KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Kansas City Public Schools is asking voters to approve almost half a billion dollars worth of construction and improvements in a general obligation (GO) bond on Tuesday, April 8.
If voters say yes, it'll be the first time in decades the district has successfully passed such a bond.
The district will break the money down among 32 KCPS campuses and nine charter schools.
I went through the numbers on the bond website, and the two biggest lines are for the construction of new elementary schools: King Empowerment, at the former King/Weeks site, and a new Whittier Elementary at the former Woodland Elementary campus. Both are budgeted for $68 million, and both would include early learning centers and family empowerment centers.
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The district’s high schools are also set to receive tens of millions of dollars, including $45 million to turn the former Southwest High School into a middle school campus so KCPS can transition to grades 6-8 in middle schools.
Another big detail in this school funding conversation is the 100 million certificate of participation (COP) bond the district approved last month.
It's a different type of funding that doesn't require voter approval. The school district told me it's basically like a home equity loan that will be paid off over the next couple of decades.
The King Empowerment Campus will be funded by that COP bond, so it's going to happen no matter what voters decide.
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The district has made it clear that tens of millions from the GO bond, if approved, would pay for long overdue improvements to, in some cases, very old buildings.
KSHB 41 reporter Megan Abundis went inside Hale Cook Elementary School recently. That school was built in 1928, and the district projects $12.5 million would go to that campus.
But the vast majority of campuses are slated to get somewhere between less than 8 million apiece. According to the bond website, six of the nine charter schools and 20 of the 32 KCPS campuses listed will get that amount.
The district has websites where you can get more information, including the money that each location would receive. You can find the basic level list, which includes the total allotment of the GO bond (if approved) and the COP bond, here.
There’s a more detailed breakdown, including the 10-year total funding recommendation for each campus, listed here.
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