KANSAS CITY, Mo. — "The time is now" — that's the message Kansas City, Missouri, school and city officials had during a press conference Thursday where they pitched a $474 million GO bond proposal to the public.
Kansas City voters last approved a school district bond issue in 1967.
A federal judge ordered property tax increases in a school desegregation case nearly 40 years ago that provided the district money for new buildings and other upgrades.
But time and deferred maintenance have left the district and its students with crumbling buildings and other facilities that make teaching and learning more difficult.
However, according to KCPS Superintendent Dr. Jennifer Collier, the bond is about more than just investing in those facilities.
"This is about more than just buildings — this about an investment in our children, an investment that we've not made for a very long time," she said. "Every Kansas City student deserves a learning environment that supports their academic, social and emotional needs."
Of the $474 million, $50 million will go toward Kansas City charter schools.
KCPS would use the funding for projects like district-wide upgrades, including HVAC systems, plumbing, roofing and other deferred maintenance.
It would also add a state-of-the-art career and technical education center at Central High School.
"This is a step in the right direction for our community at large," said Central High School principal
The district hopes to build a new middle school in the district's southern corridor and two empowerment centers equipped with a pre-K center and a family center, among other things.
RELATED | Parents react to KCPS' GO bond proposal of $474M
"KCPS is already seeing progress," Collier said. "We have rising enrollment, higher graduation rates and academic improvements. But to sustain this momentum, our facilities must also reflect the excellence happening inside our classrooms."
KCMO Mayor Quinton Lucas said the investment isn't just for KCPS, but also the city.
"Today is transformative in education in Kansas City, but also for Kansas City broadly," Lucas said.
As mayor, Lucas said he often has the opportunity to interact with 14 school districts across the Kansas City area.
"I love each one the same," Lucas said. "But when I go to a debate tournament at Lee's Summit North High School and walk around, when I go to a basketball game at an almost brand new Staley High School in the North Kansas City School district, I commend all of them for those investments."
He believes KCPS and its students are worthy of the same investment.
"This is our opportunity for all of us, myself included, who live in the boundaries of the Kansas City Public Schools, to step up and to say, 'We're going to do right for our children and our community," Lucas said. "And why does it matter? Because our kids matter."
KCPS estimates it'll cost homeowners living within district boundaries about 61 cents a day, or $230 a year.
—