Kansas City Public Schools works to seek voter approval for GO bonds

Missouri's Kansas City Public Schools is looking to take its modernization plan to voters and seek approval for a $474 million general obligation bond measure next April.

The district plans to devote $424 million of the bond proceeds to facilities upgrades for KCPS schools and $50 million to participating charter schools, according to Shain Bergan, public relations coordinator for the district.

It also wants to use $100 million of certificate of participation financing, which does not need to be approved by voters but does require the signoff of the KCPS board of directors, for the modernization effort. KCPS board of directors Chair Rita Cortes did not respond to requests for comment by press time.

The draft plan approved by the KCPS board on Wednesday is not final, but will serve as a jumping off point for discussions with district families, stakeholders and community members, Bergan said.

It calls for prioritizing HVAC systems, plumbing, roofs and air conditioning repairs that had been deferred; building two new K-5 elementary schools, with Early Learning Centers and Family Empowerment Centers included; evaluating three potential sites to host a new middle school; co-locating the Career & Technical Education program at Central High School, which is now underutilized; and making multimillion-dollar "warm/safe/dry" renovations to schools across the district.

KCPS says if voters approve the borrowing measure, it plans to create a Community Bond Oversight Committee to provide transparency about how the funds are spent.

The proposed bond measure works out to $0.64 per day for a homeowner with a $200,000 home.

"We're kind of presenting it as 'a cup of coffee a week,' $4.80, to right 57 years of neglect," said Bergan.

KCPS has wrestled with stretched budgets and declining enrollment at some schools, leading to repeated rounds of school closures. The district also faces deteriorating buildings: the average age of KCPS buildings is 60 years, and its facilities received a 5.99 out of 10 score in a recent building assessment, local station KCTV reported.

"We're the only Missouri school district in our region without bond money, meaning we have the second lowest tax rate in the region," Bergan said. "This despite having 15,000-plus students and 38 school buildings. We're not asking for exorbitant things. We're asking for air conditioning, working HVAC systems, working restrooms, ceilings that aren't falling down, floors that don't have to be cordoned off for safety."

The last time a public school bond measure passed in Kansas City was in 1967. The school district has no outstanding bonds today, according to postings on the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board's EMMA website.

The five-year strategic plan for KCPS, Blueprint 2030, lists the GO bonding as one of its top goals. Also on the district's to-do list are growth in K-12 and pre-K enrollment, increases in attendance, improvement in high school graduation rates, expanding access to extracurricular opportunities and boosting teacher recruitment and retainment.

The district lost its accreditation in 2011, but secured provisional accreditation in 2014 and regained full accreditation on Jan. 11, 2022, according to a presentation from the June board meeting. In the 2023 school year, KCPS saw an increase in its four-year graduation rate and an increase in the number of students scoring 3 or higher on Advanced Placement tests.

The district is bounded by the Kansas state line to the west, the Missouri River to the north and the Independence, Raytown and Hickman Mills school districts to the east and south. It enrolled 13,361 K-12 students in the 2022-23 school year, according to data from the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, and spent $19,327 per pupil.

The next step in the modernization process is a gallery walk on Thursday through the Board of Education building that will provide community members with an explanatory visualization of the district's borrowing proposal, Bergan said.