Maria Benevento

Kansas City Public Schools and three other districts saw bond issues passed by voters Tuesday, allowing them to fund construction projects and pay for maintenance. Five districts in the Kansas City area also held school board elections.

Voters in the Park Hill School District will see two tax measures on their April 8 ballot. Proposition G would raise the operating tax rate to support teacher salary increases. Proposition O would allow the district to borrow money for building renovations and replacements.

The bond question in North Kansas City's April 8 election would help build new performing arts centers and two high schools and fund renovations at middle schools. The district says the tax rate would stay the same whether or not voters approve the bond.

The bond plan calls for building new elementary schools, major renovations and reopening Southwest High School as a middle school. Kansas City voters have not passed a bond for KCPS since the 1960s, and the district has been left with more than $600 million worth of repair needs.

An exemption for certain employers means public college students don’t always benefit from Missouri’s new minimum wage at their on-campus jobs. Federal law also allows colleges and universities to pay students less than $7.25 an hour under certain conditions.

The university had asked Kansas City to redraw boundaries to transfer 80 acres from Kansas City to Parkville, putting its whole campus and nearby undeveloped property within the same city. But Kansas City staff recommended denying the request.

Park University wants to simplify its operations by placing the whole property within the same town. Its proposal calls for Kansas City to let go of three parcels of undeveloped land the university owns, connected to the rest of its main campus.

The district scored higher than 70% on its state performance report, but Missouri wants more data before it changes accreditation.

The district has more than 14,000 students enrolled for the first time since the COVID pandemic, driven largely by growth in Northeast area schools.

About 80 students in the Independence School District had transferred away from their neighborhood schools due to lack of space. The district hopes to relieve that pressure by repurposing an elementary auditorium into six new classrooms.