Kenwood and Emerson Elementary will be rezoned in an effort to rebalance class sizes at the two Kearney middle schools, (Brian Neben, Central Nebraska Today)
KEARNEY — The Kearney Public Schools Board of Education approved the rezone of sending Kenwood Elementary students to Sunrise Middle School and Emerson Elementary students to Horizon Middle School to address an imbalance at class sizes at the middle schools.
The board had been in discussions for months regarding possible solutions to the imbalance that was only going to increase in the coming years.
Middle school enrollment in Kearney has generally been divided down 2nd Ave., with students on the west side attending Horizon Middle School and those on the east side going to Sunrise Middle School.
It had been noted in past board meetings that more development has been occurring on the west side of the Kearney community, and this has led to a higher number of students entering the elementary schools that eventually go to Horizon Middle School.
However, in the past the district had anticipated more residential development on the east side of community and had approved projects that expanded Sunrise Middle School.
Future classes that are in elementary school now will push class sizes at Horizon well over 20 students in some cases in the coming years. It was noted that Sunrise Middle School is actually the larger building, with five more classrooms than Horizon.
According to projections, in the 2026-27 year, there would be 706 students at Horizon and 550 at Sunrise. This trend continues throughout the school years up to 2029-30, with generally 700 students enrolled at Horizon and 500 at Sunrise.
During the August meeting, Superintendent Jason Mundorf appeared to discuss possible changes to the elementary schools and which one’s feed into Horizon and Sunrise in an effort to balance sixth, seventh and eighth grade enrollment.
Elementary feeders that were discussed during the August board meeting included Buffalo Hills, Kenwood, and Emerson Elementary Schools.
Mundorf noted that the key objective among all of these discussions has been balance, seeking to balance out the number of students in both middle schools.
The issue is three larger bubbles of students, numbering around 500, and two groups of 400. If left unaddressed, there will be around 156 more students at Horizon than Sunrise.
Mundorf said during the August board meeting that as discussions have continued, the idea of sending Emerson students to Horizon and Buffalo Hills or Kenwood to Sunrise, seems to have been gaining momentum among the board members.
If nothing changes, class sizes could grow to 30 students at Horizon and staffing will need to be addressed. Mundorf said that if there was an easy solution to this issue, the board and staff would have found it by now. He said that he wished disruptions were not necessary, but something will have to change soon.
The board took up the discussion again at the Monday, Oct. 13 meeting with items on the agenda rezoning either Buffalo Hills or Kenwood to Sunrise and Emerson to Horizon.
Board members Amanda Smallcomb and Drew Blessing said they were in favor of rezoning Buffalo Hills as opposed to Kenwood.
Blessing said either choice presented its own difficulties, he noted Buffalo Hills parents who were within view of Horizon itself. He also noted that distance the Kenwood families would have to drive to Sunrise was another concern and felt that it would be too great a traffic concern.
Board members Paul Hazard, Niki Deeds, Amy Barth and board president John Icenogle all voiced their choice of Kenwood.
Hazard noted the issue of Glenwood Elementary students, who will be moved to Buffalo Hills and then would feed into Horizon. This change would now feed those former Glenwood students into Sunrise, which was different from what they were told when the initial move was made.
Hazard made it clear he wanted to hold to his word he gave to the Glenwood parents and families when the change was made to send those students to Buffalo Hills.
Barth said that it was important the board made a decision based on the information they had at hand and try not to prognosticate what future trends could be. She noted the choice to add expand Sunrise on the east side of town and then more development occurred on the west side of Kearney.
Icenogle noted he had been in favor of moving the grades around to different buildings to help with the balance. After this idea failed to gain traction among the other board members, he said he has been in favor of Kenwood.
Deeds said that regardless of the choice, both Horizon and Sunrise are excellent schools, and any students will receive a quality education.
The motion was made to rezone Kenwood to Sunrise, effective the 2026-27 school year, which passed by a vote of 4-2. Smallcomb and Blessing had the dissenting votes.
When discussing the rezone of Emerson, Blessing said the board members preferred not having to move these students, but there are no better options at hand to address the coming imbalance.
He noted some Emerson parents live on the far east side of town and he said their commute to Horizon will be longer.
The board unanimously voted to approve the rezone of Emerson to Horizon, effective the 2026-27 school year.
