Several factors contribute to consideration of building closures for fall 2024: declining revenues from the loss of enrollment, loss of ESSER funding, staffing challenges, and the high cost of deferred maintenance.

Over the past five years, BOE presentations and other communications have outlined these challenges. The solution that helps alleviate all of these challenges is school closure. The district has classroom capacity for approximately 63,000 students. Current enrollment is just over 47,000. The district has completed demographic studies indicating that trend will only continue. 

District staff has presented multiple times on the high deferred maintenance needs and the concern that Capital Outlay balances cannot keep up with aging building needs. Both Finance and HR have discussed for the past 3-4 years the challenges related to staffing at all levels - teachers, paras, custodial, etc.  Finance staff has also shared the challenges as Federal Covid Relief funding ends, particularly since $20 million of that funding annually has been used to balance the budget and another $20 million annually has been used to support key behavior and child study team positions that are still critical to meeting student needs. And finally in December 2023, the Facility Master Planning consultant provided the BOE with data that indicates the district is currently under-utilizing a significant amount of physical space, in conjunction with the fact that much of that space is aging to the point that repairs don’t make fiscal sense.  Continuing to spread people and fiscal resources to simply keep all buildings open is not in the best interest of all students.  We have chosen to prioritize students and staff over buildings.

There were many factors that have been considered including building FCI (Facility Condition Index) scores, utilization rate, enrollment, and so much more. Click here for more information. 

Specific information will be shared with impacted families regarding their new school assignment the week of February 19, 2024. 

Families have choices! Click here the options if your child is in a school recommended for closure.  

The schools recommended for closure would remain open for the remainder of the 23-24 academic school year. The list of recommended school closures is pending Board of Education approval on March 4, 2024.

A student will qualify for transportation to their new school if they live 2.5 miles or more from their school.

Your student’s services should remain the same and be implemented the same as any other school year. If your student has transportation as a related service on their IEP, that service will continue to the new school. Notification to families will happen mid-April.

If there are questions or concerns, please discuss with your child’s IEP team.  

Students will be assigned to a welcoming school with the specialized program. Assignments will be made aligned with what special education services the IEP team has determined. 2024-25 assignments for the Special Education Programs of Academic Life Skills, Mixed Abilities and Positive Behavior Support are anticipated to be determined and sent out by April 30, 2024.

Your child will continue to receive ESOL services.

The Park Newcomer program will move to Cloud Elementary. The Jardine Newcomer program will move to Coleman. Families will receive school assignment letters in April.  

WPS is working and evaluating the Pre-K program to possibly move or expand. Click here for information about Pre-K programs offered in the Wichita Public Schools.  

Parents can apply to a magnet school at www.usd259.org/magnet. The deadline to apply is March 22.

Parents/Guardians have the capability to withdraw a selection/application and to update their selection with another option. Parents can contact the Magnet Office at 316-973-4464 for more information. 

The average class size is estimated to be 21 students per teacher for welcoming elementary schools and 24 students per teacher for welcoming middle schools. 

The answer to this question is somewhat dependent upon factors such as the condition of the building, the square footage of the building and more. Generally, elementary school state and local spending averages $5.1 million and a middle school averages $7.6 million, with variations due to physical size, layout, staffing, age, etc. Full savings would not be realized until the building is no longer owned by the district. Short-term savings will be achieved by eliminating staff positions at the closed building and moving people to existing staff vacancies across the district. First year operational savings could be 50-60% of a building’s current total state and local spending.

Long-term, there is significant cost avoidance in supporting deferred maintenance and building improvement needs when the district has excess capacity.  Considering even minor repairs on a small building can run into the millions of dollars, closing a building is a significant long-term cost-containment strategy.

Decisions regarding the disposal of buildings and/or maintaining any buildings for emergency purposes would be part of the overall Facilities Master Plan work that is underway. We anticipate having the FMP plan recommendation in May-June 2024.

In February 2012, the BOE voted to close Bryant, Emerson and Lincoln elementary schools as part of a broader discussion about boundary changes.

Yes! No staff member will lose employment in WPS as a result of this proposed change.

Human Resources will work with each employee impacted by the school closures on job-related needs and questions.

Employees will have a guaranteed base pay and days for one year, regardless of placement.

Each school recommended for closure will have a dedicated HR specialist to support staff in new position opportunities.

If a position is not obtained by May 31, 2024, Human Resources will be assigning and transferring to a vacant position based on qualifications and availability, pursuant to Board of Education Policy 4030. 

We encourage impacted staff to reach out to their designated Talent Acquisition Specialist to indicate what schools and positions are preferred for the latest updates.

The average class size is estimated to be 21 students per teacher for welcoming elementary schools and 24 students per teacher for welcoming middle schools. 

Yes! Teachers will receive ample boxes and supplies for packing and Heavy Haul will move the boxes to your new classroom. Teachers will receive extra paid time for packing and setting up their classrooms. 

Yes. In Phase 1 cuts, the district looked first at reducing administrative expenses, including options to reduce all programs by 5% or more, eliminate some positions through attrition, reassign any ESSER-funded administrative positions to existing budgeted vacancies supporting schools, and cutting travel, technology, and other expenses ESSER has supported over the past three years. It is important to note that the District’s administrative budget is a very small percentage of the overall budget. So cutting 1 or 2 administrative positions does have a big impact on the administrative budgets, but a relatively small impact on the overall budget. 

Layoffs are not anticipated at this time. No staff member will lose employment in WPS as a result of this proposed change. 

Budget reductions will be required. The goal of the budget reductions is to have the least impact on all employees and all students. Even with budget reductions, there will still be vacant positions that need filled.