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Seg. 1: Lee's Summit Superintendent Seeks Equity. Seg. 2: Brookside Shop Moving After 82 Years.

Luke X. Martin
/
KCUR 89.3
Dr. Dennis Carpenter is the first black superintendent of the Lees Summit R-7 School District.

Segment 1:  Lee's Summit R-7 schools superintendent says achievement gap for some students ranges from 17% to 34%.

When Dr. Dennis Carpenter became head of the district in 2017 there were contentious initiatives already underway. Among those were needed changes to school boundaries and gaining education equity.  Data shows the achievement gap is most felt by students in sub-groups of race, language and socio-economics. As Carpenter acknowledged, "sometimes you have to go slow to go fast" as he works with the community to reduce that gap. He stated his belief that Lee's Summit schools are in a good place to do just that.

Segment 2, beginning at 21:15: Current owners of Shop Beautiful close the last original Brookside business. 

Sisters and owners Abbey Fields and Sarah Douglas confessed to bittersweet feelings as they prepare to move from the store that has been in the same location since 1936. The sisters proudly pointed out that Shop Beautiful has been women-owned since it first opened and that they took over the boutique from their mother Ruth Martin who purchased it in 1967. Fields and Douglas quelled rumors about why they were moving the business and we learned about the evolution of the Brookside shopping district. 

When I host Up To Date each morning at 9, my aim is to engage the community in conversations about the Kansas City area’s challenges, hopes and opportunities. I try to ask the questions that listeners want answered about the day’s most pressing issues and provide a place for residents to engage directly with newsmakers. Reach me at steve@kcur.org or on Twitter @stevekraske.