USD 253 Emporia Public Schools is anticipating impacts to district families, students and potential enrollment following the announcement Monday that Emporia’s Tyson plant will close early next year.
Unfortunately, District Director for Communications Lyndel Landgren says it is unclear at this time exactly what those impacts may be, however, the district is hard at work trying to determine them.
In the meantime, Landgren says the district is working with community partners to help coordinate support and resources for affected families. Additionally, Landgren says school counselors and support staff are available to assist students whose families may be impacted by the pending closure.
While the plant currently employs 800 individuals, only a percentage of them will be out of work following the closure as Tyson noted in a release Monday that approximately 25 percent of the Emporia workforce, roughly 200 individuals, will be absorbed into company operations elsewhere. That still leaves a little more than 600 individuals without work and Landgren says it is important to note that of those 600-plus individuals, many may have families.
With that in mind, he says the impacts go far beyond just a few hundred residents and is closer to more than a thousand. Landgren, and the district, much like city leadership Monday, noted that the district will be resilient in the face of this “uncertain time” to best “ensure the well-being of our students and their educational needs.”
