Wichita Public Schools (WPS) is preparing to ask voters for major investments in the district’s infrastructure. For the first time since 2008 and third time in fifty years, WPS will propose a facilities bond issue to Wichita residents, seeking up to $450 million for rebuilding, renovating, repurposing and relocating WPS’s vital structures and facilities.
The Wichita Board of Education recently voted to put the special bond election on the ballot for residents to decide. The proposed bond, outlined in the district’s Facilities Master Plan, will fund extensive upgrades to WPS without raising the tax rate. The comprehensive plan aims to address current and future educational needs across the district, focusing on facility modernization and the expansion of learning opportunities for Wichita students.
Residents will cast their votes on the bond issue on Feb. 25, 2025. It will be funded by the current tax rate people living in the district are already paying towards the last bond issue in 2008. If voters decide against the initiative, the tax rate would remain the same and be a continuation of the 2008 bond issue.
The proposed bond will begin work on various infrastructure initiatives, including new facilities designed to support innovative learning spaces. Those include a Future Ready Center for Trades, outdoor athletic fields at Northeast Magnet and an Early Childhood Center located on the site of the to-be-relocated Chester Lewis Academic Learning Center.
WPS is looking to close and relocate several facilities through the proposed bond. If the bond passes, L’Ouverture, OK, Pleasant Valley Elementary and Woodland are set to be closed and begin the process of relocating students to other nearby schools. Facilities that will be closed and relocated to new sites include Chester Lewis Academic Learning Center, Dunbar Support Center, Focht Instructional Support Center, Gateway Alternative Program, Little Early Childhood Center and Sowers Alternative High School.
Other renovation, rebuild and repurposing projects highlighted in the proposed plan include:
Rebuilding and creating properly-sized facilities for enrollment growth at Adams, Black, Caldwell, Irving and McLean elementary schools and Truesdell and Coleman middle schools.
Expanding and converting Cessna Elementary to K-8.
Converting Isely Elementary to K-8.
Renovating and repurposing Coleman Middle School into an alternative learning center
Expanding and repurposing Wells to include Sowers Alternative High School and turn it into a 6-12 center.
All initiatives in the proposed bond issue will further WPS’s Every Student Future Ready strategic plan, which lays a path for increased academic achievement and graduation rate, preparing students for success and enhancing student comfort. Approved by the Board of Education in 2023, the strategic plan outlines WPS’s goals for the next five years.
Patrick Pelletier, CC BY-SA 3.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
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