adminBy Joe Jarosz
Northeast News
November 18, 2015
KANSAS CITY, Missouri — The Kansas City Public Schools have no plans to close any schools in the Northeast.
However, there will be some changes made that affect students from elementary, middle and the area’s high schools.
Earlier this month, the KCPS School Board was presented with the final recommendations for the district’s Master Plan. A complete guide of the recommendations can be seen online at www.kcpublicschools.org/MasterPlan. The goal of KCPS’s Master Plan is to ensure that the district is using its resources effectively and efficiently. Achieving that goal will require some difficult decisions to be made, including attendance boundary changes and school closures/consolidations that may affect your school.
Last week, KCPS officials held an open house at Northeast Middle School to advise families and KCPS staff of proposed changes that would affect schools in the Northeast and East Kansas City area — Anderson, Attucks, Garcia, Garfield, Gladstone, James, Wendell Phillips and Whittier elementary schools; Northeast Middle School; Lincoln Prep Academy and Northeast High School. District officials held three, 30-minute sessions informing families and faculty members of the proposed changes. After the sessions, everyone was encouraged to gather in the cafeteria to give the district feedback on what they just learned.
KCPS will increase facility efficiency by:
• Close Southwest Early College Campus and co-locate as a neighborhood high school with African-Centered College Preparatory Academy at the current ACCPA location, the former Southeast HS. Most of the 350 students currently at Southwest high school would move into AC Prep, with others going to Central, East or Northeast high schools.
• Close Crispus Attucks Elementary School
• Close Satchel Paige Elementary School
• Benjamin Banneker Elementary School was chosen for a pilot program that would add about 30 days to the school year.
• Revise boundaries to make enrollment and transportation more efficient and effective
Enhance academic experience and improve achievement for all students by:
•Develop a year-round calendar for our lowest-performing elementary schools
• Provide new instructional support for the middle schools, including Project Lead the Way curriculum and training
• Implement college and career theme-based high schools
• Enhance co-curricular and extra-curricular opportunities for all students
• Focus on developing a strong and positive culture in every school so that students feel safe and welcome
• Establish neighborhood school feeder patterns that keep students together with their cohorts on a path from Kindergarten through high school
KCPS will enhance transportation for students by:
• Set school attendance boundaries so children walk no more than a half-mile
• Create fixed bus stops so students walk no more than two blocks to a bus stop
• Make schedules and routes more consistent
KCPS will increase administrative efficiency by:
• Reduce administrative costs by $750,000 a year
• Save $680,000 a year by relocating the Board of Education/Central Office
• Save $650,000 a year by reducing the cost of maintaining surplus sites
• Pursue tax incentive policy changes
About 15 percent of current KCPS students will be impacted by school closures, consolidations or boundary changes. It is believed all students will benefit from the enhancements enabled by these changes.
Projected remaining timeline of the Master Plan includes:
November 2015:KCPS staff presents recommendations to the School Board
November 2015:Stakeholder engagement meetings
January 2016:Board decision on recommendations
January – August 2016 School Year:Transition plan activities/programs (if approved)
Fall 2016:Implementation of Master Plan (if approved)
Some who attended the open house were pleased with what they learned was being proposed. Others, who’ve been hurt by the district in the past, were none too thrilled with the possible changes. Liane Johnson currently sends her children to Crispus Attucks Elementary School. If the proposed changes go through, she said her children would have to attend Melcher Elementary, a possibility she isn’t excited about.
“I think they’re trying to sweep a lot under the rug, trying to calm us and reassure us this is best for the children,” Johnson said. “The first priority should be the children, not the officials at the Board of Education offices. It’s getting harder to keep trusting the KCPS.”
Northeast resident Cliff McMurray, on the other hand, said he’s pretty positive about the proposed changes. McMurray said he’s passionate about education and attended last week’s open house to get more answers. He said he also attended the School Board meeting where the plan was laid out to board members with more detail.
“I do understand people’s concerns, but the boundary changes make sense,” McMurray said, adding that by not dividing neighborhood better utilizes feeder systems. If he had one suggestion, he said he’d like to see another elementary school in the Northeast.
The KCPS Board of Directors expects more engagement with the public through January 2016. To voice your opinion on the proposed changes, visit www.kcpublicschools.org/MasterPlan or email KCPS at masterplan@kcpublicschools.org. To take the survey, visit www.surveymonkey.com/r/G7BNTNQ.
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