Flooded hallways, ADA accessibility: Why Wichita seeks to rebuild Truesdell Middle School

Editor’s note: Before voters decide on a $450 Wichita million school bond issue on Feb. 25, The Eagle is profiling many of the schools affected. Read more profiles and find continuing coverage of the bond issue election here.

It’s not uncommon for classes to move around at Truesdell Middle School.

Parts of the building flood, especially during the winter.

“The pipes freeze and burst,” Principal Amy Johnson said. “Two winter breaks have been interrupted for flooded hallways.”

That’s one of the many issues Johnson highlighted at the south Wichita middle school near Glenn and Pawnee. There’s also the outdated electrical system. And each of its wings has stark temperature differences, especially during colder months.

What’s it like inside current Truesdell Middle School?

The school was built in 1956, and looks like a time capsule from that period. The building isn’t ADA accessible. It has steep ramps in some parts and older door knobs for many of the classrooms.

“Our doorknobs are the round door knobs, versus the levers up and down,” Johnson said. “It makes it difficult for the accessibility, and at one point in time those were OK.”

Truesdell is one of seven schools slated to be rebuilt if voters approve the Wichita school district’s bond proposal.

The school’s most recent addition, its science wing, was built as part of the 2008 bond focused on FEMA shelters. The district has said it’s not sure how or whether those shelters will factor into plans for the new building.

“I think one of the challenges we’re going to find ourselves in is those shelters were not necessarily — where they were built on the sites isn’t going to be ideal for a new building footprint,” Luke Newman, director of facilities, said.

Other details of the new building also have yet to be announced.

Construction on the new building is projected to be completed by fall 2029 at a cost of $75 million. The district said it expects to be able to continue classes in the current building while the new one is built on an adjacent lot.

Johnson said she hopes the new building is more modern and helpful for Truesdell’s more than 900 students to learn.

“So there are some things that are just dictated by our building currently that teachers would have that flexibility more so in the new facility to meet kids’ academic needs,” she said.

Other schools that would be torn down and rebuilt are Adams, Black, Caldwell, Irving and McLean elementary schools and Coleman Middle School.

In addition to rebuilding schools, the district would convert two elementary schools to K-8 schools, consolidate alternative schools and close four elementary schools and two administration centers. It would build new outdoor athletic fields at Northeast Magnet High School, a new Future Ready Center for Trades at East High school and a new early childhood education center.

The bond election will be held Tuesday, Feb. 25.