The Kansas State Board of Education has given its approval to the $450 million dollar bond issue for building improvements in the Wichita school district.
The state board approved the district’s request for the bond issue and for an election in February.
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.
The election will be held February 25th.
