Shawnee Mission School District officials are proposing a new building to expand and improve services for early childhood education, currently offered in the Broadmoor Center and in some elementary schools.
The discussion is still in the very early stages but was mentioned at the school board meeting on Monday as part of an update on the district’s budget.
If approved, the building would likely go at the site of the former Katherine Carpenter Elementary, 9700 W. 96th St., in Overland Park, which is being demolished.
The idea isn’t far enough along yet to have preliminary plans, floor plans or specific cost estimates, administrators said. However, about $27 million is still available in unencumbered funds from the 2021 bond issue.
A new early childhood education center became a priority during the recent strategic planning process and was explored by a team that included parents, administrators and various stakeholders, said Leigh Anne Neal, chief of early childhood education and sustainability for the district.
Of the district’s 34 elementary schools, 21 will have pre-Kindergarten classrooms in the upcoming school year. There are another 14 classrooms at the Broadmoor Early Childhood Education Center currently serving 204 students.
Those classrooms are organized around differing need levels of the students. For instance, the pre-K classes in neighborhood elementary schools have the general preschool population plus special education students whose needs can be met in that type of setting, Neal said. The elementary schools also may have classes that include special ed students who need the services of a teacher licensed in special education.
Classrooms at Broadmoor are typically smaller and serve students with more significant special education needs, Neal explained.
Broadmoor was originally designed as a junior high school. It has an elevator, but some students have mobility issues that have made it difficult to use all of the space, she said.
Right now, only the main floor of Broadmoor is used for the early childhood classes. Gym and classroom space on the lower floor is used for a variety of other purposes, including offices, limited meeting space, food and nutrition services and a PTA-operated clothing exchange.
As numbers of special education students continue to grow, Neal said the concept of a building that is designed for their needs as well as general pre-K became a strategic goal.
A new building could allow more access for all early childhood learners, as well as space for wrap-around care, speech, occupational and physical therapy, she said.
“This is an opportunity for us from the ground up to really think about that,” she said.
David Stubblefield, deputy superintendent, also emphasized the intentionality that would go into a new building. With a space built specifically for early childhood education, “we would get a much better facility that we could utilize for not only our current students but also future growth for families in Shawnee Mission,” he said.
Broadmoor, at 6701 W. 83rd St. in Overland Park, has undergone some rehab work since the bond, mainly to lower sinks, water fountains and cabinets for the smaller student body, Stubblefield said.
However, no major reconstruction that would have torn out walls to reconfigure the floor plan was done.
Planning hasn’t yet begun for what would happen to the Broadmoor building, he said. Long-term, it will be a project for strategic planners and the community to re-imagine the use. In the short term, Stubblefield said the building could be used to temporarily relocate students whose facilities are being rebuilt.
A budget for the building would come later, if the school board likes the idea. Stubblefield said leftover bond funds can be used — even if the project wasn’t specified during the vote — as long as they go for capital improvements.
Neal stressed that the district is still committed to continuing and expanding the early childhood offerings at neighborhood elementary schools. A new early childhood center that is centrally located in the district would add to their options, she said, while also putting more student peers together in the childhood center.
“We try to work with families because we know that having a high quality pre-K experience that sets them up for success is so important. We want to provide that for as many of our Shawnee Mission students as possible,” Neal said.
School board members will get more chances to discuss the idea as the budget planning progresses. One member, Jessica Hembree, related the positive experiences of her child in a pre-Kindergarten program at Trailwood Elementary.
“I just wanted to say how excited I am about the early education proposal in front of us,” she said. “One thing we don’t always appreciate is how connected it helps families feel to their school community. I’m really glad we’re going to find more ways for kids to have that.”
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