KSHB 41 reporter Olivia Acree covers portions of Johnson County, Kansas, including Olathe and Lenexa. She will continue to follow up on declining enrollment. If you have thoughts or concerns about your own school district related to enrollment or special education, please reach out. Share your story idea with Olivia.
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Olathe taxpayers recently passed a $389 million school bond, but shortly after, Superintendent Brent Yeager sent a message to families saying it will not be enough.
“Our enrollment in Olathe is changing,” said Superintendent Brent Yeager.
The root of the problem is declining enrollment. We heard this throughout Olathe’s bond debate, and we are even starting to hear how this trend is affecting other districts in Johnson County.
Olathe parent Samantha Bashaw says it feels like school districts are scrambling to keep up.
"The core issue that they continue to state as to why they're consolidating the schools is declining enrollment," Bashaw said.
I wanted to find out why this is a problem. According to Mid America Regional Council Economic Research Director Frank Lenk, the biggest factor appears to be that women are not having as many children.
"Kids under 5 are declining in Johnson County," Lenk said.
Lenk said lower birth rates, a lack of housing, and people leaving the area have compounded. Now, public schools are trying to overcome that problem.
"You see it first in schools. I mean, they're the canary in the coal mine," Lenk said.
So far, Olathe has been hit the hardest. From 2021 to 2025, district enrollment dropped by 1,379 students.
"We have budget pressure because of that because the fewer kids that we have in our schools," Yeager said.
Yeager released a video message to Olathe families after voters passed the bond. He said the district's external footprint has outgrown its actual size.
The district's solution is to consolidate schools. That was already part of Bond 2026, but Yeager said to expect more.
"That task force will bring a recommendation to our board of education later this spring or in early summer, so we'll have a sense of how many buildings we're looking at to consolidate," Yeager said.
Parents like Bashaw want more transparency on these plans.
"It's crisis control," Bashaw said. "The logistics, the transparency of those are just not there, which leaves the community just questioning like what's next.”
This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
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