also their school leadership assistant superintendent will then work with that principal to make sure that that student is getting whatever resources are necessary and even looking into it to be sure that this is a case of bullying and that we're documenting it appropriately. But I think most importantly is making sure the student feels safe and that we can put it into whatever it is happening. However we can resolve what's going on, we can address that and make sure that. that all of our students in our buildings feel safe and feel like they belong. Do you have a sense? Is that roughly what happens in independence as well? Yes, we don't have the QR code, but I may still that. That's a great idea, Dr. Collier. But they do report and we do investigate. And so through the investigation, then also if there's a safety plan that needs to be put in place for that child, there are steps that we can take, of course, keeping the family, you know, engaged and informed along with the building. And we have the family support and school liaisons and bringing them into the picture, too, to support that student. Have you seen this problem stay the same, get better, get worse over the years? What have you noticed? I think it kind of takes, I think when social media really took off.

That really brought in another dynamic than what just happened in the school day because the social media and the conversations. And, you know, we have those keyboard warriors that love to say things that they would never say in public to people's faces that just take off with that. Sometimes you have the children of those keyboard warriors that will do the same. Yeah. Not kind. Well, let's turn to a different topic here because I know a major challenge each of you are facing has been the property tax debacle stemming from the 2023 Jackson County Property Tax Assessments. Jackson County will issue credits for all of the overpayments now. The result is that your districts are losing out on a lot of money. Dr. Collier, the KCPS District is forecasting a loss of $60 million over several years. Talk to me about what that means for you and how you're going to adjust your budget to accommodate this. Yeah, so, of course, when we learned this, it was very concerning. But we were also very aware of... the burden that many taxpayers are carrying as we were going out campaigning. It's a tough issue for you particularly in a district that's... It's tough because it's impacting many of our families and we care about that. We want our families to be able to live and to thrive. And so when we went out to talk about the bond, we heard directly from taxpayers about we want to support this district. We are so proud of what you are doing, but we don't know. that we can, you know, vote to approve an increase in our taxes. So we do recognize that that is a real issue for our taxpayers and our family. So what is it going to mean for you? And so what we've done, we've done some planning internally. We started looking at ways we could redirect some resources and some long-term planning so that the hit is not as great as it would be. And so I have a phenomenal chief financial officer. And she has done some things to make sure, looking at where we had vacancies, places where we could maybe move resources over. You know, we cut away some things that we didn't need, looking at contracts that weren't necessary, things like that so that we would not have to remove support from the classroom. Because that's the last thing that we want to do is to impact our students' experience. And you think you can get through this without doing that? Right now, we feel pretty good about what we can do. there will have to be some cutting back on some things. Like that's just going to be inevitable, but we're trying to minimize that as much as possible. It's going to be a three-year run you're going to have to go through here. It will be. It will be a three-year run for us. In independence, Dr. Merlo, you're estimating about a $15 million hit. Your district initially filed a lawsuit over this, but in recent weeks, you've backed off of that. I'm wondering why. Well, the lawsuit was put in place before I arrived. And as I got here, I saw letters from those that lived in our district that had been graduated from ISD or had spent their life there supporting the school district. And like...

Dr. Collier talked about our community has supported our school district and passed bonds and levies and just have been a great partner to us. And so I asked for a meeting with Mr. Levota and went down and asked some very clarifying questions so that I could learn what this meant. And in learning from him around, my questions were around, what if you, you know, I'm trying to get to a number. Yeah. And how was they going to figure out what's the medium? Where's the average that they're going to get to? And him explaining that. And then I asked the question about, what if you had a home? in Kansas City, or in Jackson County, and you moved, will the credit follow? Kind of the same things that seem to roll out in some of his press conferences so that I could narrow down that scope. And then also looking at what papers had they filed with the state auditors that would allow us the privilege of recouping. Yeah. And so in doing that, I can get a better grasp on. And so in just having conversations with our school board members, we want to be a good partner to our community. And a tax credit. for them overpaying felt like the right thing for us to allow, and then for us to look at some long-range goals, look at things that we can do differently, more efficiently, and provide that partnership with our community was the right step forward for us. You know, I can appreciate the politics of this being difficult for both of you. It's not lost on me, Dr. Merlo, that your district and independence supported the construction of a controversial AI data center. But you're all going to receive significant more dollars because of that. How much impact will that have on your budget in terms of helping you overcome this three-year hit you're going to take because of the property tax credits? Well, we do believe, but until we get the contract in place and really see what the numbers are, I can't tell you exactly. And it looks like it could be about three to five years out. before that would really take place. So we're after this window then. You bet. You bet. The first year will be the biggest hit for our district. The first year is what we'll see the largest. And we're planning probably $4.3 to $4.5 million for the biggest. And then in your two, three, and four, there'll be that recoupment allowance that is a filing with the state auditors that will lessen that amount that the district has taken the greatest hits with. Now, there's small business that five... five million or less, we won't be able to recoup any of those dollars they stand. Dr. Collier is confident that she can stave off impacts to the classroom. You bet. Do you share that view? Yes, I do. You think you can get by without seeing problems there. Yeah. I should point out that Nebius, the company behind the data center and independents, also paid off school lunch debt for both Fort Osage and your school districts. That had to have been a tremendous relief for a lot of your families. I haven't met with them per se yet, but everything that I've heard and read, they are going to be a wonderful partner for the Independent School District. Yeah. I wanted to ask you, Dr. Collier, the Kansas City District's graduation rate, you alluded to it earlier, just went from 72% to nearly 89%. That's a very significant improvement approaching the national average of 91.5%.

How did you do that? I got 30 seconds. Okay, a lot of intentionality. Yeah. really having a lot of resources in place to capture students. We have several programs that offer alternative educational experiences for students because the traditional high school doesn't work for all of them. But really focusing a lot in on real-world learning, what we're finding is that students want hands-on practical learning experiences, and the more that we provide that for students who need it, getting away from like a one-size-fits-all educational experience, I think is the key. Good for you. How do we make sure? that we are meeting the needs of our very diverse learners. And I think that's what we've done. Another huge achievement for your district, right? Yes, it is. A big checkmark there on that one. That was our host, Steve Kraski, talking with Dr. Jennifer Collier and Dr. Vicki Marillo. Up to date is a production of KCURR, and this episode was produced by Elizabeth Ruiz and me, Nora Crutcher McGowan. Thanks so much for listening. We'll be back again soon.

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