Wichita voters got their first look at a potential November bond referendum on Monday night.
Officials with Wichita Public Schools presented three different plans, each totaling $615 million. The Wichita Board of Education will ultimately decide which plan to pitch to voters in November.
Key projects in each of the plans include improving heating and air-conditioning systems across the district, rebuilding several elementary and middle schools and preserving Wichita’s six oldest high schools.
District staff say state funding does not cover large capital expenditures like new facilities or major renovations.
They say Wichita, which is the largest school district in Kansas, has a continual need to maintain and rebuild facilities. The average building in the district is more than 60 years old.
“Even some of the buildings that we consider to be newer still need repairs,” said Addi Lowell, chief financial officer for the district.
Many schools face declining enrollment, and district leaders say consolidating some of them would give students across the district a more equitable learning environment.
But the district faces a challenge in convincing a tax-weary public to accept a bond referendum, especially amid market volatility stemming from the current U.S.-Israeli war with Iran. And just last month, Wichita voters overwhelmingly rejected a proposed 1% sales tax.
That’s where the district’s strategy of presenting three different options comes into play.
Each of the three proposals would split the referendum into two separate ballot questions, which is different from the one-question referendum voters narrowly rejected last year. The second question could pass only if the first one does.
All three proposals include the same projects, but they differ in how they divide the projects between the two questions.
For example, the first proposal puts $467 million in projects on the first question and $148 million on the second. The third proposal puts $387.1 million on the first question and $227.9 million on the second.
In coming months, the district will try to gauge which proposal might be more favorable to voters. There are several public feedback sessions planned throughout April, and people can submit feedback online.
Members of the public can also use a “Build-A-Bond” tool to experiment with creating their own bond proposal.
Board member Ngoc Vuong described the process for developing the next referendum as a major improvement. He thanked staff for creating opportunities for public engagement and feedback.
“It’s major progress in trust-building, it’s major progress in accountability, it’s major progress in transparency,” he said.
District staff will formally propose a single plan to the Wichita Board of Education in May. The board is expected to vote on it in June.
Superintendent Kelly Bielefeld said the proposal in November will ultimately fund fewer projects than the referendum voters rejected last year. The higher dollar amount is a reflection of inflation and rising building costs.
“The overall amount and numbers that we’re throwing around tonight is a bigger number than last time,” Bielefeld said. “But this is a scaled-back bond issue compared to what we voted on as a community in February of ‘25.”
The bond referendum comes after the school board recently voted to close four elementary schools and the Chester Lewis Academic Learning Center. The timeline for the elementary school closures will be affected by the results of a bond vote.
The district has prepared a page on its website with information on each of the proposals, where people can also submit feedback.
Here are all the projects identified for a potential bond issue*:
*Each of the three proposals would split the projects up differently among two different ballot questions.
