By ANNA KAMINSKI
Kansas Reflector
TOPEKA — Two students are enrolled this year at the Healy Public Schools district in western Kansas, a decrease from 20 students the previous year.
Steadily declining enrollment led area voters in November to favor dissolution, and the Kansas State Board of Education affirmed the vote Tuesday.
“The community understands the situation with the low enrollment with the school that a decision had to be made,” said Jeff Jones, superintendent of Healy Public Schools.
Healy’s neighboring district, Scott County Schools, will absorb its territory and property, and eventually collect taxes that would have typically gone toward the Healy district.
The process to dissolve the Healy Public School district has been in motion for months. A majority of Healy Public Schools students already attend Scott County Public Schools, Jones said.
“Having a choice in where the future of our school district would be was a significant reason for our school district to continue to function this year,” he said.
Scott County Schools accepted the transfer of property Monday, according to Scott Gordon, the Kansas Department of Education’s legal counsel.
He said the final step was the state board’s approval, which came with a 9-1 vote.
Healy Public Schools is the first district to close in Kansas since 2011. The dissolution has highlighted concern for rural school closures due to population decline and new open enrollment policies.
Losing a rural school is like losing a community’s livelihood, said Jamie Rumford, the superintendent for Scott County Schools.
“Kansas is a rural state, and rural Kansas has to be strong,” said Rumford. “It feels like it’s getting weaker in some areas.”
Scott County Schools employees are sorting out the details of absorbing Healy’s student records, some lingering tax revenue and transportation needs. The absorption was arranged so that Healy landowners won’t have to pay taxes on Scott County Schools’ bond project since they didn’t get a chance to vote on it, and the district’s bus has already been transporting former Healy students who have already enrolled in Scott County Schools. He said he feels for Healy residents who have invested tax dollars, time and effort into their district’s schools.
“When it just crosses the line of having to close down, that just takes a lot away,” he said.
Once a Kansas public school district drops below 10 students, it is no longer eligible for accreditation. Ten public school districts in Kansas, including Healy’s, have just 100 students or fewer. More than 30 districts have fewer than 200 students. Legislators vowed earlier this year to examine school districts with low enrollment in the 2025 legislative session.