A group of parents says not having boundaries is affecting home sales in the Maize school district, but local Realtors and school officials say they aren’t sure where the group got that idea.
“Talk to any real estate agent in the community, and they will tell you that the Maize district is a hard sale in 2014. We are losing potential home buyers at an astonishing rate” to other school districts because of “uncertainty over school placement,” Parent District-Org, a group that formed when a group of students didn’t get placed in the high school they preferred, wrote on their Facebook page Thursday.
“I cannot disagree more,” real estate agent Linda Seiwert said. Seiwert is one of Prudential’s top-selling agents and sells a lot in the Maize school district.
She said that new developments in the area are doing very well, pointing out that lots in communities like Fox Ridge and Watercress are nearly sold out.
Weigand agent Kelly Watkins said 2014 has so far been her most successful year in real estate, and nearly everything she sells is in the district.
“Selling a house in the Maize district is a definite plus,” she said. “Some [Realtors] would say it is a challenge to sell a house right outside the Maize school district.”
District officials are also unsure where the claims came from, saying enrollment is expected to climb.
Assistant superintendent Marsha Beard said in an all-staff meeting Friday that indicators point to an increase in kindergarten enrollment, according to communications director Lori Buselt. “Marsha said this is a promising sign for the district.”
Buselt added that the district is hiring a firm to survey parents to randomly gather opinions on student placement beginning Saturday.
“This will be a scientific study that the board can use to make decisions,” she said.
Parent District-Org has expressed concern because the company conducting the survey, Patron Insight, employs a person they say has close ties to the district, Marsha Chappelow. But Buselt said Chappelow has no current ties to the district and was told by Patron Insight that she wouldn’t be involved in the survey.
Parent District-Org declined Play’s request for comment.
Editor’s note: Kelly Watkins is the mother of Play’s editor Jordan Watkins. Although we try to avoid close sources, we felt she was among the best people to provide insight for this story.
