John Burke

By Davi Stuhlsatz

HAYSVILLE – John Burke, superintendent of the Haysville school district, withdrew from consideration for an Omaha-area superintendent position this past month.

Burke was one of five finalists who interviewed with the Westside school board, which was looking for a successor to its retiring superintendent. 

“Following my interview with the Westside district, my wife and I sat down and made a list of pros and cons of moving or staying,” he said. “We feel like we (the Haysville district) have made a lot of progress in the past nine years, and we decided we wanted to stay here in Haysville.”

Haysville received 34 grade-level or building-wide awards this past fall for meeting Kansas State Department of Education’s Standard of Excellence. 

The district is currently a candidate for the International Baccalaureate program. Any high school student from throughout the Wichita metro area is eligible to enroll at Campus and participate in the program. 

Burke has spent a total of 27 years leading four different Kansas districts, including the past nine years in Haysville.

“I hope Kansas legislators will approve a school financing plan that will help provide more resources for school districts,” he said. “I don’t think the governor’s plan does that.”

After Burke became Haysville superintendent, he returned the district to a traditional letter-grade system from a standards-based grading system implemented by his predecessor. 

The Haysville district has approximately 5,000 students. Prior to Haysville, Burke had previously worked as the Neodesha school district’s superintendent.

He has a doctorate of philosophy in curriculum and instruction from Kansas State University.

“I’ve had an over-whelmingly positive response from staff and the school board about our decision to stay in Haysville,” said Burke.