Independence School District

Under the legislation, Jackson County seniors whose homes are valued less than $550,000 can start applying for relief next year.

A new school year brings new challenges to Kansas City-area districts. Ongoing problems, like staffing shortages and school safety, continue to weigh on administration while heat waves make learning hazardous.

This school year will look a lot different for students in Independence, who head back to the classroom this week. Independence is by far the largest district in Missouri to make the switch to a four-day school week. Plus: Dealing with household clutter is a part of life, but for some Kansans it spirals into hoarding.

Independence is by far the largest district in Missouri to make the switch to a shorter school week, leaving questions for families about what they can expect.

Natianna Ohmart, an English teacher at William Chrisman High School, said the tax levy's passage would take financial pressure off her strained budget.

That there are fewer candidates this year may be a return to the status quo, but it prevents the public from weighing in on who should govern local school districts.

The Independence school board voted in December to adopt a four-day school week starting next school year, leaving some parents concerned and frustrated. But since the change was announced, school officials say teaching applications have increased exponentially.

Students in the Independence School District will only be in class four days a week next year. It's the largest school district in Missouri to make the switch amid chronic teacher and staffing shortages.

Parents pushed backed against the Independence School District after it banned a book that includes a non-binary character from its elementary school libraries. Independence's policy is to remove challenged books while they go through a review process.

Johnson County schools have found success in a suicide prevention effort where teenagers help each other through mental health problems. Plus, the families of students in the Independence School District say they're frustrated by a lack of transparency.

Through his nonprofit, The Know Joey? Foundation, Barber Joey Thomas provides hundreds of free haircuts and school supplies to children before they start the year.

At least 10 school districts in the Kansas City area announced they were canceling all summer school activities Wednesday after the Blue Springs Police Department was alerted to the threat of an "unspecific mass shooting."