By Roger McKinney
rmckinney@joplinglobe.com
GALENA, Kan. — The Galena and Baxter Springs school boards have approved an agreement turning the operation of the Cornerstone Alternative High School over to the Southeast Kansas Education Service Center in Greenbush for the next school year.
The school for students in danger of dropping out has been in operation in Galena since 1993. School districts in Galena, Baxter Springs, Riverton and Columbus send their students to the alternative school and pay for its operation.
The Riverton Board of Education is expected to vote on the agreement Thursday. The Columbus School District likely will develop its own program, said Superintendent David Carriger.
The educational service center serves school districts in Southeast Kansas.
The cost of continuing to operate the school in the face of state budget cuts was a big factor in the decision, superintendents in Baxter Springs and Galena said.
Galena Superintendent Brian Smith said the current arrangement costs his district and the Baxter Springs district around $100,000 annually. With Greenbush in charge, the cost would be around $40,000 per district, he said.
Greenbush will operate the school with an administrator and a teacher on site, using computer technology through an online program called virtual prescriptive learning.
Smith said another reason for the change for his district is that the state was to begin counting all students who drop out from the Cornerstone program against the Galena School District, regardless of the district from which the students came.
Smith said Greenbush already provides a similar program with several other school districts.
“They’ve become more efficient at it,” Smith said.
Smith said Greenbush also would continue to offer an online program for adults seeking their high school diplomas, which Cornerstone offers now.
Carriger, the Columbus superintendent, said his district is planning to develop its own program that would allow the district to keep students in Columbus rather than busing them to Galena.
The Columbus School District has faced more drastic cuts from the state than other districts in Cherokee County.
Flexible hours
Baxter Springs Superintendent Dennis Burke and Galena Superintendent Brian Smith said the Greenbush arrangement will give students more flexibility.
“There will be a lot more flexible hours, with evenings and Saturdays,” Smith said.
