BOE Meeting

Documenter name: Bill Hoag

Agency: Wichita Board of Education

Date: Sept. 9, 2024

See more about this meeting at Documenters.org

The Scene:

This meeting of the Wichita Board of Education (BOE) was held in the North High Lecture Hall, after a summer hiatus when the school board meetings were held at the Alvin E. Morris Administrative Center due to renovations taking place at Wichita High School North. The proceedings began promptly at 6:00 pm with a presentation of the colors by the West High School JROTC, and adjourned at 9:04 pm. Some 30 members of the public were in attendance, along with approximately 15 members of the media, with additional TV crews set up outside in anticipation of breaking news, as a big vote was on the agenda regarding bringing a $450 million bond measure before the voters for approval in a special election on February 25, 2025.

For background, Step 1 of the Facilities Master Plan for which the bond issue will, if approved by the voters, provide funding, was itself approved by the BOE at its meeting of August 26, 2025, after having been presented and discussed at previous meetings during the summer, some of which can be found summarized at the new Wichita Documenters website.

All board members were present and seated in the same seating arrangement as at prior meetings, along with Superintendent Kelly Bielefeld front and center next to Board President Stan Reeser. The auditorium itself is small and provides greater sight lines for the viewing public than does the larger space at Alvin E. Morris, along with a greater ambience  of stateliness.

The Meeting:

After the roll call and pledge of allegiance:

II. Reports

The meeting began with some good news about Kindergarten Literacy Achievement. Amanda Sharshel, Director of Elementary Curriculum & Instruction, introduced two kindergarten teachers, Lindsey McColley of Christa McAufliffe Academy and Sheila Marcellus of Caldwell Elementary, who described some of the progress their students have been making and some of the instructional approaches that they’ve been using to help them. They also discussed how parents can help their future kindergarteners with their oral language skills by doing things like reading to them for 15-20 minutes per night, and then, when kindergarten starts, getting them to school and on time, so that they can learn their letters and sounds and by the end of the year become readers. Reeser thanked the teachers, adding that they hoped to feature more teachers at future school board meetings, and Board member Melody McCray-Miller also expressed her appreciation.

A representative of the United Teachers of Wichita spoke next. She discussed the challenges that teachers face when teaching in classrooms that are outdated, not well lit, too hot or too cold, etc., adding that we have an obligation to provide students with the infrastructure that they need to succeed. She noted that “some of our buildings are in rough shape,” and urged the board to move forward with the bond issue, so our students are not left behind.

Following that, a scheduled speaker for Service Employees International was not present.

III. Public Hearing on 2024-25 Proposed Budget

This portion of the meeting was held in accordance with the state statute requiring that the Board hold public meetings on its budgets. Members of the public were invited to speak about the budget, but as no one stepped forward to do so, a motion to close the public hearing on the budget passed 7-0.

IV. Finance

1. 2024-25 Budget

Susan Willis, Chief Financial Officer of the Wichita Public Schools (WPS), then gave a presentation on the 2024-25 budget, providing additional information as required by state statute and demonstrating that needs assessments were provided to the BOE, that the Board evaluated needs assessments, and that the BOE used said assessments in approval of the district budget. The district’s plan to meet state assessment of student progress was also discussed as mandated by the state. I gradually learned that the fewer students remaining at Level 1 in state assessment scores, the better. The ultimate goal, presumably, would be for as many students as possible to advance all the way to Level 4, surmounting the various barriers that often impede a student’s progress towards achieving proficiency and becoming future-ready. Wilis noted that fully 87% of the budget is to be allocated in direct support of the classroom.

After the presentation, Board Member Julie Hedrick moved to adopt the 2024-25 proposed budget. The motion was seconded by Reeser and passed 7-0. Reeser then said, laughing, that they’d get to work on the next year’s budget right away.

2. Bond Proposal Presentation and Election Resolution

The recommendation from the district to the Board for this item of the agenda was that they pass Resolution 2024-27, authorizing and calling for a special election to be held on February 25, 2025, asking the voters to approve a $450 million bond issue to finance improvements outlined in Step 1 of the Facilities Master Plan.

This portion of the meeting began with a public speaker, former Wichita Public Schools BOE candidate Walt Chappell, who was decidedly against the bond issue and was visibly and audibly upset upon arriving at the end of his allotted three minutes of commentary and not being allowed to continue. He argued that the budgeting process had relied on “a lot of assumptions” rather than facts, and cited his own extensive experience in the field of education to support his positions. He suggested that the vote be held in November 2025, when other elections are already scheduled and voter turn-out would be greater, rather than in February, which would allow more information regarding student enrollment and behavior to be taken under consideration, stating that “when kids are allowed to say or do whatever they want in the classroom, then teachers are really struggling, and that’s not right, and building new buildings is not going to help that.”

WPS Director of Facilities Luke Newman then provided a recap of Step 1 of the Facilities Master Plan, with an overview of schools to be demolished and rebuilt, newly constructed, or renovated and repurposed. He explained that the election itself would cost the district $112,000, and that $312,000 would be the estimated cost of additional direct support from the consulting firm Woolpert Inc., with whom the WPS has been working to develop the Facilities Master Plan. There would be a 7.5 increase in the mill levy for taxpayers, and the proposed bond repayment period would be 20 years. In answer to a question that Board Member Julie Hedrick was relaying from a community member, Newman said that with school closings, all programs for students would be kept intact, but that there would be some “lift and shift” in some cases. And in response to a query from McCray-Miller regarding the selling of defunct schools, he said that each would have to be evaluated on a case-by-case basis, but that some could possibly end up under the ownership of nonprofits “for the public good,” as McCray-Miller put it. At one point, Hedrick was admonished by Reeser for speaking without first raising her hand.

