Discussions continue to pick up steam for possible re-opening Reading Elementary’s doors, perhaps as soon as next fall.
USD 251 Superintendent Mike Mathes was pleased with the prospect of re-opening Reading after it was closed earlier this year. He was also pleased with the potential purpose — an alternative school of some kind.
The district is putting together a plan for education at Reading involving The Flint Hills Special Education Cooperative and Greenbush Education Service Center. The cooperative provides an array of services for students in Lyon, Chase, Greenwood and Morris counties. Click here for a link to the cooperative’s online information page. Greenbush, meanwhile, provides a wide range of student services, professional development and administrative services to school districts across Kansas.
Reading was first opened as a school in the 1870s and also had a high school for decades before closing in 1981. Earlier this year, USD 251 North Lyon County decided to close the K-5 school as a cost-cutting move after at least 20 years of discussions about the school’s future. Before the school board voted to close the school, some staffers floated the idea of using the building for dyslexic pupils.
