The decision to buy in a certain area is often based specifically on what schools service a particular neighborhood. According to the Kansas City Star; High school loyalty — and property values — are prime motives for parents fighting the sweeping Shawnee Mission School District proposals to redraw boundaries and close schools.
At a public hearing Thursday,it was the turn of Shawnee Mission Northwest High School supporters who don’t want their children switched to a path that leads to Shawnee Mission North instead.
Being moved into the North area “would just desecrate our home values,” warned patron and commercial real estate agent Aaron Mesmer.
The immediate issue was a proposal to redraw the attendance boundary of Ray Marsh Elementary School,changing which middle school and high school some kindergartners through sixth-graders at Marsh would eventually attend.
It is one of 11 district proposals to change boundaries and close five schools. Superintendent Gene Johnson said the goals are to make the district more efficient by leveling enrollment among the five high schools and to save money.
Schools with fewer students cannot offer as many educational opportunities,Johnson said.
Ginger Adamiak,mother of a Marsh student,said she and others want the education that Northwest offers. Northwest students score higher in college-placement tests than North students,and more of them go on to four-year schools,she said. Adamiak also said more North students drop out before graduating than Northwest students,and she asked why officials did not consider closing North.
Parent Jennifer Vogel had one daughter graduate from North and has another daughter at Northwest now. She would have her daughter live with relatives in the Northwest area before sending her to North
What do you think? Do schools have an effect on home value?
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What good question