Plan 4BR moves forward as School Board prepares for Monday vote

ST. JOSEPH, Mo. (KQTV) -- The St. Joseph School District Board of Education reached a consensus Wednesday night, deciding to move forward with a plan to keep Benton and Central as the district's two high schools and create a four-middle school model.

Plan 4BR is a combined, updated version of former Plans 7B and 4B. Under this setup, Lafayette High School would shift to a middle school, and Robidoux Middle School would move to an elementary school. 

Several buildings are also likely to be phased out under this plan, including Eugene Field, Pershing and Webster. Ellison won’t close, but it will operate slightly above its ideal capacity, going from 328 students to about 378.  

Superintendent Ashly McGinnis explained how high school capacity has been flexible in recent years, as classroom spaces have been converted into offices and meeting areas to support more counselors and additional services. 

"Capacity in our high school has been adaptive to accommodate classroom space that is being converted to offices and meeting spaces. We have recruited more support services, counselors we have converted those spaces into offices or meeting areas,” McGinnis said.  

District leaders and board members said the two–high school model would be the least disruptive overall, offering a more gradual, phased approach to consolidation.  

When it comes to boundaries, Hosea, Pickett and Hyde elementaries would feed into Spring Garden Middle School, while Parkway and Skaith elementaries would feed into Truman Middle School. Both Spring Garden and Truman would feed students to Benton High School. 

Central High School's optimal capacity is currently 1,732 students, but would increase to 1,937 under this plan. Benton would grow from 884 students to 999.  

“Based on these projections from savings through staffing under Plan 4BR is $2.155 million, which is the potential savings...The maximum savings on this plan would be $3.974 million, which is estimated to be about a $160,000 difference between Plan 4BR and 2R,” said Mark Korell, SJSD's director of human resources.

Plan 4BR would displace eight administrators, 170 certified staff and 83 classified staff, according to Korell.  

Assistant Superintendent Stacia Studer emphasized that both the proposed two–high school model plans — 2R and 4BR — would still support all the services students need.  

She said the district had already created pathways to serve students’ academic and post-secondary goals long before facility changes became part of the conversation.  

“In leading the college and the career pathways, we are going to have to rethink where our students receive the experiences and opportunities, and that’s why we center our work around not just Hillyards but also Missouri Western,” Studer said.  

Robert Hedgecorth, SJSD's assistant superintendent of business and operations, noted that since both Plan 2R and 4BR transition a middle school into an elementary school, each would need a new playground and other small adjustments—about a $150,000 expense.  

Benton and Lafayette, each, had the potential to become middle schools, depending on which plan was chosen, with relatively minor modifications costing around $100,000.   

So far, the district has reviewed 14 different plans. Data shows that under Plan 4BR, roughly 2,316 families and students would be relocated. 

For now, the board plans to take an official vote on Plan 4BR on Monday, Nov. 24. If the plan is approved, it would be set into motion across the district.