Here’s how much 2008 bond money went to Wichita school buildings to be closed or rebuilt

Wichita Public Schools spent more than $21.4 million of its most recent bond issue on school buildings that it has closed in the past year or has plans to shutter or tear down under a new bond issue on Tuesday’s ballot, a Wichita Eagle analysis has found.

Several of those projects were completed in the past 10 years, though the $370 million bond issue was approved by voters in 2008. The most recent project was completed in 2016.

The school district defended its decisions and noted that almost every school in the district had work done from a bond issue in the past 25 years.

“Those capital investments made from the previous bond issues, or capital outlay funds through the years benefited the students and staff while the buildings were needed to support our student populations,” Susan Arensman said in an email statement. “These investments were not wasted, and were utilized as intended.”

Arensman said the district’s 2025 bond issue would “invest in strategic locations” based on the realities of changing “enrollment demographics.”

“District administration can’t speak to the circumstances that guided the decision making of the previous two bond issues, but are committed to a well-informed plan and appropriate accountability measures for the WPS 2025 Bond Issue,” she wrote.

Opponents of the bond issue say these expenses show the district is irresponsible, given that it has not finished paying the down debt on improvements to buildings it is now planning to close. The 2008 bond issue is not scheduled to be paid off until 2028. Tax money used to pay off that bond issue would then be shifted to the new bond issue if it is approved.

“They can’t be trusted with that money, and we don’t trust that everything they say they’re going to do with this money for this bond is going to yield the results for Wichita kids,” Ben Davis of Wichita United for Better Education, a political action committee organized in opposition to the bond issue, said.

Bradley Dyer of Yes for Wichita Kids, a committee supporting the bond issue, said the spending from the 2008 bonds was not a waste of money. The new additions, classrooms, FEMA rooms and other upgrades funded through that bond issue have been put to use since they were completed between 2010 and 2016.

“Now that we’re here today, and we look at current enrollment, we look at future enrollment, we look at class sizes, we look at spacing, etc., some decisions have to be made, and I think it’s not so much that there was a waste,” Dyer said. “I think that it served its purpose at the time, and now we’re here.

“And we have to find ways to make tough and bold decisions, and that’s where we are.”

The Wichita Public School district is asking voters to approve a new $450 million bond issue to pay for its facilities master plan that aims to decrease the number of elementary schools while increasing the size of the schools in the district.

The new building plan came on the heels of a school board decision to close six schools — Hadley and Jardine middle schools and Clark, Cleaveland, Park and Payne elementary schools — in 2024 as part of a “newer and fewer” schools approach.

The 2025 bond issue would fund the rebuilding of Adams, Black, Caldwell, Coleman, Irving, McLean and Truesdell.

It is unclear what will happen to the existing buildings, except for Coleman, which is to be renovated for alternative education programs.

Some will be demolished while others will likely be sold or repurposed. District officials have said if the bond passes, they will develop a more complete plan for those buildings, which could need approval from the state board of education.

Four elementary schools — L’Ouverture, OK, Pleasant Valley and Woodland — would be closed. District officials say these closings will happen regardless of the outcome of the bond issue.

The Wichita Eagle had previously under-reported the costs based on records provided by Wichita Public Schools and issued corrections after the Kansas Department of Education provided more accurate costs at each building from the 2008 bond proceeds.

A spokesperson for Wichita Public Schools confirmed Friday that 2008 costs that had been provided by the district earlier were inaccurate and that The Eagle should rely on the state’s numbers.

“What I would like the public to do is to offer some grace,” Dyer said. “Because it’s easy to say this should have been done and that should have been done, but when you have the responsibility of 88 buildings and almost 50,000 students and have to consider parents and educators, the decision making is not always as simple as A-B-C.”

Here’s a breakdown of 2008 bond proceeds spent on schools that have been closed or that would be closed or rebuilt under the master plan, including the year it was completed:

▪ $5.8 million on four schools — Hadley ($3.4 million; 2012), Jardine ($1.5 million; 2015), Clark ($514,921; 2010) and Cleaveland ($274,795; 2010) — the school board voted to close in 2024.

▪ $4 million on three schools — OK ($1.5 million; 2015), Pleasant Valley Elementary ($1.9 million; 2014), Woodland ($634,382; 2015) — the school board plans to close as part of the 2025 bond issue/facilities master plan.

▪ $11.2 million on six schools — Adams ($625,932; 2014), Black ($1.5 million; 2015), Caldwell ($1.6 million; 2016), Irving ($2.5 million; 2012), McLean ($1.6 million; 2015), and Truesdell ($3.3 million; 2013) — that the district plans to rebuild.

▪ $293,978 on Chester Lewis Academic Learning Center (2014).

The $21.4 million does not include $1.6 million in bond money spent at Coleman Middle School. That school will be repurposed and renovated for the district’s alternative programs and a new Coleman will be rebuilt close by.

If the bond passes, the district would rebuild seven buildings, build a new early childhood center, new outdoor athletic fields at Northeast Magnet High School and a new Future Ready Center for Trades at East High School. Two elementary schools would be converted to K-8 schools, and four elementary schools would close.