Kansas City Public Schools Explained

Kansas City Public Schools
Accreditation:Regained to Provisional August 6, 2014
Motto:Strong Schools. Strong Communities. Successful Students.
Type:Public school district
Budget:$328 million
Established:1867
Grades:PreK - 12
Schools:35
Superintendent:Dr. Jennifer Collier
Teachers:1,087.94 (FTE, 201617)
Staff:1,174.19 (FTE non-teachers)
Students:15,345 (201617)
Ratio:14.10
Location:2901 Troost Avenue
Kansas City, Missouri 64109
Country:United States
Website:Official website

Kansas City 33 School District,[1] operating as Kansas City Public Schools or KCPS (formerly Kansas City, Missouri School District, or KCMSD), is a school district headquartered at 2901 Troost Avenue in Kansas City, Missouri, United States.

The district, which lost accreditation in 2011, regained provisional accreditation from the state in 2014. In November 2016, the district announced it had gotten a high enough score on state accountability measures for the State Board of Education to consider full accreditation. However, the state's education commissioner told KCPS she wanted to see sustained progress. The earliest the district is likely to regain full accreditation is 2018.

In 2016, the district moved from their longtime offices at 1211 McGee in Downtown Kansas City, Missouri, to a Midtown location to be closer to district families.

Boundaries

The school district serves most of the residents of Kansas City, Missouri. The school district's borders are not contiguous with the boundaries of Kansas City; notably, it does not serve any of the city north of the Missouri River. Many areas that have been annexed by Kansas City over the years are served by 11 districts based in the suburbs.

It is bordered on the west by the Kansas/Missouri border line and on the east by the Independence and Raytown school districts. It is bordered on the north by the Missouri River. It is bordered on the south by the Hickman Mills school district and, at approximately 85th Street, by the Center school district.

History

1800s

At the end of the Civil War, there were no public schools in the entire state of Missouri. Aside from a limited number of private schools and colleges, there were few educational opportunities.[2] During reconstruction, Radical Republicans advocated for strong statewide public education through several laws and the 1865 Constitution.[3] As a response, the Kansas City Public School district was organized, with the first school board meeting taking place on 1 March 1867. At the time there was 2,150 school age children in the district. Funds were able to be scraped together for the formal start of the school year in October 1867. Eight rooms across the city, from church basements to abandoned dwellings, were secured. Ten teachers started the school year, which increased to 21 by the end of the first year. Bonds were issued for the first public school building, The Washington School, located on the corner of Independence Avenue and Cherry Street. By 1869, it had been enlarged to eight rooms and held seating for 500 pupils. A two room brick building named The Lincoln School, was built in 1869 on the corner of Ninth and Charlotte streets and was the first public segregated school for African American students in Kansas City.

During the Panic of 1873, school funding was stretched as teachers took 10% pay cuts. There was sharp opposition to public education particularly of high school, which was seen as "squandering the people's money." When the school board attempted to construct a high school on 9th Street between Cherry and Holmes, it was criticized for its "extravagance." Instead, it opened what was to become Central High School in a four room building on Eleventh and Locust streets. Originally named Kansas City High School, the school board changed the name to Central School in an effort to outwit the opposition.

By 1897, the district employed almost 500 teachers.

Annexations

Before 1900

1900 to 1950

1950 to 2000

State accreditation

From 1985 to 1999, a United States district court judge required the state of Missouri to fund the creation of magnet schools in the KCPS in order to reverse the white flight that had afflicted the school district since the 1960s. The district's annual budget more than tripled in the process. The expenditure per pupil and the student-teacher ratio were the best of any major school district in the nation. Many high schools were given college-level facilities. Despite all the largesse, test scores in the magnet schools did not rise; the black-white gap did not diminish; and there was less, not more, integration.[5] On May 1, 2000, Kansas City Public Schools became the first district in the nation to lose accreditation.[6] Finally, on September 20, 2011, the Missouri Board of Education voted unanimously to withdraw the district's accreditation status, effective January 1, 2012.[7] In August 2014, the Board of Education granted provisional accreditation status to KCPS in recognition of the academic gains made by KCPS students.[8] In the 2014–2015 school year, KCPS has 13 schools which met the state standard for full accreditation, and another eight which met the standard for provisional accreditation.[9]

Missouri v. Jenkins

Missouri v. Jenkins is a case decided by the United States Supreme Court. On June 12, 1995, the court, in a 5–4 decision, overturned a district court ruling that required the state of Missouri to correct de facto racial inequality in schools by funding salary increases and remedial education programs.

