Maple Hill Elementary School in Wabaunsee County is closing at the end of the school year.
USD 329 officials have scheduled some public information meetings to give district families a chance to learn more about the school closure and the district’s plans to consolidate buildings.
USD 329 elementary principal Robert Schawo wrote in a letter to district parents March 31 that Maple Hill Elementary will close in May. The school building was opened in 1952 in the town 40 miles east of Manhattan and has been in continuous service for 70 years. Schawo wrote that Maple Hill students will be moved to Alma Elementary School for the start of the 2023-24 school year. The facility also will be undergoing a name change once Maple Hill Elementary closes.
“Replacing it is Wabaunsee Elementary School, or WES,” Schawo wrote. “A name that symbolizes the promise our future holds.”
The USD 329 school board recently voted to move Maple Hill students to Alma Elementary once the Maple Hill school closes. USD 329 superintendent Troy Pitsch said in a statement that there is “a great deal of emotion and apprehension on all sides” of the issue.
“Our district’s priority has always been to provide high-quality education and ensure the safety and well-being of our students,” Pitsch wrote in a letter on the district website last week. “We are confident that the Wabaunsee Elementary Campus will provide the same exceptional level of care and education that Maple Hill Elementary School has provided for many years.”
In November, The Mercury reported that the proposal to close Maple Hill Elementary was part of USD 329 officials’ $17.9 million bond issue that would’ve consolidated district facilities into one K-12 campus. Local residents voted against the measure in the Nov. 8 election, but district officials have continued with their plans to close the building.
In October, the Maple Hill City Council signed a resolution opposing the plan to close Maple Hill Elementary. City council officials told The Mercury then that they’d rather see the existing school be maintained, rather than shut it down.
Pitsch told The Mercury in October that the district’s facilities are spread out over 225 square miles, which is straining the district budget. A consolidated campus, he said, would save the district money by simplifying school transportation routes.
To help teachers prepare for the switch, USD 329 officials have changed the school end date for elementary students. The last day for children at Alma and Maple Hill elementaries is May 15, ending at 3:40 p.m. Classes at Wabaunsee Junior High and High School will still end for the year at 1 p.m. May 17.
An informational meeting for Maple Hill Elementary parents is set for 6 p.m. April 13 in the Maple Hill gymnasium. On April 19, district families have the chance to tour Alma Elementary, soon to become Wabaunsee Elementary, and meet with teachers in the building from 6 to 7 p.m.
On May 7, the district will host a community open house from 3 to 5 p.m. at Maple Hill Elementary. Schawo wrote that the open house is to give the community a chance to “come and look around the school and celebrate it” before it’s boarded up. District students also will get the chance to mingle at the elementary grades’ field day May 12 before all being sent to Wabaunsee Elementary next school year.
