‘We deserve those answers': Olathe families share final message before school closure vote

OLATHE, Kan. — KSHB 41 reporter Olivia Acree covers portions of Johnson County, Kansas, including Olathe and Lenexa. Share your story idea with Olivia.

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Families in Olathe have been grappling with potential school closures for weeks.

On Thursday night, the school board will vote on a plan to close six schools at the end of this school year.

District leaders like deputy superintendent Jim McMullen have shared why closures are necessary.

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“We need to operate our system efficiently and when we have half of our elementary schools at 50% capacity, it was time to really make some hard decisions and reduce our footprint to align with the number of students that we will serve,” McMullen.

Many families still have questions about how the district came to their decision.

Watch: Olathe families share final message before school closure vote

“They're really just kind of acting like they're the teachers, and we're the students, and we're just expected to listen to them,” said Jeff Klinkhardt, an Olathe Parent.

Indian Trail Middle School, Black Bob, Scarborough, Heritage, Tomahawk and Walnut Grove Elementary School were all recommended to be closed next year, in addition to four elementary schools being merged into two.

Throughout the past few weeks, we’ve spoken to parents who want to know why their school was chosen.

The district released filings from the steering committee’s decisions. They say the committee reviewed enrollment data, class sizes, and building age when making their decisions.

However, some parents still don’t feel like they have the entire picture.

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“I think that we're asking very reasonable questions, and I think that we deserve that transparency and we deserve those answers to make sure that our kids are safe and that we know where they're going to be,” said Kelly Mazurek, another Olathe Parent.

The agenda for Thursday’s meeting shows an update presentation to facility alignment, then the public comment period, and later on the board will vote on closing schools.

The meeting starts at 5:45 p.m.
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