With 25 campuses, SJSD looks to update school feeds with long-range plan

ST. JOSEPH, Mo. (News-Press NOW) — The St. Joseph School District's long-range plan includes right-sizing and reconfiguring its 25 campuses. 

While working on its two-high-school model, the district has an idea for which buildings it wants to continue to utilize for students throughout St. Joseph. 

The way the model is structured depends on the passing of the Proposition 2 bond issue. 

If the proposition is passed, the district would go on to build new north and south high schools.

The district would then repurpose Benton and Lafayette as middle schools. 

Bode and Truman middle schools would remain as they are. 

Spring Garden and Robidoux middle schools would then be converted to elementary schools. 

Carden Park, Coleman, Edison, Hosea, Lindbergh, Oak Grove, Parkway and Skaith elementary schools also will remain. 

"Let me take you back to the Vision Forward meetings that are getting three or four years old now," said Mike Moore, school board vice president. "We heard a lot there, right. Like, 'Hey, early childhood development is important. Academic performance is important, but with regard to facilities, what we heard was, look, straighten out our feeder system."

During a Board of Education work session on March 10, the school board mentioned increases and waitlists of students trying to get into the district's early learning centers. The long-range plan calls for the district to continue to utilize Lake and Mark Twain as early learning centers, and it would add Pershing as a third.

Hillyard Technical Center would remain as the district's technical school, Field Elementary would be utilized as the district's Gifted Learning Center and Webster would continue to be its Alternative Education Center.

Central would then be used for district operations and offices. 

This plan would have the district utilizing 19 out of 24 of its buildings, leaving Bessie Ellison, Hyde, Noyes and Pickett elementary schools and the Troester Media Center without a stated purpose. 

Within its long-range plan, the district would look to utilize one of the leftover buildings for an ELD Learning Center.

Gabe Edgar, the district's superintendent, said with about four buildings left over, there's opportunity for workforce housing. 

"There's a lot of conversations that need to take place," Edgar said. "I think there is an opportunity there for workforce housing in a couple of those buildings. We obviously have some housing issues here in St. Joseph."

If Proposition 2 is approved, Edgar said the new high school would be built south of Highway 36 and is expected to be completed by the 2028-2029 school year.

Some students would attend Central High School until a new "north" high school is built.

As previously reported, if Proposition 2 is not passed, the district would still utilize Benton as a middle school, keeping Lafayette and Central as high schools.