Hannibal School District has Eugene Field staff redistributed among other schools

HANNIBAL, Mo. — Relief.

Hannibal School District superintendent Susan Johnson senses that is the overwhelming feeling within the district, as all staff members now have a place to call home for the 2025-26 school year.

At Wednesday night’s board meeting at the Hannibal Middle School auditorium, Johnson shared this news with the board and audience members.

“I’ve been really concerned about all of our staff, but especially those at Eugene Field because you’re in limbo and not sure what’s going on,” Johnson said. “I was really happy to share with the board tonight that every single support staff member, certificated staff member and administrator have been placed.”

Eugene Field Elementary will close beginning next school year, meaning the students at staff currently at that school will be relocated at one of the four remaining elementary schools, including A.D. Stowell Elementary, where Corey Bennett is the principal.

“At Stowell, it’s really cool because we get to receive a good chunk of those Eugene Field kids,” Bennett said. “With that, we get a lot of the staff from Field, and they’re top notch. They’re great folks. They have a lot of tenure and a lot of Hannibal pride. With this whole new group, we’re able to grow our children and our student population even more.”

That does not mean the redistricting process has not been without its stressors.

“To say this has been difficult is an understatement,” Johnson said. “No one ever wants to give people information that they don’t necessarily want to hear, but unfortunately when you’re in a leadership role, sometimes you have to look at the bigger picture. 

“We’ve still got a row to hoe here, but I’m so proud of our staff, our families and students. I think everyone is going into this open-minded.”

That mindset has proven to be an invaluable asset.

“Our attitude and how we see things has a huge impact on our children,” Johnson said. “I think they’ve really embraced that.”

Those children could get the chance to get acclimated to their new schools even before the end of the 2024-25 school year.

“Our principals as well as our transition committee have talked about some opportunities not just for our staff to be able to go to buildings, but even this spring before the school year is up, to include opportunities for our students and their families to be able to go to other buildings and just become familiarized with them, just how like parents are when they go to the middle school for the first time or when they bring them to early childhood center or whatever their school is,” Johnson said.

Another point of emphasis has been the childcare providers in the area. Currently, students have to attend a school in whichever district their childcare center is located, but Johnson said she and her transition committee are working on a new system to transport those students between their childcare center and a school in their home district, regardless of where the childcare center is located.

“That made the childcare providers feel much better, too, because they were naturally getting a lot of questions,” Johnson said. “You think, ‘Oh my gosh, I’m going to have to find a different childcare provider,’ and those are not easy to find, which creates a lot of anxiety.”

Johnson, who is retiring at the end of the 2024-25 school year, hopes that anxiety has given way to excitement, if not by now, then at least by the next first day of school on August 21.

“I know with my retirement, I won’t be here on the first day of school as I normally would, but wherever I am, on that first day, I’ll probably be thinking about them and saying, ‘I hope that went smoothly,’” Johnson said.

Taking as much stress off the shoulders of Ritchie Kracht, who will take over for Johnson, is a top priority for Johnson, as well.

“I’m just taking every day as if I’m going to be here forever, and I’m just trying to get some loose ends tied up for Ritchie and trying to help his transition be as smooth as possible,” Johnson said. “I really think it’s going to be.”

The Hannibal School District has taken an important step in that process.

“I’m very relieved,” Johnson said.