The Olathe Public Schools Board of Education is set to consider Thursday night whether to close six schools at the end of this school year.
Five elementary schools and one middle school are up for consideration during the Board of Education meeting Thursday. This comes after months of work to figure out how many schools, and which specific ones, to close to adjust for declining enrollment, rising home prices and budget pressures from chronic underfunding by the state.
However, only a month has passed since the district announced which specific schools it recommends for closure with the goal of saving roughly $12 million. Schools include:
- Indian Trail Middle,
- Black Bob Elementary,
- Heritage Elementary,
- Scarborough Elementary,
- Tomahawk Elementary,
- and Walnut Grove Elementary.
In the month since, affected communities have asked the district to give the public more time, information and opportunities for input before making any final decisions. While the district published meeting notes and data, many families share the same sentiment — it’s not enough information nor enough time to ask questions and validate.
“Transparency after a vote is notification,” said Heritage parent Miranda Lawson during a Sept. 22 meeting. “Transparency before a vote is accountability.”
From the community
The district held a public input night Sept. 22 at Olathe South High School, with more than 250 people in attendance. Before public comment, Superintendent Brent Yeager and Deputy Superintendent of Organizational Operations Jim McMullen spoke about the recommendations, giving a high-level overview of why and how these schools were selected.
Dozens of people spoke at the event, including Lawson, to the Olathe Board of Education, pleading with them to reconsider and give the public more time to ask questions.
“You have heard questions about how schools were selected, attendance boundaries, receiving school capacity and class sizes, transportation and safety, special education and programs, student well-being, staff continuity and true net savings,” Lawson said. “These are not separate issues.
“Together, they will determine where children will learn, how they will get there, whether their needs can be met and what this decision will truly cost,” she added. “The closure recommendation and the student impact plan are one decision, not two.”
Similarly, Tomahawk parent Danille Summers said the information provided was not enough.
The district recommended Tomahawk for closure because of building age, neighboring schools that are under functional capacity — Tomahawk is at about 75-85% capacity, according to district figures — and future projected enrollment decline after this school year.
“I’m here because our home is in danger,” Summers said, “and we don’t even know why. Sure, we’ve been given a vague word salad about declining enrollment and saving $12 million, but what part of that applies to us specifically?”
She continued, stating that enrollment at Tomahawk has steadily increased since 2021. With nearby schools being under capacity, she questioned if they’re being held to the same standards as Tomahawk.
Summers also cited her frustration with the building age being a factor.
“A wonderful, flourishing school is in danger of being shut down because it was built in 1980,” Summers said.
Looking back
Olathe Public Schools projections show enrollment across the district dropping to just under 26,000 students over the next 15 years — a decrease of about 4,000 students from its peak in 2019.
District leaders said they needed to address declining enrollment — so in February, the district formed a 110-person task force, which included one parent and one staff member from each school in the district.
The task force unanimously agreed in June the district needed to reduce the number of elementary schools, with three to four being the group’s initial recommendation. Task force members also agreed that one of the district’s 10 middle schools should be closed, though three members disagreed, instead voting for no middle school closures.
After the task force made its recommendations, a steering committee of 20 people was formed, including people from the task force, to decide which schools to recommend for closure.
The steering committee considered enrollment, growth potential, building specifics, transportation and specialty programs at the schools. The group met four times this summer, discussed different options — including the recommendation to close six schools instead of three to four — and landed on the closure recommendations presented to the school board in September.
Meeting notes from both the task force and the steering committee can be found on the district’s Boundary and School Closures webpage, toward the bottom and under the Presentations, Resources and Communication section.
For the elementary schools, the steering committee whittled the list of schools down throughout its meetings. Eventually, the committee ranked the remaining 11 schools considered for closure using a point system. The committee unanimously agreed to close Indian Trail Middle School, so no ranking occurred at the middle school level.
The top five elementary schools recommended for closure were Walnut Grove at 120 points, Black Bob at 75 points, Scarborough at 65 points (one person voted for the school twice, though that doesn’t change the results), Heritage at 56 points and Tomahawk at 52 points.
Beyond that, Havencroft came in at number six with 28 points, Countryside at 14 points, Bentwood at five points, Brougham at four points, Green Springs at one point and Briarwood at zero points.
What happens next?
If the board moves forward with the steering committee’s recommendation to close all six schools, then a new committee will meet to discuss boundary adjustments to figure out where the students will go. Recommendations are expected in December with board action in January 2027.
“This timeline also allows ample time for staff to transition into new positions and for welcoming schools to plan opportunities for students and families to visit their new schools, meet staff and begin building connections before the 2027-28 school year begins,” said district spokesperson Erin Schulte.
If the board delays the vote, Schulte added, the district would need to consider other options, including staff reductions or bringing forward another list of schools for recommended closure.
To watch the Olathe Public Schools board meeting online, visit the district’s YouTube Page at 5:30 p.m. Thursday.
Local and national trends
Olathe’s debate over closing schools is part of a pattern districts are seeing around the country in the years since COVID-19.
Education experts anticipated a decrease in enrollment due to the U.S.’s declining birthrate, but the pandemic accelerated the trends, exacerbating the issue and leading to an increase in school closures in the past four years, according to an analysis by the Washington Post.
In the neighboring Shawnee Mission School District, its board was set to consider closing East Antioch Elementary in late October. However, at the Sept. 15 board meeting, district leadership canceled a public input meeting set for Sept. 17 for the recommendation, delaying the closure consideration.
A timeline for a decision regarding the fate of East Antioch is unknown at this time.
