Effingham Rd, Valley Falls, KS 66088

Our family’s experience with USD 338 has been extremely disappointing and ultimately led to us removing our children from the district. While small schools can offer strong community support, that was unfortunately not our experience.We encountered ongoing concerns involving bullying, inconsistent discipline and consequences, favoritism toward certain students and families, and a general lack of accountability when concerns were brought forward. Repeated reports regarding student behavior and peer conflict were either minimized or not handled consistently, which created an increasingly hostile environment for our children.One of our biggest concerns involved Section 504 compliance and student support services. We experienced repeated issues involving lack of classroom support, failure to consistently implement accommodations, poor communication, and concerns regarding how disability-related needs were addressed. Families should never have to fight continuously to ensure accommodations are followed appropriately.We also felt there was a significant lack of transparency and professionalism from portions of district leadership and staff. Rather than working collaboratively with families who raised concerns, we often felt dismissed, isolated, or treated differently for advocating for our children.In our opinion, the district needs substantial improvement in:* bullying prevention and enforcement,* consistency in student discipline,* disability accommodation compliance,* communication with families,* staff professionalism,* and creating an inclusive environment where all students are treated fairly regardless of family background or community status.We understand every family’s experience may differ, but ours resulted in filing formal complaints and ultimately leaving the district entirely because we no longer felt our children were being adequately supported emotionally or academically.We sincerely hope the district takes concerns from families more seriously moving forward and focuses on rebuilding trust, accountability, and student support systems.