Olathe superintendent addresses school closures in new video to families
After voters passed $389 million in bonds for Olathe Public Schools, the district’s top official released a video to families explaining why some schools will have to close in the future.
Superintendent Brent Yeager talked about changes ahead in a video sent to families this week, including how the district will form a task force and committee to decide when, how many and which schools will close.
In the video, Yeager cited declining enrollment numbers and, as a result, budget constraints, as the main reasons for closures. These topics have been at the forefront of school board meetings over the past few years.
In the past, the district had over 30,000 students, Yeager said. Now the district sits at just over 28,000 with projected enrollment to land around 25,000 by 2034.
There were a number of reasons enrollment may be declining, Yeager said, including higher housing costs and declining birth rates.
“We have budget pressure because of that because the fewer kids we have in our schools, the fewer budget resources we have coming to us from the state of Kansas,” Yeager said.
How will the district pick schools to close?
At the Olathe Board of Education meeting last month, district staff explained there are schools that will consolidate using bond money, while other schools are being evaluated apart from the bond.
Using bond dollars, the district is set to consolidate Fairview and Northview Elementary schools 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.
But families already knew that before the bond election. What they don’t yet know is which other schools are on the chopping block.
One guarantee from Yeager’s video this week — he said he doesn’t anticipate consolidations and closures affecting any of the district’s high schools.
While district officials may have some idea about which schools already make sense, they are instead leaving it up to a task force and steering committee to decide.
In Yeager’s video, he said the district is unsure, for now, how many schools will ultimately close.
“The reality is, over the next number of months, the next number of years, we know we need to take additional steps,” Yeager said.
In an interview last month, Olathe Schools Deputy Superintendent of Operations Jim McMullen said the district doesn’t plan to just cut its schools with the fewest number of students enrolled. Instead, the district will evaluate what makes sense geographically, too.
Parents and staff from each school will make up the task force that’ll meet three times between April and May this year to review enrollment, funding and school boundaries.
A steering committee will then create specific closure recommendations with a timeline.
In October, the Board of Education will vote on the recommendations for which schools to close and when. This will be the first board vote this year related to the closures.
Then, at its December meeting, the board will hear a presentation about the new boundaries for affected schools.
The process will end with redrawing school boundaries, supporting families and staff through changes, and implementing logistics.
“Our hope is that we’ll have all of that done and voted on by next January,” Yeager said.
Yeager addresses underfunded special education
In the video sent to families this week, Yeager said part of what has caused budget restraints on Olathe Schools is the state of Kansas underfunding special education.
The district is required by federal law to provide special education, but for the past 15 years, the Kansas legislature has not provided enough money to cover all the costs. The same is true for school districts across the state, including Olathe’s neighbors, Blue Valley.
“We transferred $44 million from our general education fund to balance our special education fund last year,” Yeager said.
“Special education is really important to note because it’s a federal law — we can’t not do what we’re mandated to do,” Yeager said.
Yeager said a lack of special education funding from the state has forced money earmarked for things like student programs and payroll to be repurposed.
“So what happens is we take that money out of our operating fund that supports compensation for our staff, innovative programming, maintenance of our buildings… and when we take $44 million out of that to balance (special education), it has an impact on every student and every staff member.”
Olathe Schools created a webpage with some frequently asked questions about school consolidation, budget constraints, closures and the tentative timeline for changes to come.
Erin Schulte, a spokeswoman for Olathe Schools, said people who have questions or concerns about closures can contact the district at communications@olatheschools.org.
