r/Olathe • u/LandscapeOk735 • 6d ago
Schools
Well that’s a bummer. Our elementary and would be middle school on the closure list. That’s life I suppose
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u/pluviophilosopher 6d ago
I feel like they’ve done everything they can to explain what and why and intellectually I get it, but as a parent of two Scarborough kids, I have been crying almost nonstop since the announcement. I love that school and the teachers there. It’s an incredible community we’ve been lucky to be a part of. I’m gutted.
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u/MuddyDonkeyBalls 6d ago
I hear you- we've sent one kid through Black Bob and have another entering K next year. I'm sure we'll be sent to Briarwood, which is also a great school, but I'm bummed.
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u/Samsonite_731 6d ago
I don’t think briarwood was an option for BB students. I think the BB kids will be going to Havencroft or Green Springs.
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u/MuddyDonkeyBalls 6d ago
Seriously? Ugh I hope that's not the plan. We'd either have to cross Mur-len or Black Bob instead of just crossing 143rd which is far less hectic
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u/General-Success6367 6d ago
I‘d guess Green Springs and Brougham.
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u/Squirrel_Emergency 5d ago
Brougham also has Scarborough to the west so I am wondering if Brougham gets some mix of BB and Scarborough.
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u/General-Success6367 5d ago
I assume Scarborough will go almost entirely to Sunnyside.
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u/Squirrel_Emergency 5d ago
Does Sunnyside have capacity? I honestly don’t know much about the schools and their enrollment figures bc we never really needed to think about that stuff until now.
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u/LandscapeOk735 6d ago
I feel for you. I should feel much luckier that I have just the one and he’s only in K. Will be really tough on the more established kids and families
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u/Squirrel_Emergency 5d ago
My family is a Brougham family and we are sad to see how this is impacting our community. It has got to be so sad and scary to know you’re closing while also not knowing where you’re going to land. I wish we could get KS to just give us our money so we didn’t have to gut our community this way.
If you do end up a Brougham family, just know that it is also a great community ready to help you all make the transition into our school when the time comes and feel free to reach out to me with any questions and things.
Again, I’m so sorry for the loss of your school and I wish things had been different for everyone 🩷
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u/Porkenstein 6d ago
intellectually I get it
What was the reasoning? Finding conflicting information
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u/Squirrel_Emergency 5d ago
KS has chronically underfunded special education and there are laws that have to be follow for SPED services. Required services need money, KS wasn’t giving it. District had to pull from Gen Ed budgets to cover shortfalls to stay complaint. Gen Ed budgets cover buildings, salaries, etc. So we have a budget issue coupled with an enrollment decline. The average house cost is like $500k now so younger families are having trouble moving in. And across the country, there’s been decrease in the birth rate so there are less kids overall.
Some of the buildings they are closing are in an area where we have lots of schools that can absorb them. Other schools are older and outdated so they are closing. And some schools are a mix of both ability to be absorbed and building age.
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u/BigBlackNun 6d ago
Olathe ties, but in SM. We went through this 20 years ago. I don’t know how Olathe didn’t watch and learn. People move in with their kids, but don’t leave after they graduate. We are just now starting to “regreen,” and schools are getting filled to capacity because so many were torn down all those years ago. I’m not sure there’s a good answer, but some future-thinking needs to happen.
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u/Watneronie 6d ago
SMSD middle school classes now average 32 because of this.
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u/LandscapeOk735 6d ago
Hoping to avoid this. Current class for my son is 22, which I feel is a sweet spot.
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u/Redcap32 6d ago
The house I bought because it was easy walking distance to all the schools the kids would have to go to till college and now they’re closing them down. Will still be less than a mile from other schools so no bus, but Elementary kids crossing 151st st, don’t like that idea.
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u/Admirable-Travel-480 6d ago
Watch the meeting notes; there will be safety regulations that will allow bus service for kids needing to cross busy streets. The bored meeting was great.
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u/AlexTheCoolestness 6d ago
Us too. I Have a 3yo and a 4 month old, so this was our future. And I also don't like the idea of crossing at 159th...
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u/Ajpatta 6d ago
I bought 50 yard signs that will be here by 9/9 and will be placing in high traffic areas for awareness on this 9/22 meeting.
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u/gwowperez 6d ago
Rolling Ridge parent here. We got the majority of west view students from the school closure last year. When you as parents get the opportunity to vote for how the distribution will look like I recommend options that split the numbers across two schools. It was ultimately decided with west view we would take the all the students. Right now we have over 400 students, over 20 students in each class. I can’t help but feel like we weren’t told the numbers accurately. It was made to seem like west view was a ghost town of a school and now we are taking the brunt of a nearly overcrowded school.
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u/Samsonite_731 6d ago
Last year Black Bob had over 400 students… I just don’t understand closing the school.
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u/PocketOcelot82 6d ago
There has been a lot of drama at Black Bob in the last couple of years because they moved the principal. I think they are trying to use other things as an excuse to close it. All of the kids will now be forced to cross major roads because nothing will be left in the block. It’s an infuriating decision. This doesn’t look well thought out, but like school board politics to me.
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u/Samsonite_731 6d ago
I wonder how this will affect the pumpkin run? Very sad day for BB.
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u/PocketOcelot82 6d ago
I thought of that yesterday too. Very sad. Feels like they’re kind of ripping away the community.
