KCK voters OK’d $180M to rebuild schools. It’s unclear when upgrades will start
Kansas City, Kansas, families may have to wait a beat before knowing when to expect new schools and campus renovations across their public school district.
Seven months after residents approved financing a series of capital improvements with $180 million in general obligation bonds, the chief operating officer for Kansas City, Kansas, Public Schools said the district is still mapping out design plans and construction timelines.
The district said it didn’t want to publicly promise a timeline on initial groundbreakings at a time when it’s figuring out how to handle renovations economically.
KCKPS pledged to construct two new middle schools, consolidate two elementary campuses into one and add an addition to Sumner Academy within five years by using those approved funds.
Steve Lilly, the district’s chief operating officer, told The Star that KCKPS students need newer learning environments and that the district’s dated facilities, some approaching or exceeding 100 years in age, are no longer suitable.
“They definitely lasted us a long time and served their purpose and have been good buildings for us,” Lilly said. “But like everything else, there comes a time when you need to kind of invest and rework your resources.”
Plans for construction come at a time when constructing a school building in the United States is increasingly more expensive, especially amid ongoing labor shortages, supply chain issues and the fact that materials and services cost more. The cost to build a campus has increased gradually over the past 20 years and surged in the years following the COVID-19 pandemic, according to U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data.
KCKPS initially asked voters in a May 2024 single-item special election to approve a $420 million bond issue that would have increased property tax bills and addressed additional repairs and upgrades districtwide.
That initiative failed and garnered less than 9% voter turnout. Administrators eventually proposed the lesser, no-tax-increase bond in an effort to address some, although not all, of its priority projects.
The $180 million bond approved in the Nov. 5 general election was the second that the school district successfully passed in recent history. Voters in 2016 approved a request to issue $235 million in bonds to pay for capital improvements at other district facilities.
In the works
Since getting voter approval in November, KCKPS has partnered up with two firms to divvy up the design work and named a construction manager.
Lenexa-based Newkirk Novak will oversee plans for the new Argentine Middle School campus and the consolidation of Silver City and Noble Prentis elementary schools, projected to cost roughly $90 million in combined work.
McCown Gordon Construction, based in Kansas City, Missouri, will oversee plans for the new Central Middle School and the addition to Sumner, which is estimated to cost a combined $63 million, according to the district.
Although the district’s website proposes demolishing the school buildings that will no longer be in use after construction is completed, Lilly said KCKPS is still debating how those facilities will be utilized. He said school property has to have state approval before being sold, and that the district will determine down the road whether that’s the right thing to do, or if those properties should be razed or otherwise put to continued use.
As for incoming facilities, Lilly said the district plans to make each project unique in its own right while maintaining a sense of cohesion across the district. KCKPS is trying to author plans for what it specifically wants to see from each building by meeting with school community members and staff.
The district is about to get into the schematics phase to work out some sort of vision, Lilly said. Offering a safe learning environment that meets enrollment needs ranks high on the list.
“I think our community showed that they have a real desire to make sure our kids are in the best environment possible, educationally,” he said. “I know that as a district we’re very thankful for the opportunity that our students are going to have because our community supported this project.”
What next?
After design plans are mocked up and rubber stamped, involved groups will map out a construction timeline.
Lilly said that although the district hasn’t identified which project will take priority, plans to add an extension to Sumner Academy would likely be the most affordable and navigable project to begin with. The district said it will try to start projects in an order that allows them to complete construction as quickly as possible.
“So some of that depends on just what we can get out of the ground quicker,” Lilly said.
The district advised residents interested in keeping up to date on ongoing developments to keep an eye on its bond webpage.
This story was originally published June 17, 2025 at 6:00 AM.
