education

Six candidates are running for two open spots on the school board. Abundant Life’s lead pastor, Phil Hopper, said in a sermon that it's a chance to bring "two more godly people" on the board of education.

April's election will bring some new faces to the often-contentious Hickman Mills Board of Education. The board has long struggled to work together, and last year couldn’t agree on a board president or how to fill a vacancy. Will this vote help or hurt?

Some candidates say they'll be more skeptical of Dale Herl's proposals, like the four-day school week, than the current board. Herl has given a $100 contribution to a candidate.

Teachers, families and students in Missouri's Independence School District are adjusting to a four-day school week this year. Superintendent Dr. Dale Herl said data shows benefits to the shorter school week, but opinions from parents and staff are mixed.

U.S. Sen. Josh Hawley and other Missouri politicians have been especially vocal opponents to the United States financially backing Ukraine in its war against Russia. Plus: Woodman Elementary school in Wichita is experimenting with a program that pairs kids who regularly misbehave with a mentor and given new, constructive tasks to complete on a regular basis.

Kansas City has an immigrant population of over 130,000 people that is growing every year, adding to the area's labor force and tax base. Still, a high percentage of immigrant residents can't get the medical care they need — including Selene Rocha, an immigrant living in Johnson County.

As part of a policy of aggressive residency investigations, dozens of middle school students were handed disenrollment letters and shown the door in the Hazelwood School District in late February and early March.

Green Dirt Farm is opening a new restaurant next month that will bring its sheep’s milk cheeses to the Crossroads — in a spot now under threat from the new Royals stadium. Plus: At these Kansas City-area schools, students run the restaurants while you dine.

The 2023 National Geographic documentary “The Space Race” explores the history of Black astronauts, including Kansas City’s own Ed Dwight. Local nonprofit aSTEAM Village is screening the movie to fund their trip to the 50th National Society of Black Engineers convention in Atlanta.

Sister Berta Sailer, one of Kansas City's greatest advocates for disadvantaged chidlren, died last week at 87. In the 1960s, she opened an at-home day care that eventually grew to become Operation Breakthrough. Plus: A rural Missouri school district is one of the first in the U.S. to receive electric buses from a new EPA program.

Ward Worley, executive director of Plaza Academy, was charged in September with a misdemeanor. Because it's a private school, the state has no oversight on personnel issues. The mother of the victim has since enrolled her child at a different school.

The Environmental Protection Agency is beginning to send nearly 5,000 electric buses to school districts around the country after a nearly two-year ramp-up. A few Midwestern districts weigh in on how the new buses are working so far.