Kansas City Public Schools has not had a successful bond measure to raise tax funding since 1967. But now, as a part of its overarching strategic Blueprint 2030 plan, KCPS is hoping to change its luck in order to construct three new school buildings.
Jennifer Collier, the new superintendent of KCPS, told KCUR's Up To Date that while conversations about specifics are early, the district would look to place the new buildings in different areas of the Kansas City community.
She also said it would be more cost-effective to build new instead of trying to patch up older buildings.
"We're looking at those places where we can potentially build new and perhaps close a couple buildings, and then put students and staff into a brand new facility," explained Collier. "That will actually help us facilitate the kind of learning that we want to see happening in our schools, like around project-based learning where students and staff have the makerspaces where they can collaborate and work together. We can do that in the buildings that we have, but our buildings just simply were not designed for that."
Collier joined KCUR's Up To Date to discuss Blueprint 2030 and her biggest priorities in her new role.
- Jennifer Collier, superintendent of Kansas City Public Schools
