Consultants hired by Wichita public schools say the district needs to reduce its number of buildings by more than 25% over the next two decades.
That could involve a massive bond issue or series of bonds to build and renovate schools — though none of the options include price tags just yet. And it likely will mean closing many older, smaller schools.
David Sturtz with Ohio-based Woolpert, formerly Cooperative Strategies, presented four options during community meetings Monday. They range from a “no bond” option to an extensive building and renovation plan that would take 15 to 20 years.
All options include closing and consolidating up to 19 buildings. Sturtz said many Wichita schools are too old to fix, or they weren’t designed for the way students learn today.
“It is an opportunity to reimagine what your schools look like,” he said. “An era of rebuilding is here.”
Wichita school board members are collecting feedback from residents this week and will explore options in detail during a workshop next month. In June, they’ll vote on a long-term facilities master plan.
The board voted last month to shutter two middle schools and four elementary schools at the end of this academic year because of declining enrollment and a $42 million budget deficit.
Wichita’s enrollment has dropped by more than 8% over the past seven years, and consultants predict the decline to continue. Meanwhile, the district faces more than $1.2 billion in needed building repairs and maintenance.
Wichita has space for nearly 63,000 students and currently enrolls only 44,000. About a third of Wichita classrooms are less than 700 square feet, which is well below the 900-square-foot classroom that consultants described as “adequate.”
Sturtz said it doesn’t make financial or educational sense to keep repairing buildings that are too small or outdated.
“It has to involve some measure of rebuilding. And given your overextension, it has to also involve some measure of ‘newer and fewer’ strategies, called consolidation," he said.
Wichita has 54 elementary schools, 15 middle schools, three K-8s, nine high schools and eight other buildings. The average age of the district’s buildings is over 60 years.
All four options presented by consultants would reduce the district’s overall portfolio from 89 buildings to 64 or 65.
The last bond issue for Wichita schools was approved in 2008 by a narrow 2% margin of voters. That $370 million plan built nine new schools, including the new Southeast High School at 127th East and Pawnee.
Prior to that, in April 2000, voters in the Wichita district approved a $284.5 million bond issue, which focused largely on air-conditioning and other infrastructure upgrades.
The district will hold two more community input meetings Tuesday — at 5:30 p.m. at West High School, and 7:30 p.m. at North High.
