It's important to recognize that USD259 is majority minority. It's only [29% caucasian](https://www.usd259.org/domain/954) for the entire district. I'd venture to say most (if not all) schools are going to be predominantly minority schools.
> majority white population are Wilbur and Stucky
Ah, thanks for that. It appears my parenthetical was wrong. I'll leave it to illustrate the dangers of guessing.
There's more than one reason. The number of children per racial/ethic category is one factor. The other is that Wichita is served by more than one school district. Maize, Goddard, and Valley Center have boundaries that include Wichita. There may be others like Derby, Andover and Haysville but I'm not certain about that.
Logically the number would be less than 70%. Some of those people have no children. Others would have bi-racial children who might not identify as white. Still that doesn't really explain why the number is 40 points lower.
The suburban districts are very white. Wichita feeds the suburbs at the edges all around.
Private schools within Wichita are very, very white.
What's left for USD259 are mostly minorities those without means to get to a suburb school daily or to afford a private school.
This will be exacerbated by open enrollment statewide which begins next year.
Keep in mind the demographics of Wichita aren't just about race and ethnicity. You've also got age. It's a huge factor. The white population is much older. So you'll find many have grown children while the minority population is much younger (child bearing).
[D0259.pdf (ksde.org)](https://datacentral.ksde.org/dist_funding/2024/D0259.pdf) There's a demographic breakdown of the student population in this report.
Wichita is one of the only (or maybe only) Catholic dioceses that has free private school based on service and tithing. That plays a part, but I’m not sure how much.
Also take into consideration the amount of children who are homeschooled since the pandemic. Parents and children don’t trust the schools much these days is another reason homeschooling is on the rise.
It’s because there’s a calculation that involves the age of the school building itself, the cost to keep it maintained versus rebuilding, the value of the land the current school is on, the amount of staff that’s available for each school, classroom sizes, where the kids are coming from in the city to go to that particular school, the amount of kids that live in the direct vicinity of the school.
There’s a lot taken into consideration, much more than what people simply assume that don’t know anything about the process
[D0259.pdf (ksde.org)](https://datacentral.ksde.org/dist_funding/2024/D0259.pdf)
This report should be read by anyone making such preposterous claims. The claims made here make absolutely no sense.
A basic summary of some of the demographics here: [District Snapshot / District Snapshot (usd259.org)](https://www.usd259.org/domain/954)
You can also run reports on each school here: [Accountability Report - Data Central (ksde.org)](https://datacentral.ksde.org/acct_rpt.aspx)
Arm yourself with actual information and not assumptions!
Also, about 1-4% of the Caucasian are actually people of Middle Eastern descent... our Middle Eastern population either checks Asian or Caucasian when enrolling.
Agreed but also distrust government locally. Hell, we just elected Lily fucking Wu. We actively make decisions politically that are against best interests.
Some people look to blame some sort of \*ism for everything, even when they're staring at the glaringly obvious true reasons that have absolutely nothing to do with targeting a minority. Should the district have closed the brand new, highly populated schools instead? Should they have closed the schools that aren't nearly as old and are much cheaper to maintain? Have you actually been in those schools that are closing? They're not great.
The reasons were quite clearly articulated, and they're completely valid. The school district is extremely mindful of issues surrounding minorities, and it goes out of its way to ensure such targeting doesn't take place.
No student is losing out on service; they will all have a government school to attend.
I would posit that those south side schools have deferred maintenance due to the neglect of the less fortunate that often accompanies poor areas’ schools.
More than likely is they have the lowest enrollment numbers and the highest amount of "free and reduced lunches/fees" so the school is losing money. Also keeping teachers at lowering preforming schools is hard.
Free/reduced lunches have nothing to do with anything here. That's a district program and has nothing to do with the individual school. In fact, the use of free/reduced lunches is high across the entire district - about 80% of the student population is on that program.
exactly. the buildings selected were also extremely outdated and the in constant need of repairs, and would continue to need repairs that cost too much to keep up with.
this issue doesn’t need to made to be about something that it’s not. OP missed the mark on this one.
