KSHB 41 News reporter Braden Bates covers parts of Jackson County, Missouri, including Lee's Summit. Send Braden a story idea by e-mail.
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Kansas City Public Schools is exploring options to repurpose the old Bryant Elementary School, including the possibility of turning the historic building into housing for district staff.
The building, whose construction began in 1915, has been closed since 2009.
While no plans have been solidified, the district is looking for ways to utilize the building which sits along Wornall Road.
Staff housing is just one option available. Construction of single-family homes or demolition of the building are also on the table.
Restrictions limit what can be done with the property.
According to one of the district's presentations, single-family homes and the building demolition for KCPS future land use are acceptable under deed and plat restrictions.
Other acceptable uses under KCPS condemnation authority are staff housing and other school purposes.
However, not allowed under the current restrictions include multifamily homes, public or private recreation centers, neighborhood amenities or commercial or retail.
Carter Taylor is a KCPS teacher and legislative chair for the American Federation of Teachers Local 291.
"The district obviously knows there’s a housing shortage," Taylor said.
As a young teacher, Taylor knows the challenges of finding affordable housing.
"It was hard to be able to sleep, you know, at night, not sure if I was living somewhere safe just because that's what's affordable for $800 a month in the city," said Taylor.
The starting salary for KCMO teachers is just over $48,000 a year.
"We make too much money for any kind of assistance or housing vouchers or programs," Taylor said. "But we don't make enough money to comfortably live in our city."
She said the district is thinking out of the box, but hopes if this is the solution, it doesn't take away teachers in the future.
The district presented the ideas three times and got feedback from community surveys. After each survey, the presentation were revised to include more community input.
"If you could ever like guarantee that your neighbors are as clean-cut and like safe to be around as possible, that's it. Get a bunch of teachers," Taylor said.
A December survey showed 134 responses disliked the idea, while the same number favored single-family homes.
I spoke with several neighbors who live near the empty school building. Their opinions on the ideas were mixed, with one neighbor highly in favor of teacher housing. Others thought the single-family homes better matched the neighborhood.
All said they look forward to when a plan is solidified because they want to see changes to the property that once contained a lively school
The district is accepting proposals for the project until April 9, which will then be presented for selection.
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