KCKPS board approves boundary revisions; New Stanley kept on current schedule

Kansas City, Kansas — The Kansas City, Kansas Board of Education on Tuesday approved revised school boundary recommendations developed with RSP that reinstated New Stanley Elementary’s current boundary and adjusted feeder patterns at the middle-school level to preserve the Whittier community and balance enrollment.

Jenna Wallace of RSP told the board the second-read revisions responded to community feedback. "Since last meeting to this meeting, there were some small adjustments made to the elementary and middle school boundaries that more so address some of the community concerns," Wallace said, listing the reinstatement of New Stanley in the Harmon cluster and moving Whittier Elementary back to Central Middle School.

The revised middle-school map creates a split feeder for Grant Elementary: students living north of I-70 would feed into Carl Bruce and those south into Central, a change RSP said balances Carl Bruce and Central within about 25 students of each other. RSP estimates roughly 1,000 students would be impacted under the revised plan — a reduction from the first-read proposal.

Public comment factored into the revisions. Student Aldo Orozco Diaz addressed the board and pleaded, "Please do not ever close my school," telling members he feels protected and worried he would lose teachers and friends if New Stanley closed. Board members said they would provide Aldo’s written remarks to the full board and consider community feedback.

Board Vice President Rachel Russell thanked committee members and New Stanley families and described the approval as a deliberate pause to ensure future conversations are inclusive. The motion to approve the boundary recommendations as revised was moved and seconded and passed on a roll-call vote.

Implementation notes: RSP presented projections showing New Stanley’s current boundary contains about 220 resident students and that a future new building in that boundary would project to about 440 students; the board approved moving forward with the revised boundaries with implementation slated for the 2027–28 cycle as part of bond-era facility planning.