The Wichita school district’s proposed $615 million bond issue includes a focus on career and technical education (CTE), which has yielded endorsements from a number of local business organizations.
If both questions pass, bond funds would help expand and upgrade existing CTE spaces at four high schools and construct a new “FutureReady” Center for Trades.
The $28.2 million trades center would be at East High School, offering courses in electrical, plumbing, carpentry and construction to students across the district. That project is included in Question 1 on the ballot, which would total $407.1 million on its own.
Deputy Superintendent Gil Alvarez says preparing the next generation of trades workers is important because of an aging workforce.
“So [are] there ways that we can make some workforce pipelines for the trades? And that began the idea of creating a FutureReady Center, the fourth one,” he said.
The district currently offers courses in carpentry and construction at some schools, Alvarez said, but course offerings in electrical and plumbing would be new.
How would existing CTE spaces benefit from the bond?
Most, if not all, of the high schools in USD 259 offer some level of CTE, including common programs like culinary arts or engineering.
Many high schools also have spaces for specialized programs that can’t be found elsewhere in the district: South has fire science and Heights has welding, for example.
If a student has an interest in a CTE program not offered at their high school, they can often qualify for a special transfer or drive to another school to take specific courses.
Alvarez says the goal is to help students who don’t plan to go to college find a career that fits them.
“We don't want to tell them what their future plans hold,” he said. “We want them to decide because it's their passion. It's their interest; it's their purpose.”
Question 2 of the bond would put $7 million toward new spaces for a law enforcement pathway at Northwest. It also includes improvements to existing CTE spaces at three schools:
- South: $8.4 million for new fire safety labs and expanded space for the collision repair program
- West: $9.2 million toward updating culinary labs and adding a multi-purpose space to serve programs such as JROTC
- Heights: $11.3 million to expand and renovate woodworking and welding spaces, including updated paint booths and heating and air-conditioning
Question 2 would total $207.9 million, but it can pass only if the first question also passes.
There are three existing FutureReady centers for students across the district: one for advanced manufacturing and aviation near North High, one for healthcare careers, and another for information technology, computer science and cybersecurity. The latter two are both housed at WSU Tech’s South campus on East Harry.
Question 1 of the bond issue would add air-conditioning for the shop floor at North’s FutureReady center. Otherwise, the existing centers would not directly benefit from the bond.
Walt Chappell, treasurer of the campaign opposing the bond, says he supports CTE but does not support the district using bond funds to expand and upgrade its CTE spaces.
“They have plenty of space, and those classrooms already have equipment, so the students can learn these trades,” he said. “They don't have to spend [$28 million] of our property taxes to build a new building.”
Alvarez, on the other hand, argues investing in the programs can go a long way in the success of individual students.
“[A student] may be borderline graduation, but now all of a sudden their grades increase because they found something that they really want (to do),” he said. “In the end, they can get internships, shadowing opportunities and then even a high-paying job after graduation.”
Career focus earns community endorsements
A number of local business organizations have endorsed the bond issue this year, many of which did not publicly support the district’s unsuccessful bond issue in 2025.
That includes the Greater Wichita Partnership and the Wichita Regional Chamber of Commerce, which cited the CTE projects as its primary reason for endorsing the bond.
“The Board’s support does not change the Chamber’s position on the need for lower property taxes,” reads the Chamber’s endorsement. “Rather, it reflects the belief that workforce demands by employers are critical for regional economic growth and that these investments will further enable the school district’s strategy to prepare our future talent pipelines.”
Chappell, who leads the “Vote No” campaign, has criticized some of those endorsements, arguing they stem from the contracts construction companies could get if the bond passes.
“The contractors and the architects are the ones that are going to benefit from this, and it's not going to be the students,” he said.
That’s a claim the district has refuted.
“Their desire to support the bond issue came from the workforce development initiatives,” said Wichita Superintendent Kelly Bielefeld. “Personally, there was no conversation about who was going to be making money off of anything, or anything like that.”
The district’s proposed bond issue will appear on ballots as two separate questions; the second one can pass only if the first one does.
In addition to the CTE projects, the proposal includes heating and air-conditioning improvements across the district, renovations, and multiple rebuilds and new buildings.
If both questions pass, the district says it would raise the property tax rate on a $200,000 home by about $50 per year. If just the first question passes, the district says it would be tax-neutral.
Critics, however, say the first question alone would still create a property tax burden. The district will finish paying off bonds from the 2008 bond issue in 2029, which would mean a potential cut to property tax rates if the district does not take on more bonds.
Election Day is Nov. 3. Early voting is already underway at several locations across Sedgwick County.
More details about the bond issue can be found on the district’s bond website.
