Olathe schools look ahead to boundary changes following vote to close 6 schools

OLATHE, Kan. — KSHB 41 reporter Elyse Schoenig covers Johnson County. She also focuses on issues surrounding the cost of healthcare, saving for retirement and personal debt. Share your story idea with Elyse.

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The Olathe Board of Education voted unanimously Thursday night to close 6 schools at the end of the current school year, citing declining enrollment and growing financial needs.

The schools set to close are Indian Trail Middle School and Black Bob, Walnut Grove, Heritage, Tomahawk and Scarborough elementary schools.

The district's next steps focus on redrawing attendance boundaries.

Community meetings will run from mid-October through mid-November, with a goal of establishing new attendance boundaries by January 2027. The district said new boundaries will affect some schools that are not part of the closures as well.

Each impacted school will have a transition team, and staff members will be placed in jobs elsewhere in the district. A timeline and boundary map update is expected in November. The district said it plans to share more information about consolidation plans, boundary maps and transportation in the coming weeks.

Nicole Trendel, a parent at Black Bob Elementary, said she has a lot of feelings about the closures — especially as she looks ahead.

"Not completely surprised, but pretty disappointed," Trendel said. "I think it's going to be hard to, as a parent, sit in these meetings and trust the process when I don't have any trust at this point."

Trendel said she is concerned the new boundaries will negatively affect class sizes, transportation and more.

"There's a lot of frustration, a lot of anger, and I think that's going to carry into these boundary conversations," Trendel said.

I sat down with Olathe Public Schools Superintendent Dr. Brent Yeager Friday, who told me community input and feedback is an important part of this process.

"I would be lying if I didn't say I feel terrible that we're in this position. I wish we weren't," Yeager said.

I asked Yeager what a successful boundary transition looks like.

"It's an authentic process where the community really can help us determine where their kids will go to school," Yeager said.

Yeager said he wants those feelings to fuel this process.

"My hope is that the passion and the emotion that we've experienced stays with us through this process because we are deeply invested in this going well," Yeager said.

Trendel said the fight does not end with the vote.

"Since our choice of school is being taken away from us, I think we should have a greater say in where our child ends up," Trendel said.

She said she wants her voice to feel validated.

"It's just really important for parents to recognize that this could impact your child, even if your school is staying open," Trendel said.

One group of parents is also launching the "6,1000 Voices" campaign.

The goal is to collect 6,100 signatures from registered voters to have the Kansas State Board of Education review the closures.

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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