People packed the Shawnee Mission Board of Education meeting room Monday night, many of them wearing green and yellow shirts and carrying signs that said, “Save East Antioch.” Some held their breath while the board talked and a few cried.
The district announced its plan last week to recommend the closure of East Antioch, a small neighborhood school in Overland Park, as a part of its upcoming 2027 bond referendum.
At its Monday night meeting, the school board formally heard the proposal, which includes merging East Antioch with nearby Santa Fe Trail Elementary and rebuilding Santa Fe Trail.
“This is shocking news to me,” said East Antioch sixth grader Lale Onde, 11. “I’ve been at East Antioch for seven years, and I really care about our school. I think that it’s important that we keep our school open because of the staff and the students there.
“The environment is really nice,” she added. “The vibe of the school is just so great. I feel like the teachers are always just there, and they’re always asking how you’re feeling, and they’re always just so understanding. They really want to know [about us].”
“Sorry for having to make this recommendation”
Discussions on a possible 2027 bond measure started in March, with $490 million worth of projects initially laid out across the district. However, Superintendent Michael Schumacher said they needed to reduce that list down to make it a bond proposal that wouldn’t raise the district’s property tax rate.
The list of tentative projects is now whittled down to about $370 million worth of initiatives, including rebuilding Belinder and Rosehill elementaries and constructing a new career and technical education center.
The Strategic Plan Action Facilities Team, which tracks and reviews district facilities, also recommended closing East Antioch and rebuilding Santa Fe Trail.
Both buildings are at the end of their life, costing the district more to keep operational than newer buildings, Schumacher said.
“I’m sorry for having to make this recommendation,” he said Monday. “It’s not something that any of us — any of the district leaders — wanted to do, but considering all of the things that we had before us, we felt like this was a necessary thing to do.”
In considering closing East Antioch, the team weighed different factors between both it and Santa Fe Trail, both built less than two miles apart in the 1950s that now enroll less than 300 students each.
It largely came down to site location, Schumacher said, with the Santa Fe Trail property allowing the district to “deliver a more modern, safe and secure elementary learning facility.”
Schumacher then highlighted the size difference of the properties, 8.9 acres at Santa Fe Trail compared to 6.5 acres at East Antioch, and the number of access points: four at Santa Fe Trail and one at East Antioch.
For board member Heather Ousley, a question remains: Do the benefits of a new Santa Fe Trail building outweigh the effects on families of closing East Antioch?
District enrollment projections show East Antioch near 284 students in five years, versus 211 students at Santa Fe Trail.
Ousley acknowledged that those figures are not concrete and could change over the next few years, but for now, that means about 70 additional students and their families affected by East Antioch’s closure.
“I understand why it’s these two buildings we’re discussing,” Ousley said. “I don’t want to close a building. I understand the need is there. I don’t want to be unclear about it. The drop in enrollment is significant, the funding considerations, the loss in [special education] funding that we are not receiving from Topeka is significant. Operating buildings that are outdated costs more than operating buildings that are current.
“Nobody wants to do any of this,” she added. “But, when we’re looking at the two buildings that are at risk for retirement, I want to be confident that we’re getting it right and impacting as few students as possible.”
Watch the board’s full discussion here.
What parents said
About 140 people packed into the board room Monday night during public comments. Several parents spoke about their experiences at East Antioch, highlighting it as a community hub — a place where they and their children have made lifelong friends.
People cheered after speakers came down from the podium, sharing the sentiment that they both love East Antioch and are frustrated with the district.
“When my wife and I found out that we were expecting, we debated, ‘Is this time for us to move to the [Shawnee Mission] West community and start that path?’” said East Antioch parent Sarah Gonzales, a math teacher at Shawnee Mission West. “In talking to the people around us, we found out that there was a great community we were a part of, just hadn’t had our eyes open to it.
“Being a part of the East Antioch community has been one of the greatest paths of our lives,” she added. “Our kids have met not only friends, but also ‘framily members,’ as we call them, because they are now a part of our life forever.”
While Ian Fannin-Hughes also shared his appreciation for the school, he added that he’s disappointed with the recommendation to close the school.
“Families like mine weren’t given an opportunity to understand the problem, to evaluate the situation or alternatives and to participate in a process before being told that the school our children attend and that our neighborhood has been built around is going away,” Fannin-Hughes said.
His son, Ollie, has a lifelong disability that requires that he be on a ventilator. He also has a tracheostomy and uses a walker and an electric wheelchair.
The family lives less than a quarter-mile from East Antioch, northeast of 75th Street and Antioch Road. Ollie can navigate to school on the sidewalks, something that would be more difficult, if not impossible, if Ollie had to start attending Santa Fe Trail, and cross Metcalf Avenue to get to school.
While Ollie, a current fifth grader, will be gone by the time the school closes, Fannin-Hughes said he wants to protect the school for other children, especially the ones that need extra support.
What’s next
No decisions were made Monday night, though the boundary committee began work for the year Tuesday night.
That committee will make a final recommendation on East Antioch at the Oct. 26 board of education meeting. The board is expected to consider the recommendation then.
District officials are also expected to host a meeting for the East Antioch community on Sept. 17 at 6 p.m. at the school, 7342 Lowell St.
Supporters of East Antioch launched a website over the weekend, SaveEastAntioch.com, that includes information on upcoming public comment periods and instructions on how families and members of the school community can contact school board members.