School closings since the 1980s

In the 1980s, 1990s, and 2000s KCMSD closed at least 30 buildings. Some buildings were sold, some demolished, and some abandoned.[10] In 2010 district superintendent John Covington submitted a plan calling for the closure of 29 of the district's remaining 61 schools.[11] During that year almost half of the KCMO schools closed. By that year many students, instead of attending district schools, attended charter schools, private schools, parochial schools, and schools in suburban school districts. As of 2010 the school district had less than 18,000 students, half of its enrollment in 2000 and 25% of its peak population in the 1960s.[12]

Transfer of schools to Independence in 2007-2008

In November 2007, the voters of the Independence Public School District and the Kansas City, Missouri School District voted for seven schools (one high school, one middle school, and five elementary schools) to be taken over by the Independence School District.[13] Victor Callahan, a state senator, supported the annexation and said that he hoped that KCMSD would disappear via annexations within a 10-year span.[14] The teachers' union of Kansas City opposed the move.[15] Gwendolyn Grant, the head of the Urban League of Greater Kansas City, supported the move; she said it would make the KCMSD school board more racially homogeneous and therefore reduce tensions within the school board.[16] In November 2007 84% of voting residents within Independence and 66% of voting residents within Kansas City approved the transfer. Jim Hinson, the superintendent of the Independence district, believed that the KCMO district fought the annexation because it was a "pride issue" and because the KCMO district feared that other parts of the district could secede.[17]

In April 2008 the Kansas City Missouri School District Buildings Corp. sued to receive a declaratory judgment on the value of the Independence buildings.[18] In July 2008 Missouri Commissioner of Education D. Kent King asked for KCMSD to give up the schools.[19] During that month a judge ruled that Independence had a right to control the seven transferred schools and the closed Anderson Campus.[20] In August 2008 the Independence School District wired more than $12.8 million dollars to the Kansas City, Missouri district. The building transfer was completed.[21]

School openings in 2014

In 2014, KCPS re-opened Hale Cook Elementary School at 7302 Pennsylvania Ave. in the Brookside neighborhood of Kansas City. This was in large part due to the grassroots effort by the Friends of Hale Cook community organization.[22] The school had been mothballed since 2009. Hale Cook launched the school year with 108 students in pre-K through 2nd grade and will expand one grade every year until 6th grade.[23]

The same summer, KCPS also re-opened Central Middle School at 3611 E. Linwood Boulevard and Northeast Middle School at 4904 Independence Avenue as neighborhood schools serving 7th graders. The schools will expand to include 8th graders in 2015.[24]

In addition, KCPS expanded its pre-K program by opening a second Early Learning Center, Richardson, at 3515 Park Ave.[25]

Broadcast station owner

Kansas City Public Television (KCPT) was signed on for the first time as Kansas City School District (KCSD), which owned the station until 1971. The school district put the license on the market in 1971. A group of civic leaders formed Public Television 19 and bought the license. The station relaunched in January 1972 as KCPT. That fall, it began broadcasting PBS shows in color for the first time.

Superintendent

Dr. Mark T. Bedell joined Kansas City Public Schools as Superintendent on July 1, 2016.

Interim Superintendent Allan Tunis was named to the position on June 11, 2015. He was chosen by the Board of KCPS to maintain a focus on increasing individual student achievement in every KCPS school through academic best practices, top-flight employees, sound management, effective partnerships and public engagement.

