Tagged: Kansas City Public Schools

Kansas City Mayor Sly James and School Board President Airick Leonard West committed to a series of community conversations over the next few months about the governance of the school district. Neither has endorsed the idea of a mayoral takeover of schools, but they say no idea is off the table.

Mayor James says he began convening people to talk about the school district after Missouri education commissioner Chris Nicastro told him that it was difficult to do anything in Kansas City because it's so divided.

By Sylvia Maria Gross

Kansas City, Mo. – Dramatic change came to the Kansas City, Missouri school district this week. After months of research and community meetings, the school board voted 5 to 4 to close 26 schools. It was a harrowing vote for all the school board members, and more than 40 years of Kansas City's history with its school district came up in the final public discussion.

Kansas City, Mo. – Last night, the Kansas City Missouri school board narrowly approved the plan to close 26 schools, and district headquarters. More than 200 parents and community members turned out for an emotional meeting.

Kansas City, Mo. – Kansas City, Missouri's school board is facing the unenviable decision of having to close a significant number of the district's schools. But amid the downsizing, there's a surprising number of candidates running for the board in April's election. Ten candidates are vying for five seats in April's school board election. Two of the races, for the second and sixth sub-districts, have only one candidate each. But it's still a far cry from the past two elections, when none of the seats were contested.