The Kansas City (Mo.) school board has approved a district plan that will close three schools and move thousands of children to different campuses.
The Kansas City Star reports that the decision came despite pleas from many parents urging the board to reject the proposal, which will affect about 15 percent of the 14,000 students now in the district. Boundary changes will affect 16 elementary schools, two middle schools and three high schools.
The reorganization plan calls for Kansas City to shut down one of its highest-performing elementary schools, Wendell Phillips Elementary, and move those students into a newer building that now houses Crispus Attucks Elementary. Attucks students would be relocated to other schools closer to their homes.
Opponents of the closures and boundary changes characterized them as ill-conceived and unnecessarily disruptive for students.
The Southwest Early College Campus and Satchel Paige Elementary School also will close, and the district’s African-Centered Preparatory Academy will be converted to a comprehensive neighborhood school.
Interim superintendent Al Tunis says the intent of the changes is to “develop stronger schools, stronger communities and successful students.”