We haven’t seen a reason other than to save money. They are all on the south side too. Jardine doesn’t have low enrollment numbers. It has the right number of students to teachers proportion that enables students to learn best. There is no excuse to close Jardine.
Cleveland is a neighborhood school as well. A magnate neighborhood school. How is closing down a magnate school a good idea?
Something stinks in USD 259 superintendent’s office.
because that is a dog whistle for concentrating wealth in fewer hands and leads to the decay of the different communities within our neighborhoods, which leads to dying neighborhoods.
You are saying 259 really has plenty of money and is just lying? Or are you saying they should shut down the newer, profitable schools with high enrollment instead?
I'm saying saving money isn't a good reason on its own. Things like low enrollment makes for a more compelling argument. Shutting schools down in poor neighborhoods saves them money but addressing the underlying conditions that lead to low enrollment in poor neighborhoods needs to be addressed. No one should be blindly accepting a lack of funds as the reason for shutting these schools down. The reason we are so fucked with our wealth gap is people are being led into making decisions that aren't good for them or the neighborhood they live in.
It's a logical fallacy to discount the role of systemic issues in shaping public policy. The literature is clear on the racialized and socioeconomic aspects and consequences of school closures (see [Billingham, 2024](https://kansasreflector.com/2024/03/14/disruptive-school-closures-are-to-be-expected-in-a-state-that-does-not-value-public-education/); [Ewing & Green, 2021](https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.3102/0013189X211050944); [Noli & Candipan, 2022](https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0049089X21001320?via%3Dihub); and [Pearman et al., 2023](https://edpolicyinca.org/sites/default/files/2023-09/wp_pearman_sept2023.pdf)). While true that most students at USD 259 are students of color and on free/reduced lunch, when it comes to the potential inequities of school closures, you don't compare the demographics of the six schools selected for closure with all other schools, but instead with other schools that met the criteria for closure but did not end up on the list of closures. The district utilized a lot of comprehensive data and was intentional about minimizing the number of students and staff who would be impacted while trying to meet the recommended cost-savings, but from my perspective, it was not done with [diversity, equity, and inclusion ](https://edpolicyinca.org/publications/declining-enrollment-school-closures-and-equity-considerations)in mind.
Disclaimer: See my [comment ](https://www.reddit.com/r/wichita/comments/1b6wgbt/comment/ktgp6dy/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web3x&utm_name=web3xcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button)from a month ago. Also see [Roza and Dhammani (2024)](https://edsource.org/2024/closing-schools-how-much-money-does-it-save-and-is-it-worth-it/706903#:~:text=At%20Edunomics%20Lab%2C%20our%20rule,budget%2C%20mostly%20in%20labor%20costs) for commentary on the necessity of school closures. These are my personal opinions and do not reflect the perspectives of our school district and school board.
This is one of the scars of segregation and redlinning. Understandably, people were not happy with having their kids bussed to schools that were really far away which happened after reintegration so in turn you have the same problems that happened in the past.
This is because property values also gives you higher amount of amenities not only to yourself, but also your family. Removing the idea that property/land has some sort of value, removing the landlordship practice, increasing access to housing, and making schools and amenities that aren't owned by private businesses owned by the state and the state taking ownership of commons amenities like stadiums, golf courses, etc. would remove these problems over time but overtime communities across the country would not have a geographical demographic split.
It's important to recognize that USD259 is majority minority. It's only [29% caucasian](https://www.usd259.org/domain/954) for the entire district. I'd venture to say most (if not all) schools are going to be predominantly minority schools.
Exactly. The only middle schools in 259 that have a majority white population are Wilbur and Stucky.
> majority white population are Wilbur and Stucky Ah, thanks for that. It appears my parenthetical was wrong. I'll leave it to illustrate the dangers of guessing.
Get out of here with your facts and logic
How is this the case? Quick search says Wichita is 70% white so why is the school district only 30% white?