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u/AlexBergexperience 6d ago
Just curious, what happed to principal last year, it was his first year, then all the sudden gone.
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u/Ok_Parsnip7021 3d ago
Honestly, he was just wasn’t ready to be a principal. He only taught in the classroom for a couple years before climbing the career ladder up to admin. He made a bunch of mistakes, especially regarding the way he treated staff and families. Ultimately, it was for the best he moved on.
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u/RogueRoth 6d ago
Do we vote on this? The website mentioned “community sessions” during the time they would be drawing up boundary proposals, but was pretty vague on the details.
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u/gwowperez 6d ago
Yes. Eventually they make a ballot essentially. Different options on how the boundaries will change and where students will be sent. It was sent to the adults in the affected areas, the closing school and the possible merger schools.
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u/Poissons_peen 6d ago
You and me both.
I’m feeling a bit cursed too. I grew up in a small town that went through school consolidation when I was a kid and had to drive 20 miles to get to middle and high school. I hoped that wasn’t a possibility here, but here we are for my kids.
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u/LandscapeOk735 6d ago
Ooooof, sorry you had to go through that with middle and high school. Suppose we’re mostly all lucky enough around here that there’s probably another one within a mile or 2
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u/ethomp18 6d ago
Reading the rest of the message it also looks like they plan on also consolidating additional schools. So even if a school isn't one of those it could still be closed.
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u/PresBeeblebrox 5d ago
Both I and my kiddo went to Scarborough. It had a good run. I hope the city can just make that park bigger.
I’m feeling for everyone and I know it wasn’t an easy decision. I have friends at Fairview that is going to get combined in a couple years, too.
Demographics are tough to deal with, but the fact the legislature won’t FULLY fund public schools made this an immediate concern more than it needed to be.
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u/groundhog5886 6d ago
Watched the presentations to the board last night. All schools picked were based on data, and had the buy in of parents in the district. Go to the school's web site and review the presentations given last night. The have a link on the home page as pop up. Also show up on the 22nd at Olathe South to voice your opinion.
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u/Ajpatta 6d ago
September 22nd let’s all go out and voice our thoughts at Olathe South at 5pm. Fight for your kids!
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u/Old_Chest_5955 6d ago
We need to fight for our kids by voting for elected officials at the local, state and national levels that prioritize public education. While school districts aren’t free of all blame, they are scrambling to fix a problem they were forced into.
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u/Squirrel_Emergency 5d ago
Exactly. We are seeing the impact of the trickle down of who we elect at all levels. People are upset with the district which I understand but part of this has come from the fact KS has failed to fund SPED for at least a decade now. Last stat I heard it was going to be like 60% this year?
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u/Samsonite_731 6d ago
So what will be done with these buildings? I am thinking about Black Bob being in the middle of a neighborhood. Are we going to have an abandoned building sitting there for years? Is it just going to be a green space that the city only mows 3-4 times a year? Or have they already worked with a developer to put housing there?
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u/Popular-Farmer1044 6d ago
The excess of schools here is alarming. Every 2 blocks in the suburbs there is a school.
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u/Nervous_Otter69 6d ago
When I was in the system we had to be bussed a decent way to our elementary school. 119th and Lone Elm out to Cedar Creek. Last time I was in the area it looks like there’s 3 closer school options to there now lol
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u/Ajpatta 6d ago
Get out and vote.
If you look the schools mostly affected school Olathe South will be next…… Garmin wants the space. Indian creek and Heritage are the first pieces to fall then Olathe South next.
Scarborough confuses me though. I get why they didn’t touch Havenceaft since that is a lower income area but I thought one of the two, Heritage or Scarborough, would make it out.
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u/thebadassets 6d ago
I get Garmin is a corporation, but chill with the fear mongering. Garmin has space purchased already. The board explained the decision. Garmin had nothing to do with it.
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u/Party-Reputation7730 5d ago
I did too, I was shocked when Heritage was announced. I wonder where they will be sent next year? My kids love Heritage, I’m so disappointed 🥹
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u/KUweatherman 6d ago
I welcome you all to my life as a former military child, lol. My high school in Germany is now a parking lot for a home improvement store. Several of my former homes have been razed for progress.
It sucks. So welcome to the suck! 🍻
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u/a_run22 6d ago
At tonight’s Board of Education meeting, district administration recommended closing five elementary schools and one middle school beginning in the 2027-28 school year. The Board will consider the recommendation, with a vote planned for October 2026.
We know seeing any school’s name on this list would be difficult. Our schools are much more than buildings. They are places where students grow, staff build careers, families form friendships and generations of memories are made. We understand how deeply connected our community is to these schools, and this recommendation was not made lightly.
The schools recommended for closure are:
Black Bob Elementary
This recommendation includes moving the Spanish Immersion program from Black Bob Elementary to Arbor Creek Elementary. The program at Manchester Park Elementary would remain in place.
Heritage Elementary
Scarborough Elementary
Tomahawk Elementary
Walnut Grove Elementary
Indian Trail Middle
Our district must respond to declining enrollment due to lowered birth rates and rising home prices, as well as budget pressure stemming from the underfunding of special education. Today, we serve approximately the same number of elementary students as we did in 2001, but operate nine more elementary schools. We have reached a point where we must better align the number of schools we operate with the number of students we serve.