Parents and community urge board to preserve New Stanley as boundary recommendation moves forward

Kansas City, Kansas — At its Nov. 11 meeting, the Kansas City, Kansas Board of Education heard an RSP consulting team present a committee‑recommended boundary map that would combine Silver City, Noble Prentiss and New Stanley into a new elementary school and adjust middle‑ and high‑school feeders to rebalance enrollment.

The proposal, which the consultants said is designed to align with bond-funded new school openings and to shrink Wyandotte High School’s projected enrollment from roughly 1,900 toward about 1,550 students, would be implemented to coincide with new‑school construction (targeting the 2027–28 school year, with some items possibly delayed to 2028–29 depending on construction schedules).

Why it matters: RSP estimated the plan would affect about 1,225 students and said the map meets the committee’s criteria for feeder alignment, projected enrollment balance and facility planning. But the plan prompted immediate and sustained public opposition from New Stanley families, alumni and community leaders who said consolidating their small, predominantly immigrant neighborhood school into a much larger building would damage relationships, dilute a successful dual‑language strand and harm vulnerable students, including those with disabilities.

“Closing New Stanley is not what I voted for in the latest bond,” parent Emily Riddema told the board. “Our small school is powerful because of its web of relationships, trust and shared investment. Please vote to keep our neighborhood school.”

Kurt Riedema, a longtime community volunteer, said New Stanley’s dual‑language program and neighborhood continuity have created “a tethered home” in which bilingualism and cultural heritage are assets for student success. Amanda DeVries Sabia, executive director of Argentine Betterment Corporation and parent of a child at New Stanley, said moving special‑education students into a 600+ student school would be “detrimental to their well‑being.”

District response and clarifications: District staff and consultants told the board that New Stanley currently runs a dual‑language model with kindergarten and first grade fully designated as dual‑language and that second grade this year operates with both a dual‑language strand and a traditional track. Dr. Rodriguez explained that the district is monitoring cohort sizes and that, if New Stanley remains open, the school would phase to a two‑section dual‑language model over several years — a transition the administration estimated could be complete by the 2029–30 school year, assuming enrollment holds. The district also acknowledged that enrollment at New Stanley has declined and that space planning and programming drove part of the committee’s deliberations.

Questions about outreach and process: Multiple speakers and several board members criticized the public‑engagement footprint for the boundary process. RSP said roughly 154 survey respondents provided direct input and that committee deliberations included seven formal meetings plus public sessions; RSP and board members acknowledged the response rate left many residents feeling unheard and pledged to expand outreach. Board Member Rachel Russell and others asked the administration to return to the board with alternative scenarios (including swaps between Grant and Whittier elementary boundaries) before any final vote and to provide clearer communications about impacts by address.

What’s next: RSP and district staff told the board they will refine maps and modeling based on public input and present updated materials at the next board meeting (staff indicated a targeted December update). Any boundary changes tied to new school openings would be phased to align with construction and the board’s future decisions. A district spokesperson said leaders will follow up with every public commenter and provide the board with additional documentation prior to further votes.