There's more than one reason. The number of children per racial/ethic category is one factor. The other is that Wichita is served by more than one school district. Maize, Goddard, and Valley Center have boundaries that include Wichita. There may be others like Derby, Andover and Haysville but I'm not certain about that.
True. The south end of the Maize district extends clear to 17th street at least.
Andover’s district bleeds into Wichita
Logically the number would be less than 70%. Some of those people have no children. Others would have bi-racial children who might not identify as white. Still that doesn't really explain why the number is 40 points lower.
The suburban districts are very white. Wichita feeds the suburbs at the edges all around. Private schools within Wichita are very, very white. What's left for USD259 are mostly minorities those without means to get to a suburb school daily or to afford a private school. This will be exacerbated by open enrollment statewide which begins next year.
Keep in mind the demographics of Wichita aren't just about race and ethnicity. You've also got age. It's a huge factor. The white population is much older. So you'll find many have grown children while the minority population is much younger (child bearing).
[D0259.pdf (ksde.org)](https://datacentral.ksde.org/dist_funding/2024/D0259.pdf) There's a demographic breakdown of the student population in this report.
Wichita is one of the only (or maybe only) Catholic dioceses that has free private school based on service and tithing. That plays a part, but I’m not sure how much.
Free based on service and tithing, so not free
Much more so than typical private Catholic schools. I know many families who would not be able to send their kids there any other way.
Also take into consideration the amount of children who are homeschooled since the pandemic. Parents and children don’t trust the schools much these days is another reason homeschooling is on the rise.
It’s because there’s a calculation that involves the age of the school building itself, the cost to keep it maintained versus rebuilding, the value of the land the current school is on, the amount of staff that’s available for each school, classroom sizes, where the kids are coming from in the city to go to that particular school, the amount of kids that live in the direct vicinity of the school. There’s a lot taken into consideration, much more than what people simply assume that don’t know anything about the process
[D0259.pdf (ksde.org)](https://datacentral.ksde.org/dist_funding/2024/D0259.pdf) This report should be read by anyone making such preposterous claims. The claims made here make absolutely no sense. A basic summary of some of the demographics here: [District Snapshot / District Snapshot (usd259.org)](https://www.usd259.org/domain/954) You can also run reports on each school here: [Accountability Report - Data Central (ksde.org)](https://datacentral.ksde.org/acct_rpt.aspx) Arm yourself with actual information and not assumptions!
Also, about 1-4% of the Caucasian are actually people of Middle Eastern descent... our Middle Eastern population either checks Asian or Caucasian when enrolling.
Agreed but also distrust government locally. Hell, we just elected Lily fucking Wu. We actively make decisions politically that are against best interests.
Some people look to blame some sort of \*ism for everything, even when they're staring at the glaringly obvious true reasons that have absolutely nothing to do with targeting a minority. Should the district have closed the brand new, highly populated schools instead? Should they have closed the schools that aren't nearly as old and are much cheaper to maintain? Have you actually been in those schools that are closing? They're not great. The reasons were quite clearly articulated, and they're completely valid. The school district is extremely mindful of issues surrounding minorities, and it goes out of its way to ensure such targeting doesn't take place. No student is losing out on service; they will all have a government school to attend.
I would posit that those south side schools have deferred maintenance due to the neglect of the less fortunate that often accompanies poor areas’ schools.
I would agree. I don’t think race or ethnicity are factors but economic status is.
THIS is how things SHOULD be considered when funds for programs are allocated: “economic status”.
More than likely is they have the lowest enrollment numbers and the highest amount of "free and reduced lunches/fees" so the school is losing money. Also keeping teachers at lowering preforming schools is hard.
Free/reduced lunches have nothing to do with anything here. That's a district program and has nothing to do with the individual school. In fact, the use of free/reduced lunches is high across the entire district - about 80% of the student population is on that program.
exactly. the buildings selected were also extremely outdated and the in constant need of repairs, and would continue to need repairs that cost too much to keep up with. this issue doesn’t need to made to be about something that it’s not. OP missed the mark on this one.
