The Kansas City (Mo.) district, looking to cut as much as $30 million from its budget, may have to address the issue of low-enrollment classes in sixth and seventh grades. The district is in the second year of a three-year transition expanding its K-5 schools to K-8s, adding one grade level per year. Several schools have small numbers in the sixth and seventh grades. Historically, enrollment has dropped in the upper elementary grades as some children transfered out of the district before entering middle school. One of the reasons the district opted for K-8 grade configurations was the hope that families that like their elementary schools would be more inclined to keep their children in the district through the middle years and into high school.
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