‘No’ lead holds in tight $450 million Wichita school bond election

A $450 million Wichita school bond initiative appears to have failed by a wafer-thin margin, with “No” votes holding a nearly 300-vote lead — or 1%.

Wichita Public Schools declined to concede the race the day after the election with its superintendent saying the district is waiting for every vote to be counted before deciding what to do next.

Updated unofficial results released Friday morning show “Yes” vote trailing 13,634 to 13,928, a 294 vote difference (up from 228 on the night of the election).

Provisional ballots could change the final vote tally.

The Sedgwick County Board of Canvassers will meet at 9 a.m. on Thursday, March 6, to receive recommendations from Election Commissioner Laura Rainwater on which ballots should be accepted or thrown out. The board will meet the next day to vote on those recommendations and to certify the official results, Commission Chairman Ryan Baty said.

A day after the bond vote, Superintendent Kelly Bielefeld said at a news conference that the district had not looked into whether it would request a recount.

Bielefeld also wouldn’t say whether the district was considering a smaller bond issue vote, much like what the Kansas City, Kansas, school district did last year after voters rejected a similar-size bond issue.

Residents may not have answers on the district’s next steps until after results are certified.

“At that point, we would start conversations on what comes next,” Bielefeld said Wednesday.

The district has said even if the bond issue doesn’t pass, it will still shutter L’Ouverture, OK, Pleasant Valley and Woodland elementary schools. Those students would be moved to newer, larger schools if the bond issue was approved.

The district has said recently it would still move those students to other schools, but spread them out more among existing schools to keep class sizes down.

“The answer is the plan is the plan, and so it’ll just take longer for us to achieve that plan,” Bielefeld said. “We will have to … adjust and look at timelines.”

A statement sent out by the district Monday, nearly a week after the vote, did not provide much clarity on what it will do next.

“With all votes now counted in the February 25 bond election, Wichita Public Schools will evaluate what we have learned to determine next steps. We appreciate the community feedback we received during this process. Two things remain, regardless of the outcome: the district has a tremendous amount of facility needs and we will continue making every student future ready, even in our current learning spaces.”

This story was originally published February 28, 2025 at 1:18 PM.