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Emporia district presents plan to close Logan Avenue Elementary; parents and staff urge reconsideration
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Summary
At a special board meeting, district staff recommended closing Logan Avenue Elementary for the 2027–28 school year as part of cost‑containment; the board heard dozens of public commenters urging the district to pause, citing community, equity and capacity concerns. The board closed the hearing and plans a vote next week; State Board approval would also be required.
The Emporia Board of Education on Monday heard a detailed presentation recommending the closure of Logan Avenue Elementary beginning with the 2027–28 school year, a measure the district says would save roughly $1.38 million annually and help address multi‑year enrollment declines and a growing budget gap.
Dr. McGehee, the district presenter, said the closure is one element of a larger cost‑containment process that produced roughly $33.2 million in recommendations across several phases. He told the board the district receives about $5,615 per full‑time‑equivalent student this year and that a projected drop of about 400 funded students next year would reduce district revenue by roughly $2.3–$2.4 million. "Closing one of our elementary schools will result in an additional savings of approximately 1,400,000," he said. The superintendent emphasized the board would implement changes in stages, with consolidation and other phase‑three measures not slated to begin until the 2027–28 school year.
Why it matters: The district says declining enrollment and changing state funding formulas—especially potential changes to at‑risk and special‑education weightings—have reduced revenue and left the district deficit‑spending. District projections cited in the presentation forecast current‑year shortfalls and warned that, without additional action, reserves could be exhausted within a few years.
What the district proposed: Dr. McGehee outlined a reassignment plan that would send students who live north of South Avenue in the Logan attendance area to William Allen White Elementary and those south of South Avenue to Riverside Elementary. He said roughly 120 students live in the Logan attendance area and that about 130 students would be affected by a closure once current fifth‑grade transitions are accounted for. The district projected Riverside might need two to three additional class sections and William Allen White perhaps one more section to absorb reassigned students. For safety reasons, the district proposed providing transportation where students would otherwise have to cross Highway 99/Commercial Street or railroad tracks.
Parents, teachers and community members urged the board to pause. Olivia Groover suggested closing Walnut Elementary instead, saying it would disperse students more evenly and reduce travel distances. "My recommendation is to close Walnut Elementary School instead of Logan Avenue," Groover said.
Daniel Juarez, a Logan Avenue music teacher, told the board Logan serves a diverse, mostly nonaffluent community and warned a closure would disproportionately affect families of color and those with limited transportation. "Closing a school in this area would place an even greater burden on families who face challenges accessing transportation," Juarez said.
Other public commenters raised related concerns: Patricia Parks said larger class sizes would delay interventions for vulnerable students; Sarah McGrady and other parents described Logan as a place of "relationships, trust, and community" that would be difficult to recreate; Tabitha Salceda, a Logan staff member, said many families walk to the neighborhood school and that closure could increase truancy.
Several speakers asked for more transparent, consolidated financial and capacity analyses. Parent Megan Bates said she could not locate a single, consolidated cost analysis and questioned why some requested reports would require a public‑records fee. "For you guys to use enrollment as a singular data point is concerning," Bates said.
Board discussion and next steps: Board members asked about transferable staff positions, the logistics of transfers for students already on transfer, capacity at receiving schools, and whether bond project spending affects closure decisions. Dr. McGehee said the bond projects were distributed across schools and that prior capital work does not alter the fiscal rationale for consolidation. He said the district would try to reassign staff through retirements, resignations and internal transfers rather than immediate layoffs.
No final decision was made at the hearing. The board voted 7–0 at the meeting to close the public hearing and adjourn; the chair said a vote on the recommendation is scheduled for next week. Any final closure would still be subject to review and potential approval by the Kansas State Board of Education, and could be petitioned by the community.
Votes at a glance: The board adopted the meeting agenda (motion passed 7–0), later voted to close the hearing (7–0) and adjourned (7–0). The recommendation to close Logan Avenue was presented but not voted on at this meeting; a formal board vote is expected at a subsequent meeting.
What to watch: The board's upcoming vote, any petitions to the State Board of Education, and whether the district publishes the consolidated cost and capacity analyses requested by community members.
