Kansas City Public Schools meets with parents, asks for input on district's future

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — A decline in enrollment has Kansas City Public School leaders wanting input from parents on decisions over the district's future.

The district has a plan called Blueprint 2030 that examines proposals for the district's future.

Enrollment numbers from the district show a decline since 2016.

As a result of the drop in enrollment numbers, one proposal is the closure and consolidation of schools and district buildings.

A spokesperson for the district said specific locations have not been determined and Dr. Mark Bedell explained during a Facebook live presentation that a conclusion has not been reached by KCPS.

KCPS School board member Manny Abarca, said consolidation isn't a bad thing and points to the Woodland Early Learning Community School as a good outcome for a former school building.

"As we open the welcome center, we house all of our ELL (English Language Learners) services. This is a great example of reuse. This used to be an elementary school," Abarca said.

Jason Roberts, president of the Kansas City Federation of Teachers and School Related Personnel, agrees with Abarca that there could be a benefit in consolidating buildings.

“I see it as a way to be more efficient and to provide better services and more services for our students and truly make the district competitive," Roberts said.

However, the union leader added while he doesn't oppose seeing fewer buildings, he doesn't want jobs to disappear too.

“My biggest concern is reduction in force," Robert said. "Making sure as we consolidate schools that we really are making sure that we provide small class sizes.”

KCPS held a meeting for parents and the community to learn about Blueprint 2030 at Wendell Phillips Elementary School on Monday. The district will hold information meetings until Oct. 22.

Below is the schedule and links for the upcoming meetings this week:

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