For the entire 2024-25 academic year, Jackson County legislative Chairman Manny Abarca, now a candidate for county executive, was banned from Paseo Academy for what school officials deemed “unsafe” behavior in the building.
“Your ban from Paseo Academy is a drastic remedy that has been effectuated due to your recent behavior at the school,” a letter from the school to Abarca said without specifying the nature of the alleged infraction.
Abarca’s wife, Alexis Garcia, works at the high school. She filed for divorce in June 2025, and both individuals have since racked up several misdemeanor charges in cases related to their split.
KCUR obtained the ban letter, written by Shana Long, Kansas City Public Schools chief legal counsel, through Missouri’s open-records law, called the Sunshine Law.
While the ban was in place, Abarca, a member of the county legislature and former member of the KCPS board, was allowed to enter the school only for public meetings.
“Your unauthorized presence on the Paseo Academy school campus may result in your arrest and prosecution for trespassing,” the letter warned.
The ban was lifted in May 2025, at the end of the school year.
Abarca, who represents the 1st District and is serving his first term, did not respond to several requests for comment from KCUR through email and in person.
But in a text message to KCUR last week, Abarca said he would do an interview under specific conditions. “I will only meet with you and your editor. My attorney will also be involved,” he texted.
KCUR declined the request but said that an editor could meet with Abarca to discuss concerns about coverage and that his lawyer was welcome in the interview.
About the ban
The ban letter was sent to Abarca at 11:30 a.m. on Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2024, according to an email also obtained by KCUR with an open records request.
Abarca responded by email 12 hours later to ask for a meeting with the district and “the full narrative and process for my banning from this school.”
He was given the written policy but was denied any other documents because “records related to employees are closed,” the district’s legal department said in an email.
While the district would not provide any other records, it said Abarca’s behavior was disruptive.
“The ban was put in place to ensure staff, students, and stakeholders are feeling safe and comfortable at Paseo,” a Sept. 18, 2024, email from Kansas City Public Schools attorney Sara Williams said.
The Kansas City Police Department was not involved. Kansas City Public Schools would not provide further details or say if a report by its own security staff was filed.
Charges filed in other cases
Abarca said in a text message to KCUR that the station’s stories “continue to focus on one side of this messy divorce” from his wife.
Abarca faces three misdemeanor charges connected to the split.
In Kansas City, he is charged with violating a protection order when he and his son disappeared in June 2025. Johnson County, Kansas, charged Abarca after that with domestic battery for “rude physical contact” with a family member in Shawnee.
On New Year’s Day, Abarca was charged with two counts of harassment by telecommunications device in Hutchinson, Kansas, where Garcia was visiting her family. That charge resulted in the Johnson County district attorney asking the court to revoke Abarca’s bond. Judge Curtis Sample denied the motion.
Abarca’s trial on the Johnson County charge is set for Aug. 7.
Garcia has also been criminally charged in Missouri and Kansas.
In January, she was charged in Kansas City with one misdemeanor count of domestic assault. In October 2025, she was charged in Kansas City, Kansas, with a misdemeanor count of battery.
The county executive race
When Abarca announced his candidacy for county executive earlier this month, he said he’s running to get back to what he called basics: trust, transparency and results.
He touted his effort to recall former executive Frank White Jr., implement a tax freeze for seniors and change the county charter to make the assessor’s job elected rather than appointed.
He faces four other Democrats in the Aug. 4 primary: Bill Baird, Stacy Lake, Ryan Meyer and Holmes Osborne.
