New southeast Wichita high school would open in 2013

A new 800-student high school in the southeast part of Wichita is expected to open in fall 2013, school leaders said Thursday.

The school board is set to vote on Monday whether to buy 125 acres on the southwest corner of Pawnee and 127th East for $1.56 million.

The $35.7 million southeast high school is one of six new schools in the $370 million bond issue voters approved last year. The Class 5A school will make room for population growth expected in the area.

The high school will be built with the same architectural plan as the new high school planned for the northeast part of the district to lower design costs, said Martin Libhart, chief operations officer.

The southeast high school property borders the Derby school district to the south, but Libhart said the Wichita district is aiming to draw large numbers of students from more northern parts of its district.

The school district bought land from the city of Bel Aire in October for the northeast high school and a new K-8 school. The district paid $1.78 million for the properties near 37th North and Rock Road.

The northeast high school will be built first and open in fall 2012 because of immediate needs to alleviate crowding at Heights High School, administrators said.

School leaders said they are beginning to discuss which middle schools will send students to the new high schools.

Other bond projects set for a board vote Monday:

* A $2.2 million contract with Hellas Construction to install tennis courts at East, Heights, Northwest and South high schools.

* A $596,000 contract with Descon for a classroom addition at Cleaveland Traditional Magnet Elementary School.

* A $1.5 million contract with Caro Construction for a classroom addition and remodeling to Cloud Elementary School.

This story was originally published December 11, 2009 at 12:00 AM with the headline "New southeast Wichita high school would open in 2013."