Passionate defense of neighborhood schools, anger, confusion, tears, and intermittent bursts of applause rang out in the Olathe South High School Auditorium as parents and students representing all six schools targeted for closure by the USD 233 School Board met at a public hearing to plead with the board to save their schools from the chopping block.
Olathe Board President Julie Steele welcomed the crowd:
“We recognize that school is so much more than a building. When we talk about closing a school, we are talking about a place everyone loves, a place filled with students, educators, relationships, traditions, and memories.
“Not one of us up here wants to make the decision before us. But as a board, we also have a responsibility to protect the future of our district. We have approached this work for many months, with discernment, asking hard questions, and understanding all the steps that have already been taken before arriving at this point. We will continue to approach it with compassion, with transparency, and with great care.
“Tonight though, is not about making that decision. Tonight is about listening to you all. We may not all agree on the final decision, but I hope you know this. We understand the weight of what is being asked of us. Behind every number on a spreadsheet we promise you that we know that there are students and families and educators. There are those memories, and there is a community that deeply loves its schools. And that love is our common ground.”
Excerpts from some of the dozens of speakers, which included elementary school students, who took the podiums:
“You know I didn’t hear about this until a couple of weeks ago, but you guys knew six years ago, and I’m wondering how come we didn’t have this meeting six years ago? That’s not being transparent.”
“I’m the mother of two Tomahawk elementary school students, and I’m here to speak on their behalf. My daughters have been through so much change in the last couple of years. They went from living in one household, to living in two. They moved to a new city. They had to make new friends, and before we knew it, they were school-agers who could no longer spend every day with their mom. Tomahawk made that change easy. Tomahawk became our constant. Tomahawk became our safe space, and our home base for over two years now. We have been through some tough times as a family, but Tomahawk has been there for us. They got my daughter into weekly counseling and transformed her self-esteem. There isn’t a teacher or staff member that my girls don’t know and love.”
“We cannot only look at the cost of maintaining a building, we need to look at the cost of moving children. We cannot go back and give these kids a year of lost stability and connection. So I am asking you to make sure you have the complete picture before you vote. Please consider all of the data, be good stewards of our community. There is always more than one way. There is always not just one single option.”
Another option is offered here by Kansas Policy Institute (KPI) CEO Dave Trabert. The Sentinel is a subsidiary of KPI.
The Effect on Special Needs Students
“My question is, what about the special needs kids? Where would they go? The district numbers do not include SPED (Special Education) specific. It makes a huge difference when acknowledging types of kids you are adding to a school. I have last year’s numbers of kids on IEPs (Individualized Education Programs) per school from the district. Do you know how many elementary IEP kids you are affecting with your callous recommendations? Black Bob has 98. Walnut Grove, 119; Tomahawk, 92; Scarborough, 82; Heritage, 71. That’s 462 kids you are squishing into surrounding schools because a majority of these schools are in the same high school feeder pathway. Many of these kids cross more than one disability also, which is more than one part of an IEP. Will there be enough SPED teachers, or will you overload them? ?Will there be enough paras (paraprofessionals) for the kids in the classroom who require them one-on-one? If you are adding more teachers to the buildings, why close the buildings? Transferring special needs kids does nothing but hurt them. Special needs kids have the hardest time with change; this is a massive change for them. Their teachers, paras, and routine, became a safe place for them. It’s familiar, and the faculty understands the individual child best. Starting each of these kids in a new building with new teachers is a recipe for a disaster for all.”
The Possibility of Families Leaving Olathe
“Other districts have also found that they actually saved significantly less money than they had projected. One of the main reasons for this is that when districts close schools, a significant number of families withdraw their students from the district. That loss of per pupil revenue offsets the projected savings. This is a metric I haven’t seen any projections for, and I don’t think the district has considered it all based on their data. This is a huge oversight by the school district.”
“Walnut Grove’s proximity to both Blue Valley Schools and St. Thomas Aquinas could put the district at an especially high risk of student attrition within this boundary area. As much as my own family loves the Olathe schools, the fact is that Blue Valley is consistently rated the best school district in Kansas, and many of our homes are already closer to Blue Valley schools than they are to ours here. Closing our northeasternmost school, Walnut Grove increases that number. And St. Thomas Aquinas is one of the biggest private schools in Johnson County. Even though it’s a high school, it still looks very attractive to families in the area who are considering the move over to a private school system. For those who are looking at their options after school closures, Walnut Grove families, especially, have two very enticing and convenient options, one public and one private. It would be financially irresponsible to close this many schools and especially closing Walnut Grove without these projections.”
The Effect on Staff Members
“I also know there was an overwhelming, 100% support from your task force to close Indian Trails. I understand this, but man, oh man, does it hurt! I know every person in this room could talk about how amazing their staff is. And I can sit here and go on all night about the amazing staff at Indian Trail. That is not just a school, but truly a family. What is being done to protect and care for the amazing staff at each and every one of these six schools? How are we being transparent with the staff? How is it possible to absorb the number of staff and administrators, from one middle school, invite elementary schools into already established school staffs? Where does the choir director go? When every other middle school already has a choir director? Does she find a placement somewhere else not doing what she went to school to do?”
The Peter Pan Reference
“We keep being told children are “resilient”. I work with kids for a living. So let me say what that word actually means. Resilience isn’t something a child has. It is something that a child builds. And they build it from feeling safe. Safe means the teacher knows what their face looks like, the same door, the same friend at the same table. That is not sentiment. It’s how a nervous system learns it can handle things. ‘Children are resilient’ doesn’t tell a parent where their child is going in September. It doesn’t know a family of a four-year-old, with an IEP who their teacher will be, or whether the people who know them will come too. You can’t ask the kid to be resilient and take away the thing resilience is made of at the same time. The Darling’s nursery window is left open, so Wendy and her brothers have somewhere to come back to. I’m asking you to leave the window open.”
Pointed Questions for District Leaders
“I would like to ask you; there is a board member up there who has two elementary school students at a different school that is not on the chopping block. And I would like to ask, if I myself run for the school board of education here, would that save Heritage? Would that possibly save my son’s school? Say it so, out loud, tonight. Families deserve to know whether this hearing is a decision point or a mere formality. And the final thing I want to say is, if we’re talking about cutting funding, and we can’t afford to do this, then Dr. Brent Yeager, why are you making over $322,000?
Parents organize to petition the state board of education
Chelsea Medved is with Olathe Families United. Their project, 6,100 Voices, plans on gathering that many signatures required by state statute on a petition to present to the State Board of Education to review what the group anticipates will be the board’s decision to close the schools when it next meets on October 1st.
We asked her if the threatened exodus from the Olathe District was a real possibility if the schools were closed next year:
“I know several parents who have said that they will be leaving the school district because all trust has been lost. Even more will leave if they close their child’s school. They have really put parents in a hard position. Our children love their schools, friends, and teachers, but to split us apart and not know where we are going is not acceptable. Parents like to be involved with their child’s education and to essentially say this is what we are doing and we will tell you in a few months where your child is going is not OK. I chose the school that I did for a reason. Closing the schools will force parents to find better solutions elsewhere.”
According to a school board spokesperson, the district did not record the public hearing for re-broadcast as it was not considered a school board meeting.
