This KC-area school district has no choice but to close school, cut jobs | Opinion

I would hate to be in the predicament facing the Hickman Mills School District Board of Education and Superintendent Dennis Carpenter.

Because of the untenable financial position the south Kansas City school district finds itself in, a major reorganization that includes a school closure and the loss of jobs was approved by the school board.

Thanks to a financial analysis conducted earlier this school year, we already knew the district’s projected operating budget for the 2025-26 fiscal year was $12.4 million short. The deficit has grown to about $14 million, according to the latest data provided by the district.

What has become abundantly more clear are the drastic steps the district must take to make itself whole again. Carpenter didn’t necessarily create the mess, but after he was rehired last summer he is most certainly one of the key persons responsible for correcting it. And so is the Hickman Mills school board.

I wish them all the best.

On Thursday, the board approved to two measures that would address the shortfall. The first item included $9.7 million in personnel cuts and budget adjustments.

A school reconfiguration plan closes Truman Elementary School. If approved. The rightsizing plan transforms Alvin Brooks Middle School campus into an elementary school where Truman students will relocate. Under the proposal, the district will repurpose Santa Fe Elementary School as a sixth-grade center and establish a middle school campus for seventh- and eighth-grade students. District boundaries will be redrawn as well.

This consolidation saves the district another $3.1 million.

Carpenter recommended the school board approve both measures. Is the situation ideal? No. But I see no other way forward. For the sake of stakeholders in Hickman Mills and the future of the district itself, the board did the right thing by approving these cost-cutting steps.

Make no mistake, I understand the ramifications these cutbacks will have on real people. Jobs will be lost or eliminated. Careers and lives will be uprooted.

But what other choice is there for the district to remain solvent for its nearly 5,200 students? I firmly believe that a well-functioning, fully accredited Hickman Mills School District is in the best interest of all Kansas Citians.

These cuts, while unsettling, were very necessary, school board president Bonnaye Mims said this week in an emailed statement.

“We understand the community’s apprehension given recent financial and audit challenges,” Mims wrote. “That’s why this board and the new administration are approaching this with a commitment to transparency and working together with the community.”

Loss of jobs, elementary school

Because of some very serious and very costly miscalculations made under former Superintendent Yaw Obeng’s leadership, Hickman’s projected revenue budget for this school year was short by tens of millions of dollars. Correcting those grave errors had to start somewhere and unfortunately — and unfairly, if you ask me — that equated to a massive loss of jobs.

I genuinely feel bad for the folks that will be affected. At least 16 academic positions at the executive and school building levels will be eliminated. Other administrative or operational positions will be downsized. Even custodians and school support staff will feel the pinch. Contracts with outside vendors will be canceled, and some academic services will no longer be available.

These moves were made to get the district out of a hole it desperately needs to, Carpenter said in a statement sent to me.

“Throughout this challenging budget process, our commitment has been to openness and true partnership,” he wrote. “We have actively listened to staff, families, and community members because these decisions impact us all. These steps are necessary to protect what matters most: our students, our classrooms, and the academic progress our scholars and teachers continue working hard to achieve.

While the recommendations before us involve hard choices about contracts, positions, and school configurations, they will secure the district’s future and preserve the exceptional foundation the team at HMC-1 works daily to provide for every child in our district.”

Fixing Hickman’s finances

Beside cutbacks and closing a school, the district is looking at two ways to right its financial ship: a bond issue and a debt service levy transfer.

On the April 7 ballot, voters will be asked to approve a no-tax-increase bond known as a general obligation, or GO bond, that would borrow money for important building projects without raising taxes. Voters will also consider approving a levy transfer that would move 30 cents of tax money the district already collects for building debt into its operating budget, according to the district’s website.

If approved, the tax initiatives would generate about $3.4 to $3.5 million more each year to help pay for teachers, books, and programs without raising taxes, the website states.

Mims, the school board president, said: “Residents have asked how they can help. The April ballot’s no-tax-increase measures are the direct answer. This responsible plan restructures existing debt to free up funds for classrooms without raising taxes. It is a critical step toward stability for our district’s students and deserves our community’s support.”

While these pending ballot questions are important, first things first: The Hickman Mills school board made the difficult decision to cut jobs and programs and close Truman Elementary School.

The future success of the school district and its students depended on it.

This story was originally published January 15, 2026 at 9:22 AM.