Community members are rallying in an effort to persuade Wichita Board of Education members to keep four elementary schools open ahead of a key vote on Monday.
Parents, students and others gathered on Saturday at Woodland Elementary School in North Riverside to voice their support for keeping the school open.
The Wichita school district plans to close Woodland as soon as next spring, along with L’Ouverture, OK and Pleasant Valley elementary schools.
Opponents say school closures would have a negative impact on students and families in nearby neighborhoods.
Maria Hernandez has a daughter at OK Elementary. She said the school’s staff was able to help her daughter overcome a speech issue, and that she has gotten close with teachers there.
“It’s not just teachers going there and just doing their job. It’s a family, actually,” she said.
“Trying to get [my daughter] adjusted to a new school, new people — she’s not going to see her friends that usually she sees [or] her teachers that she hugs every morning.”
Janene Eisenhart lives near Woodland and frequently volunteers at the school.
“It’s sad to think that it won’t be here,” she said. “What I see here is the family ties … I love these kids, and I love that they’re in my neighborhood.”
Many families at Woodland speak primarily Spanish at home, and they say they like that the school provides all resources and communications in both Spanish and English.
The district says the four schools are aging and too costly to repair. District leaders say closing the schools would help consolidate staff and resources to provide a more equitable learning experience across schools.
But many people in the community say they don’t believe the buildings are in as poor of condition as the district says, or that their condition is the result of neglecting routine maintenance. They say the district should explore other options beyond closures.
“I have a lot of questions about how they got to the decision that closure is the only route,” said Brian Irwin, president of the Historic Midtown Citizens Association. “Here we are, facing more school [closures], without a lot of transparency on the process.”
“I find that to be not acceptable in a free and democratic society.”
Critics also point to the fact that the district has renovated some of the schools slated to close, like OK Elementary, through recent bond initiatives.
The proposed closures come as the Wichita school district plans to try again to convince voters to approve a bond issue this November. Voters narrowly rejected the district’s last effort in February 2025.
Irwin said the district will have a hard time pitching a bond issue to voters at the same time it’s closing schools.
“I think that what they’re going to likely find is that the voters in Wichita will use the bond vote as a referendum on school closures.”
The Wichita school board first voted to close the schools in 2024 as part of its Facility Master Plan. The board is expected to vote on a proposed timeline to close the schools at its meeting on Monday.
Community members are also planning a silent, sit-in protest on Monday during the meeting.
