KSHB 41 reporter Megan Abundis covers Kansas City, Missouri, including neighborhoods in the southern part of the city. Share your story idea with Megan.
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Hale Cook Elementary, a century-old school in Kansas City, Mo., is hoping to get a $12.5 million portion of the proposed $474 Million KCPS bond to fund much-needed renovations and modernization.
The school’s principal, Julie Lynch, said the school is a fixture in the community, has a strong student population and sits in a supportive neighborhood.
Lynch, leader at the school for over a decade, expressed concerns about outdated facilities.
"[Families] can move out of this area and find schools that are up-to-date with modern things and we just don't have that," Lynch said.
One of the most pressing problems is the condition of the school's bathrooms.
"Well, they are probably 80-years-old," Lynch said. "You know, you can spruce things up with paint only for so long, and we've put a lot of band-aids on things, and those band-aids aren't working anymore."
The main floor of the school serves 350 students, but has only one girl's bathroom and one boy's bathroom.
Lynch said that leads to a lot of of waiting and wasted time.
If voters approve the proposed bond in the April 8 election, money also would be used to address overcrowding by adding a permanent addition to the building and getting rid of two learning pods.
We're just tight on space, we don't have room in the building,” Lynch said.
Lynch said the school's library is often used as an orchestra room and the art room doubles as a band room. Those are examples of the lack of dedicated extracurricular spaces at the school.
"Our library, on days that it is not library, it's orchestra, which is not an idea space for orchestra class to be happening and our art room is band," Lynch said.
The school's stage doubles as a math classroom when it's not used for music lessons.
"That's what has to happen when you don't have space, you share space," Lynch said.
She said the school also needs a science lab.
"There is no science lab," Lynch said. "It's just finding a space and bringing the equipment to your desks.”
Tiffany Moore, a Hale Cook Elementary substitute, said the renovation is much needed.
"I want the teachers to feel like they are truly valued," Moore said. "I want the buildings and themselves and the presence in the community to speak to the amazing things that happen in the buildings every single day."
To learn more about the bond issue, read more here.