The Wichita school board has voted to approve a bond issue election in February to fund the first phase of a long-range master plan for buildings and facilities in the district.

The school district’s chief financial officer, Susan Willis, presented the proposal for a bond issue not to exceed $450 million, with an election to be held on February 25th, 2025.  She said this would be an in-person election to attract the broadest possible base of voters.

Willis said there is no way that the district’s capital budget can support a project for the facilities master plan, and the only option is to go to a bond issue.    She said the district’s mill levy would be 7.5 mills, lower than last year, and it’s not anticipated that the bond issue will require a mill levy increase through the 20-year life of the bond.

The bond issue would finance what is called the Facilities Master Plan – Step 1.   The school board voted to approve the plan last month to upgrade and modernize aging facilities. It calls for seven schools to be demolished and rebuilt, including Adams, Black, Caldwell, Irving and McLean elementary schools and the Truesdell and Coleman middle schools.  Coleman would be repurposed for alternative programs.

The plan also calls for closing seven schools and two administrative centers.   The district would close L’Ouverture, OK, Pleasant Valley and Woodland elementary schools, the Sowers Alternative High School, the Gateway Program, the Little Early Childhood Center, the Dunbar Support Center and the Focht Instructional Support Center.

Isely Traditional Magnet Elementary School and Cessna Elementary would be expanded to serve kindergarten through eight grade.

It has been more than 16 years since the last bond issue for Wichita Public Schools, and it would be the third time in 50 years that the district has taken a bond issue to the voters.  The election would cost over $116,000.   Willis said this will be a generational investment to provide innovative learning experiences for every student in the district.  If voters approve the bond issue, construction could begin as soon as the summer of 2025.

Superintendent Kelly Bielefeld said the facilities plan goes along with the district’s strategic plan to make every student ready for the future.  He said “Our kids deserve this, our kids are worth it.”    School board president Stan Reeser said it’s an historical and generational investment and its a fiscally responsible plan with no mill levy increase.

The board voted 6-1 to approve the bond issue, with board member Kathy Bond voting no.