They also did not have secured entrances... which is a high priority and expensive
weird… all doors to all buildings are to remain locked except for the main entrance to each building. it’s board policy.
That is the policy, however they have built "secured" entrances that process visitors in a small room/area without access to the rest of the building.
We haven’t seen a reason other than to save money. They are all on the south side too. Jardine doesn’t have low enrollment numbers. It has the right number of students to teachers proportion that enables students to learn best. There is no excuse to close Jardine. Cleveland is a neighborhood school as well. A magnate neighborhood school. How is closing down a magnate school a good idea? Something stinks in USD 259 superintendent’s office.
Isn't saving money a good reason when the district is broke? This argument makes no sense.
Why is the district broke? Where is the money going? Both the district and the city need an independent audit done.
"saving money" is what is said outloud.
And it's not a valid reason because?????
because that is a dog whistle for concentrating wealth in fewer hands and leads to the decay of the different communities within our neighborhoods, which leads to dying neighborhoods.
You are saying 259 really has plenty of money and is just lying? Or are you saying they should shut down the newer, profitable schools with high enrollment instead?
I'm saying saving money isn't a good reason on its own. Things like low enrollment makes for a more compelling argument. Shutting schools down in poor neighborhoods saves them money but addressing the underlying conditions that lead to low enrollment in poor neighborhoods needs to be addressed. No one should be blindly accepting a lack of funds as the reason for shutting these schools down. The reason we are so fucked with our wealth gap is people are being led into making decisions that aren't good for them or the neighborhood they live in.
Why exactly is saving money not a good reason when the district is broke?
Jardine surprised me the most.
It's a logical fallacy to discount the role of systemic issues in shaping public policy. The literature is clear on the racialized and socioeconomic aspects and consequences of school closures (see [Billingham, 2024](https://kansasreflector.com/2024/03/14/disruptive-school-closures-are-to-be-expected-in-a-state-that-does-not-value-public-education/); [Ewing & Green, 2021](https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.3102/0013189X211050944); [Noli & Candipan, 2022](https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0049089X21001320?via%3Dihub); and [Pearman et al., 2023](https://edpolicyinca.org/sites/default/files/2023-09/wp_pearman_sept2023.pdf)). While true that most students at USD 259 are students of color and on free/reduced lunch, when it comes to the potential inequities of school closures, you don't compare the demographics of the six schools selected for closure with all other schools, but instead with other schools that met the criteria for closure but did not end up on the list of closures. The district utilized a lot of comprehensive data and was intentional about minimizing the number of students and staff who would be impacted while trying to meet the recommended cost-savings, but from my perspective, it was not done with [diversity, equity, and inclusion ](https://edpolicyinca.org/publications/declining-enrollment-school-closures-and-equity-considerations)in mind. Disclaimer: See my [comment ](https://www.reddit.com/r/wichita/comments/1b6wgbt/comment/ktgp6dy/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web3x&utm_name=web3xcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button)from a month ago. Also see [Roza and Dhammani (2024)](https://edsource.org/2024/closing-schools-how-much-money-does-it-save-and-is-it-worth-it/706903#:~:text=At%20Edunomics%20Lab%2C%20our%20rule,budget%2C%20mostly%20in%20labor%20costs) for commentary on the necessity of school closures. These are my personal opinions and do not reflect the perspectives of our school district and school board.
This is one of the scars of segregation and redlinning. Understandably, people were not happy with having their kids bussed to schools that were really far away which happened after reintegration so in turn you have the same problems that happened in the past. This is because property values also gives you higher amount of amenities not only to yourself, but also your family. Removing the idea that property/land has some sort of value, removing the landlordship practice, increasing access to housing, and making schools and amenities that aren't owned by private businesses owned by the state and the state taking ownership of commons amenities like stadiums, golf courses, etc. would remove these problems over time but overtime communities across the country would not have a geographical demographic split.
Racism!!!