Facilities Master Plan update information

Board of Education approves bond issue referendum

The Wichita Board of Education approved a resolution authorizing a bond election for May 6, 2008. The $350 million bond issue would address many needs including:

additional classrooms to accommodate growth and create smaller class sizes;
build six new schools including two high schools;
upgrade fine arts and athletic facilities;
and would support the end of busing for desegregation with renovations to schools in the AAA area.

A $350 million bond issue would mean $40.25 a year on a $100,000 home. Click here to see a summary report presented to the Board on February 11.

“The kids who attend the Wichita Public Schools deserve state-of-the-art facilities,” said Superintendent Winston Brooks. “The odds are really good that our students will be running this community in the future and we need to give them the best education possible in the best facilities.”

"Public education is not 'what's in it for me' it's 'what's in it for us,'" said Board of Education Vice President Lynn Rogers. "Generations before us have paid for us and our children to grow and be successful, and now it's our turn."

Joe Johnson of Schaefer Johnson Cox Frey Architecture presents information during the December 13 Community Steering Team meeting.

Throughout September and October, schools have engaged their communities to review and identify their school and feeder-pattern facility needs. For the past three months, the Facility Master Plan Community Steering Team, made up of representatives from businesses, community agencies, churches, neighborhood associations and parents, has met weekly to look at the district’s facility needs from a district-wide perspective.

January 28, 2008 BOE meeting:
The Board of Education saw a detailed report at each school's improvement project.. The report showed projects that could be funded if the Board proposes a $350 million bond issue.
Click here to see a copy of the report.

Many schools would receive new classrooms, storm shelters, upgraded fine arts and athletic facilities. There is also a proposal to build two new high schools, two new K-8 schools and build four new or replacement elementary schools.

Chief Operations Officer Martin Libhart also presented a report titled "Time is Money," which showed how delaying a bond vote from May until August or November could add $180,000 to $360,000 to the cost of a new high school and delay the opening of the new school by a year.

January 14, 2008 BOE meeting:
The Board of Education recommended a proposal for a possible bond issue with a target cost of $350 million. During its January 14 meeting, Board members said they are aware that the district's needs total more than that, but wanted to use $350 million as a guideline for looking at facility improvements.

January 7, 2008 BOE Committee of the Whole:
The Board of Education heard an update to the district’s Facilities Master Plan on January 7. The Board had instructed the Community Steering Team to come up with possible funding sources to address facility needs, wuch as through capital funding or FEMA grants. The BOE also asked the committee to consider Superintendent Winston Brooks’ proposal to eliminate busing for desegregation as they look at the improvement needs.

The updated report listed total needs as $468 to $532 million, but with other funding sources, the total cost of a possible bond range from $342 to $378 million. Click here to see the report.

December 18, 2007 BOE meeting:
The Board of Education received a recommendation from the Facilities Master Plan Community Steering Team during its Dec. 18, 2007 meeting. Final action on the plan is anticipated in February. To see the Steering Team's recommendation, click here.

The Board of Education approved the district to review and finalize an update to the 2005 Facilities Master Plan during its Aug. 27, 2007 meeting. Staff was given permission to re-engage Schaefer Johnson Cox Frey Architecture to undertake this plan update. The Facilities Master Plan committee was last convened in the fall of 2005.

Click here for frequently asked questions about the Facilities Master Plan.

See new construction currently underway in the Wichita Public Schools