KSHB 41 reporter Grant Stephens covers downtown Kansas City, Missouri. He also focuses on stories of consumer interest. Share your story idea with Grant.
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One year after Kansas City, Missouri, voters approved a historic $474 million school bond, Kansas City Public Schools is preparing to break ground on major renovations across the district.
The bond, which passed last April, is the first in nearly 60 years for KCPS. It allocates funds to upgrade 32 campuses and nine charter schools.
Planned upgrades include new playgrounds, HVAC systems, interior renovations and security enhancements. Additionally, each school receives $5 million to address top needs.
"We're at the point we just celebrated the one-year anniversary of our first bond in 58 years, and people are rightfully asking, okay, where are we with this?" said district spokesperson Shain Bergan. "We're just getting into the part now where people will start seeing some of those things."
At Hale Cook Elementary, a $12.5 million renovation starting this summer will replace mobile classrooms with a new addition. The project includes four new classrooms, a collaboration space and a secured entry. Work will begin in a few months, with students returning to a modernized building in 2027.
Hale Cook is one of 12 bond projects already moving forward, with four groundbreakings planned across the district. KCPS leaders say visible changes will ramp up by late summer.
The district's goal is to create modern learning spaces that match academic gains and benefit every neighborhood.
"This school bond process is not just for the children, not just for the staff, not just for Kansas City Public Schools — it is for everybody," Bergan said. "No city can truly thrive without thriving school districts."
For more information on the individual projects, click here.
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