Meetings have ended for the USD 253 Cost Containment Team.
Committee members held their final meeting Wednesday, following months of conversations as the district tries to find $4 million worth of savings and efficiencies as enrollment dwindles for the district. Superintendent David McGehee says the process has been good, even though the topic is painful.
Up next is a review by McGehee’s Leadership Team, followed by feedback from building principals and department leaders as the conversations become an official recommendation.
Conversations officially began in October, following McGehee’s report in August 2025 indicating a significant short-term drop in enrollment as part of a much longer decline. Just between fall 2024 and fall 2025, the district lost almost 240 students and had total enrollment of just over 3,800 students, in large part due to the Tyson plant closure announced in December 2024 and finalized this past summer. However, district enrollment as been in decline since being over 4,800 students in 2000.
Team members have moved away from a four-day school week as an option, but they have not shied away from options like trimming staff or consolidating school buildings.
McGehee says he has appreciated the work of the committee, which has involved as many as 80 members ranging from district adminstrators to district staff and community members. Going forward, he says the district has to focus on its highlights as a way to enroll more students.
While Emporia is in the middle of this difficult conversation, McGehee says this is officially a concern across a much broader area.
Before the Board of Education makes its final decision on recommendations March 11, it will have an initial public discussion at a work session March 4. Meanwhile, McGehee is urging residents to advocate for additional education funding as lawmakers rewrite the formula during the 2027 legislative session.
