Unified School District 493, 802 S Highschool Ave, Columbus, KS 66725, US

The Southeast Kansas Education Service Center, or Greenbush as it's commonly known, started in 1976 as three employees in a small, vacant school building donated by USD 248 Girard. The ESC started on the basis that it would provide area school districts a way of accomplishing things that would be too costly individually. The five original member districts Erie-St. Paul, Yates Center, Riverton, Girard and Fort Scott Community College joined together to establish a list of priorities and form a board of education with representatives from each of their own district boards. The ESC has more than 200 programs and services and 500-plus employees. Services extend far past the physical boundaries of the Greenbush property, which has expanded to include more than 500 acres, four permanent buildings and a fleet of mobile education vehicles. Programs range from education in state corrections facilities and the provision of interpreters for deaf and hearing impaired students in schools to home-based education for parents of toddlers and pre-schoolers and helping establish mentoring programs in communities.