Willis then took over, and said, among other things, that the date 2/25/25 was selected, in part, because the date is memorable, but why we are unsure of. Also, as Bielefeld stated, approval in February would allow them to “move dirt” (begin construction work) in the summer of 2025; summer being the optimal time for construction, whereas a later election date would not allow for this. A list of “fact-based reasons to support the facilities master plan with bond,” in the words of the slide projected on screen, was also presented. The list included the fact that the last time a bond was presented to the voters was 16 years ago, and that bond proposals had only taken place three times in 50 years. The modest nature, considering the amount of money in proportion to the size of the school district, and fiscal responsibility of the plan were also emphasized. The “newer, fewer” buildings approach would provide greater financial and staffing efficiency, and so on. Reeser stated that he hoped the Board could appreciate this historic moment that has brought the seven members of the Board together, a moment that will affect generations to come, and said: “Our kids deserve this investment.” McCray-Miller said that she was in concert with Reeser’s words, and that “we have the opportunity to do good.”

At 7:35 pm, Reeser moved to approve the bond election proposal, Hedrick seconded the motion, and the Board voted 6-1 in approval, with only Board Member Kathy Bond voting against it. Then they took a 10-minute break, during which time several Board members were observed chatting cheerfully.

After the break, two members of the Woolpert Cooperative Strategies team, who identified themselves as Scott and Jennifer, talked about the work to be done in anticipation of the balloting in February. Among other things, they plan to conduct a phone survey of 300 random cell phones and landlines in October or November to assess the likelihood of the proposal’s success at that time, ahead of a board report in November (they noted that in the past  they would call 400 or 500 numbers, but “nobody answers their phone anymore”). Woolpert will help with the overall campaign to inform and educate the voters.

VI. Education

Strategic Plan Goal 1 - Progress Monitoring Report

Loren Hatfield, Assistant Superintendent of Secondary Schools, discussed reports of progress made thus far under the Future Ready Strategic Plan, in light of such goals as to increase the graduation rate from 79.2 % to 85% by 2029. There is evidently much progress yet to be made, considering, for example, that approximately ⅔ of 8th grade students remain at Level 1 in their state math assessments; a new math curriculum for middle schools was approved last spring. The importance of “teaching to the cognitive level of the student” was stressed in the endeavor to achieve measurable improvements. They also noted, interestingly, that all math tests are first reading tests, and that literacy improvements would lead to better test scores in both reading and math.

Overall, a general trend toward better results was noted.

Also noteworthy: the methods of state assessment are changing, and there will be more on that in the November meeting. In addition, the ACT test for high school students is changing, which could be a factor in student assessment going forward. They said that the test would change for students who take the test for free via the school system, starting in Spring 2026.  I also learned what a test called ACT WorkKeys is - a test that measures skills for workplace success and is available for WPS students to take.

Bond then asked if the successes noted thus far were based on future new buildings, and was informed that the improvements now being discussed were achieved in the buildings we have now.

VII. Consent

The consent agenda passed unanimously with the exception of two items pulled for discussion by Bond:

E2. Agreement to Transfer Former Park Elementary to the City of Wichita; and

E6. Pre-Bond Program Development Services

The former item pertains to the City of Wichita’s acquisition of the former Park Elementary for the purpose of converting the building into an emergency shelter and eventual multi-use center for unhoused people, a plan that generated considerable community feedback over the summer. The latter item pertains to continuing the agreement with Woolpert, Inc. as previously discussed.

Reeser then motioned to put the two agenda items to a vote so that Bond could vote against them, and so it was done, and the two items passed by a tally of 6-1.

VII. Miscellaneous

There will be a celebration in conjunction with National Arts in Education Week at the Wichita Art Museum on Saturday, September 14, featuring performances by WPS students.

And before adjournment, Board Member Ngoc Vuong expressed an interest in revisiting the district’s cell phone policy, which was modified prior to his tenure on the Board, and Bond said she wanted to echo what Vuong said. Bielefeld said he would give an update on how things have been going with the cell phone policy next month.

The meeting was then adjourned at 9:04 pm. As I was walking out to my car, I noticed that the east side of the building had been toilet-papered, or “T.P’d,” as the kids used to call it when I was a WPS student at East High back in the 20th Century.

Summary

• In a 6-1 vote, the Board passed the proposal to put a $450 million bond measure before the voters in a special election on February 25, 2025.
• The services of Woolpert Inc. were retained to help with a campaign to inform and educate the voters leading up to the balloting.
• The last formalities were concluded that will allow the former Park Elementary School to be converted into a multi-use agency for the homeless

Follow-Up Questions

What are you left wondering? Ask up to 3 of your own follow-up questions...

• First and foremost, will the voters approve the bond proposal in November?
• Who were the malefactors who TP’d North High during the school board meeting, and why did they do it on a Monday night in September?

If you believe anything in these notes is inaccurate, please email us at documenters@citybureau.org with "Correction Request" in the subject line.