Wichita Public Schools (USD 259) leaders told the town hall they are expanding direct outreach and transparency after a narrowly failed bond vote and community concerns about facility‑level needs.

Superintendent Kelly Bielefeld said district staff and board members are visiting every school in a 90‑schools, 90‑days listening tour to collect building‑level needs from frontline staff and administrators. The district also plans to publish an online facilities dashboard that will list building square footage, acreage and current facility needs to help the public understand maintenance and capital priorities.

Public commenters raised special‑education staffing, volunteer pathways and consultant use during the previous bond effort. District leaders said special‑education services are legally required, that the district provides services to students who come from outside the district, and that federal funding disruption risk had been discussed but was not described by district staff as an immediate loss of funds.

Speakers and members of the tri‑government group stressed Career and Technical Education (CTE) and Future Ready centers as a potential joint legislative priority and workforce pipeline. City and county presenters said CTE funding is at risk and that a shared push to state lawmakers — combining the voices of city, county and USD 259 — could be a recurring annual joint agenda item to protect those dollars. The school district also described a planned countywide job fair (Century 2) aimed primarily at seniors preparing to enter the workforce and said the event could include windows open to other community members if logistics allow.

Officials acknowledged gaps in volunteer onboarding and said USD 259 and partners are exploring a centralized online form to match community volunteers to appropriate schools or CTE classes.

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District and tri‑government leaders invited community members to attend school tours, use the forthcoming online dashboard, and consider volunteer pathways; officials said details and timelines will be posted on district and city/county channels.