Dr. R. Stephen Green was superintendent until June 2015. He was officially named to the position on April 2, 2012, after being interim superintendent since August 2011.[26] On Wednesday, May 13, 2015, Dr. Green was announced as the sole finalist for superintendent of Dekalb County School District in Atlanta, Georgia. He will stay at the helm of the Kansas City Public Schools until 30 June 2015.

Dr. John Covington was superintendent from 2009 until his resignation in August 2011.[27]

Anthony Amato was superintendent from July 2006 to January 2008.[28]

Bernard Taylor was superintendent from at least May 2003 until 2005, when the school board declined to renew his contract.[29] [30]

Benjamin E. Demps Jr. was superintendent from August 2, 1999, until sometime before June 2003.[31]

J. B. Bradley was elected the first as first superintendent in 1867 and also acted as a teacher for upper level students.

Schools

All schools are in the City of Kansas City, Missouri.[32]

High schools

Neighborhood

Special Options School

Signature

Career and technical centers

Middle schools

Elementary schools

Neighborhood

Persons or places neighborhood elementary schools are named after

Signature

Persons signature schools are named after

Pre-schools

Former schools

Closed to K-8 transition

Closed

High schools

Elementary and middle schools

Middle schools

Primary schools

Transferred to Independence School District

Closed and later transferred

Primary and alternative schools

External links

Notes and References

  1. https://www.kcpublicschools.org Home
  2. Kansas City journal. [volume] (Kansas City, Mo.), 04 July 1897. Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers. Lib. of Congress. https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn86063615/1897-07-04/ed-1/seq-3/
  3. John W. Hunt and Linda C. Morice. "Caught in the crossfire: factors influencing the closing of Missouri's black schools, 1865-1905." American Educational History Journal 35.1/2 (2008): 233.
  4. "District Annexations." Kansas City, Missouri School District. Retrieved on December 31, 2008.
  5. Web site: Ciotti . Paul . Money And School Performance: Lessons from the Kansas City Desegregation Experiment . Cato Institute . 16 March 1998 . 1 February 2015.
  6. Web site: Kansas City Schools Lose Accreditation . L.A. Times . 4 May 2000 . 16 April 2020.
  7. Web site: Oberholtz. Chris. Missouri strips Kansas City School District of accreditation. KCTV5. 26 February 2012.
  8. Web site: News Release | Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education.
  9. Web site: Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education School Report Card. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20111130200648/http://mcds.dese.mo.gov/guidedinquiry/School%20Report%20Card/School%20Report%20Card.aspx. November 30, 2011. 9 December 2014. DESE.
  10. Barton, Eric. "Buy This School." The Pitch. August 12, 2008. 1.
  11. Hollingsworth, Heather. "Kansas City Wants to Close Half Its Public Schools." Associated Press at ABC News. Monday March 7, 2010. 1. Retrieved on March 8, 2010.
  12. "Schools to close in Kansas City, Mo., by fall ." NBC News. March 11, 2010. Retrieved on January 20, 2011.
  13. https://web.archive.org/web/20110719003721/http://www.kmbc.com/politics/14528081/detail.html Voters Approve School Switch – Politics News Story – KMBC Kansas City
  14. Noble, Jason. "Callahan calls for incremental undoing of KC School District." Kansas City Star. December 17, 2008. Retrieved on December 31, 2008.
  15. "KC Teachers Union To Fight Annexation Plan." KMBC-TV. October 15, 2007. Retrieved on January 4, 2009.
  16. Grant, Gwendolyn. "Free At Last! " Urban League of Greater Kansas City. Friday July 27, 2007. Retrieved on January 4, 2009.
  17. "Q&A with Superintendent Jim Hinson, Independence School District." American School Board Journal. Retrieved on January 20, 2011.
