Wichita superintendent discusses too-close-to-call school bond vote
WICHITA, Kan. (KSNW) — The vote on the $450 million bond for Wichita Public Schools is still too close to call. The unofficial result as of late Tuesday is almost 50-50.
Currently, the no votes are in the lead by just over 200 votes. However, about 4,000 mail ballots have not been returned to the election office yet. They will be counted if they are postmarked as of Tuesday and get to the election office by Friday. The results won't be final until after the vote canvass, which is tentatively scheduled for March 6.
On Wednesday, Wichita Superintendent Kelly Bielefeld held a news conference on the close vote. He is not ready to speculate on what the district will do if the bond fails.
'Yesterday didn't end the way we hoped because we hoped we'd have a very clear answer by now, which we don't,' he said. 'There was a very solid turnout with close results, and we're going to wait until the last vote has been counted.'
Wichita Public Schools has big plans for the money if the bond passes. It says the zero-rate-change bond issue will help improve student performance.
The district wants the money for its Facility Master Plan, which updates aging buildings. It would rebuild seven elementary and middle schools and add a new early childhood center and Future Ready Center for construction trades.
The plan also calls for closing four elementary schools because they are old and too expensive to repair and modernize.
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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