Kansas City Public Schools' buildings aren't in good shape. The district is the only one in the area that doesn't receive tax funding for maintenance, and as a result, $650 million in uncompleted work has piled up over the years.
That could change, if Kansas City voters approve a more than $400 million bond for the district in April 2025. The money would fund improvements to buildings and, potentially, the construction of new ones.
But voters have not approved a bond measure for the district since 1967, a fact that Dr. Jennifer Collier, the district's superintendent, attributes to the district's previous struggle with accreditation.
Kansas City Public Schools regained accreditation in 2022, and Collier says "the time is now to invest in the children in Kansas City."
"We have a world class city that's building around us," she told KCUR's Up To Date. "We have winning teams, we have stadiums that are that are being built, and we have all sorts of great things coming into Kansas City, and we're going to have to build our school system if we wanted to be a world class city."
- Dr. Jennifer Collier, superintendent, Kansas City Public Schools
