By Leslie Collins
Northeast News
June 29, 2011

After months of debate, R.J. Delano parents and the Kansas City Missouri School Board of Education reached a compromise. KCMSD will close the school, but won’t transfer the students to the annex at East High School until the building upgrades and staff preparedness are complete.

Superintendent Dr. Convington first proposed closing the special needs school during the 2009-2010 school year since it didn’t meet the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) by educating children in the least restrictive environment. Students were completely segregated from the non-special needs student population, which prevented them from being educated in the least restrictive environment.

As KCMSD board members discussed the options for Delano, Delano representatives urged the board to consider the students in their decision.

“Look around. Listen and remember the students of Delano. It is for them this decision is being made,” Maureen Kramanak said. “Try to walk a mile in their shoes or wheelchairs.”

Delano School Advisory Committee Chair Deborah Jones added, “If districtwide faculty and staff aren’t adequately trained, the entire purpose of mainstreaming the Delano scholars and other special needs scholars is null and void.”

Board member Joseph Jackson said Delano was one of the first schools identified in the right-sizing initiative.

“If a year ago we knew we wanted to close it, why did we not start a transition process then?” Jackson asked Covington.

Covington said the transition process started last year when KCMSD moved the kindergarten through second grade classes to other schools.

Remaining elementary students will be transferred to Wheatley Elementary School and high school students will be transferred to the annex at East High School.

Currently, the annex is not air conditioned and would need several upgrades to accommodate the special needs students.

In addition to air conditioning, upgrades will include moving two science rooms to another part of the building to allow for adequate classroom space, ensuring the bathrooms are fully ADA compliant, adding a nurses station and creating a student center and a multi-purpose room that could be used for physical therapy. Other upgrades will include making the doors handicap accessible, installing a covered walkway leading to the parking lot, improving the elevator system, among other items.

When Jackson pointed out that schools similar to Delano exist in the area in Hickman Mills, Raytown and Independence, Covington said Delano would still need to close.

“If they do (exist) they’re out of compliance. That doesn’t mean we have to be out of compliance,” Covington said.

Board member Kyleen Carroll asked if the district could push back the transition by six months, adding, “We’re not just talking about capital projects here. We’re not transitioning from one building to another. We’re talking about transitioning human capital.”

After further discussion, the board voted to close Delano with the stipulation that students will not be transferred to other schools until the buildings and teachers are ready. Faculty will participate in professional development training from June 27 through the entire school year to sufficiently accommodate the special needs students, Covington said. Covington said he expects the building upgrades to be complete by the first day of school in August.

Board accepts Simmons resignation

During a previous meeting, board president Airick West read aloud Marilyn Simmons letter of resignation. Simmons, who’s served the school district for 25 years, cited “health challenges” as the reason for resigning from her board of education seat.

“She’s been around long enough to be called a war horse. It’s not going to be the same,” board member Duane Kelly said. “She irritated people, but I rarely heard anybody say she was wrong.”

Board member Arthur Benson called Simmons a long-time advocate of the school district and Carroll added that Simmons was one of the most intelligent people she’s met.

“Jackson indicated that Marilyn and I sat here and argued and that would be true,” Covington said. “But that would only be true because I would sit here and beg for cough drops that were in her purse. That was what we were really sitting here arguing about.

“I really do have a huge amount of respect for her. I would not dare say that we agreed on every issue, but even with disagreement I don’t believe she ever made a recommendation or voted, ‘No’ because she didn’t believe that she was being a true champion for which she was elected to the position and that was for the children of the Kansas City Missouri School District.”

Kellogg Brown & Root cost questioned

Board members approved the $1.5 million expenditure to Kellogg Brown & Root Services, Inc., but questioned what the large price tag would entail. As part of its Cornerstone project, KCMSD will repair and improve school buildings throughout the school district that were neglected over the years.

KCMSD hired the Columbia-based construction company to upgrade the facilities. Work will include constructing a boys locker room – currently non-existent – at East High School, repairing concrete at Paseo Academy of Fine and Performing Arts and Troost, bringing five of the district’s swimming pools up to code and installing new floors at Northeast High School. Other projects will include painting, wall repairs, cement work and working on the summer projects list turned in by the principals of each school.