  18. "Nonprofit sues over KC School District buildings." Kansas City Business Journal. Monday April 28, 2008. Retrieved on January 4, 2009.
  19. "King Urges Kansas City to Release Disputed Schools ." Missouri Department of Elementary & Secondary Education. Volume 42, No. 49. July 1, 2008. Retrieved on January 6, 2009.
  20. Cleaver, Melissa. "Independence Wins Control of 7 Schools." KHSB-TV. July 7, 2008. Retrieved on January 4, 2009.
  21. Evenson, Kelly. "School transfer is official." The Examiner. August 7, 2008. Retrieved on January 4, 2009.
  22. Friends of Hale Cook (http://halecook.org/)
  23. Web site: Hollenbeck. Sarah. Hale Cook Elementary School reopens, other schools open for first time. KSHB. 9 December 2014. https://web.archive.org/web/20160223023507/http://www.kshb.com/news/education/hale-cook-elementary-school-other-schools-open-for-first-time. 23 February 2016. dead.
  24. Web site: Overview / Middle School Project . 2014-12-09 . https://web.archive.org/web/20141209165302/http://www.kcpublicschools.org/middleschools . 2014-12-09 . dead .
  25. Web site: KCPS to increase number of pre-K slots by expanding programs and opening a second early learning community school in the fall of 2014. dead. https://archive.today/20141209143406/http://www.kcpublicschools.org/site/default.aspx?PageType=3&ModuleInstanceID=1887&ViewID=97313D1D-A9CF-4646-A5A5-0C355FBAC071&RenderLoc=0&FlexDataID=17027&PageID=154&Tag=. December 9, 2014.
  26. Web site: Dr. R. Stephen Green named Superintendent of Schools. dead. https://archive.today/20120716064315/http://us2.campaign-archive2.com/?u=45d54b95b55a6f848c16e2339&id=5acfeb464d. July 16, 2012. 2 April 2012. Kansas City Public Schools.
  27. Web site: John Covington, Kansas City Superintendent, Resigns Suddenly Amid School Board Drama. 25 August 2011 . Huffington Post. 17 September 2014.
  28. Web site: Former superintendent running same plays with more support. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20140917091149/http://www.pitch.com/FastPitch/archives/2009/01/06/former-superintendent-running-same-plays-with-more-support. September 17, 2014. 17 September 2014. The Pitch.
  29. Web site: Children Left Behind. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20140917091204/http://www.pitch.com/kansascity/children-left-behind/Content?oid=2169064. September 17, 2014. 17 September 2014. The Pitch.
  30. Web site: In Amato We Trust?. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20140917091201/http://www.pitch.com/kansascity/in-amato-we-trust/Content?oid=2185861&storyPage=2. September 17, 2014. 17 September 2014. The Pitch.
  31. Web site: The Savior?. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20140917091158/http://www.pitch.com/kansascity/the-savior/Content?oid=2159751. September 17, 2014. 17 September 2014. The Pitch.
  32. https://web.archive.org/web/20160610184231/http://www.kcpublicschools.org/Page/4622 Current List of Schools
  33. Robertson, Joe. "Southwest High staying closed." Kansas City Star. August 10, 2005. Retrieved on January 3, 2008.
  34. Miller, Joe. "La Familia." The Pitch. January 23, 2003. 2.
  35. "NEW school boundaries for 2010-2011 School Year." Kansas City, Missouri School District. Retrieved on January 20, 2011. "Southwest Early College Campus (assumes Westport High boundaries)"
  36. News: As Kansas City's Southwest High School Closes, Graduates Look Back On A Storied Past. Andrea Tudhope. KCUR. 12 May 2016. https://web.archive.org/web/20160513115300/http://kcur.org/post/kansas-citys-southwest-high-school-closes-graduates-look-back-storied-past#stream/0 . 13 May 2016. 13 May 2019.
  37. Barton, Eric. "Buy This School." The Pitch. August 12, 2008. 2.
  38. University of Missouri - Kansas City. Virtual Tour of Grant Hall
  39. Hart, James and Tony Rizzo. "Flames heavily damage KC school in Northeast area." Kansas City Star. Wednesday January 19, 2011. Retrieved on January 20, 2011.

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