Superintendent: Manhattan-area Job Corps operations to cease; district working to get students credits before program ends

Superintendent Eric Reed told trustees that Flint Hills Job Corps will pause or cease operations and that USD 383 and Job Corps leaders had been working to transition educational services.

Reed said the district has provided instruction to Job Corps students for more than 20 years but that, earlier this spring, the Job Corps program decided to provide diploma programs independently and the parties agreed to part ways for the upcoming school year. "That decision was made then as I think everyone's aware," Reed said.

Reed described an active effort to obtain as many credits as possible for the students currently enrolled so they can complete diplomas before the transition date. He said school staff were coordinating credits and that operations were expected to cease June 30; he added it was his understanding many students would leave the campus on June 12 and that nearly all students have a destination of origin beyond Manhattan.

Reed noted the district is not the Job Corps operator (Job Corps is administered by the U.S. Department of Labor) and that the situation has evolved rapidly. He said district staff were attempting to place or reassign district employees who had worked at Job Corps into other positions and to help students and families with transitions.

Ending: Reed said the district would continue outreach and work with community partners to support students who lack a clear origin to return to; trustees and staff expressed appreciation for district efforts to preserve credits and placements.