Hickman Mills

Teachers at Kansas City Public Schools will soon be paid the highest starting salaries in the region — but just by a smidge. The school board approved a new union contract in the middle of a widespread teacher shortage that's making districts across the region compete to recruit and retain educators.

Hickman Mills school board candidates discussed accreditation, conflict on the board and their priorities for the district.

Impact KCK in the Kansas City, Kansas school district is a national model for how communities can address student homelessness by bringing different organizations and resources together to connect families to stable housing, jobs and other services.

Hickman Mills has closed schools as it's lost 15 percent of its students in 5 years. Across the metro, North Kansas City is growing by as much as an elementary school worth of students per year and is opening schools and adding services in response.

Missouri ranks near the bottom of the country for its teacher pay. Faced with staffing shortages, school districts and education leaders are doing what they can to raise salaries.

The raises, paid for by a tax levy approved in August, will take the district from the lowest salaries in the metropolitan area to the highest.

This year's school board elections were met with heightened interest after district leaders faced debates over COVID precautions, teaching race in schools and books in school libraries.

School board elections are in the spotlight, with district leaders facing divisive issues over COVID precautions, teaching race in schools and books in school libraries.

The district’s financial picture has improved, partly with the help of federal COVID aid, and the board last year approved a substantial pay bump for teachers.

Many Kansas City area students will not be required to mask up when they return to class this week despite concerns about the rise in COVID-19 cases.

Attorney General Eric Schmitt is facing backlash online for requesting parents to submit videos or pictures of school districts enforcing mask orders and quarantine policies.

Labor issues are making staples of school dining hard to find, triggering the worst supply chain headaches these institutions have faced in years. "It's like a ginormous hurricane," says the nutrition services director at the Hickman Mills school district in Kansas City.