Olathe parents, teachers and staff say 3 elementary schools should close. Here’s why
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- Task force recommended closing at least three elementary and one middle school.
- Steering committee will recommend which schools and present to the board in September.
- All 58 district schools will operate normally through at least the 2026-27 school year.
A task force composed of parents, teachers and staff determined Olathe Public Schools should close at least three elementary schools and one middle school as the district continues to face declining enrollment.
But there’s not a timeline just yet on when the schools will close, and no sign of which ones might be on the chopping block.
The task force met three times during April and May to help the district decide on the number of schools to close. It reviewed factors including enrollment numbers, school capacity, building use, school age and geographic attendance areas, among others.
At the June Olathe Public Schools Board of Education meeting, Deputy Superintendent Jim McMullen presented results from a survey filled out by task force participants.
Results showed all survey participants, 110 people, said they felt the district should reduce the number of elementary schools.
Of those respondents, 47 said they felt the district should close three elementary schools, and 41 said the district should close four elementary schools. In addition, 90 respondents thought the district should close at least one middle school.
“As a reminder, we weren’t looking at individual schools,” McMullen said at the board meeting. “We were looking at our current enrollment, future enrollment and really the number of facilities we felt would be appropriate to align with that.”
Looking at individual schools is the next step, he said, when a steering committee made up of 20 task force members will meet four times between June and August.
The committee’s job will be to identify which schools should close and create a timeline of those closures for the board to consider.
The board will hear the steering committee’s recommendations at its September meeting, then vote on closures at its October meeting.
All 58 schools in the district will operate normally through at least the 2026-27 school year.
“(The steering committee) will be charged with really digging in and looking at specific buildings in specific areas of our district, and ultimately looking to provide the board a recommendation on which schools we think should be closed moving forward.”
Why is the district closing schools?
For several years now, the district has been sounding the bell on its problem of having fewer students.
Lower enrollment and funding losses have made operating its schools more expensive.
The district has also cited underfunded special education as a strain on its budget, exacerbating existing funding problems for schools in the region.
Olathe Schools was one of four Johnson County school districts that joined a coalition in May, saying it intends to sue Kansas for underfunding special education.
“Inadequate funding of special education by the state of Kansas adds significant pressure to our district’s operating budget,” said Erin Schulte, a district spokeswoman.
“When those realities are combined with the fact that our district was built to serve more students than it has today, changes are necessary to better align schools and resources with current enrollment,” she said.
In the past, the district had over 30,000 students. Now the district sits at just over 28,000 with projected enrollment to land around 25,000 by 2034.
Olathe Schools’ current elementary student enrollment is nearly identical to what it was in 2001. However, the district currently has nine more elementary schools than it did in 2001.
Reducing the number of schools it operates will provide cost savings for the district without making a major dent in student programs, Schulte said.
Building and department budgets were reduced by 25% for the 2025-26 school year. Staff positions were consolidated or left unfilled; some were cut.
Olathe Schools plans to continue 25% budget reductions in its various buildings and departments for the upcoming school year, Schulte said.
District-level departments will take on larger budget cuts than individual school buildings.
“This approach is intended to limit the impact on classrooms and protect the day-to-day experience for students as much as possible,” Schulte said.
There are also schools that will consolidate using bond money, but those are separate from the ongoing school closure process.
Using 2026 bond dollars approved by voters in March, the district will demolish four buildings and construct two new schools. That is expected to be completed by the 2029-30 school year.
Fairview and Northview Elementary schools will consolidate into a new building at the current Northview site. Central and Ridgeview Elementary schools will consolidate to a new building at the current Central site. And Meadow Lane Elementary will be rebuilt at its current location.
Anticipated impact of school closures
Following board action on recommended school closures, the district will be redrawing school boundaries.
Schulte said the district plans to visit with all affected school communities to talk about what the boundary adjustments mean after they are approved by the board.
Buildings that do not close may also have their boundaries changed to accommodate student populations from buildings that have been consolidated.
The district launched a webpage detailing current school boundaries and consolidations.
“We want our community to know that throughout this process we are committed to clear and consistent communication,” Schulte said. “In the coming months and years, there will be opportunities for questions and feedback, particularly if boundary changes are proposed in affected areas.”
District officials said they will work to manage staffing changes from the closures through attrition, such as retirements and resignations, whenever possible.
Olathe Schools typically has a number of staff transitions each year, which may help the district place employees in new roles when buildings close, Schulte said.
However, it’s still unclear how many staff members could lose their jobs in the district as a result of the closures.
“We want to take care of our staff, make sure we can place staff in other like positions, and if we were to close ‘X amount of schools,’ and all of them in one year, we wouldn’t be able to absorb all the staff,” McMullen said.
“So there will definitely be a 2- 3-year plan presented to the board.”
