'What's best for our kids': Olathe Public Schools superintendent reacts to 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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In a unanimous vote Thursday night, the Olathe Board of Education decided to move forward with closing Indian Trail Middle School and Black Bob, Walnut Grove, Heritage, Tomahawk and Scarborough elementary schools.

The vote by the school board to close the schools comes amid declining enrollment and growing financial needs.

The decision came after a month of parents voicing their concerns. KSHB 41 News has been amplifying those voices as parents called for more information on the district's reasoning for each school closure.

KSHB 41 reporter Elyse Schoenig sat down with Olathe Public Schools Superintendent Dr. Brent Yeager to discuss the decision and what comes next.

"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. "But I do feel optimistic that we'll be able to get where we need to be."

The district is expected to share more information about consolidation plans, boundary maps and transportation in the coming weeks. Community boundary meetings will be held from mid-October through mid-November.

The district hopes to have new attendance boundaries established by January 2027.

Each impacted school will have a transition team and staff members will have a job elsewhere in the district. A timeline and boundary map update is expected in November.

"We are going to move heaven and earth to make sure it goes well for all of them," Yeager said.

Yeager explained why boundary details were not shared with the community before the board vote.

"I know one of the concerns is, 'Tell us the boundaries before the board votes,'" Yeager said. "The reason why we're not doing that is because we want the community to be involved in that process."

He also addressed concerns from parents who told KSHB 41 the district did not listen to them during the 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, and we know our community is," Yeager said.

Yeager said they worked with an outside demographer to study and understand their enrollment numbers and trends. He said they see continual declines in enrollment over the next few years, before leveling out in about five years.

"We don't anticipate having to build or close schools moving forward because of what we're doing now, and that's really important," Yeager said.

He outlined his main message to the community during the transition.

"There's a lot of people that maybe don't trust the process or they don't agree and that kind of piece, but I will say my number one goal over the next period of time as we're transitioning is to change that mindset. That we are here because we want to do what's best for our kids," Yeager said.

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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