The Wichita Board of Education heard a recommendation to close six schools at the end of the school year in Phase 2 budget reductions during its February 12, 2024 meeting. The recommendation is pending final BOE approval on March 4.

The schools recommended for closure are:

• Hadley Middle School
• Jardine STEM and Career Explorations Academy
• Clark Elementary
• Cleaveland Traditional College and Career Readiness Magnet Elementary
• Park Elementary
• Payne Elementary

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

Click here to watch the presentation.  Read the BOE presentation.

No current employee is expected to lose his or her employment with the result of this process. The district’s priority is to put people over places. 

There are many factors that were considered as this decision has been evaluated over the past several weeks including building FCI (Facility Condition Index) scores, utilization rate, enrollment, and more. FCI score indicates the general condition of building systems. The higher the score, the greater the volume of large-scale maintenance needs. Utilization is the school's official enrollment divided by building capacity.

The recommendation to close schools solves some immediate needs including filling vacancies, focuses resources in fewer buildings, reduces the repairs and maintenance backlog, better utilizes remaining buildings and reduces expenditures to balance the budget. The recommendation also supports our long-term planning to envision what district facilities could be in the future, respond to community needs and support future-ready schools. 

More information is available at www.usd259.org/transform24.