Prior to the bond referendum in April 2000, community members--including parents, teachers, business representatives, senior citizens, principals and people without children in school--launched a study to examine the condition of Wichita's public school buildings. The study revealed approximately $450 million in critical needs throughout the district.

East High students reap the benefit of one of more than 150 new science labs made possible in the district by
the bond issue

The Facilities Master Plan Steering Committee developed a list of priorities that would guide the Wichita Public Schools' facility improvement process and the 5-year plan that would be the basis for the proposed bond referendum. The plan outlined what building projects would be started at what times, and what the priorities would be for each building.

Priorities were classified into the following categories:

1) Building Infrastructure: Provide air conditioning in every school, replace antiquated plumbing, update and expand electrical systems, replace inefficient and broken windows and doors, upgrade heating and cooling systems.

2) Adequate Space: Eliminate most portable classroom buildings and provide adequate classroom space to meet the needs of all educational programs, update existing science labs at all middle and high schools, build permanent multi-purpose rooms in every elementary school, provide for population growth and shifts, replace obsolete buildings and upgrade school libraries.

3) Safety: Create safe school bus loading and unloading areas at each school.

4) Technology: Complete the district's local area network in district elementary and middle schools that allows them to use computer technology for classroom studies and communication.

Students at Buckner Elementary celebrate the opening of their expanded and renovated school

In addition, the Facility Master Plan proposal addressed Americans with Disabilities Act considerations at every school facility, and placed priority on reducing the impact of busing for desegregation on Wichita's African American students by 600 students through the following strategy:

- Construct a new elementary school in northeast Wichita to accommodate 600 students (300 African American children from the surrounding neighborhood)

- Expand L'Ouverture, Buckner, Adams and Washington elementary schools by 150 students each (75 African American children from the surrounding neighborhoods, for a total of 300 new spaces)

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