Kansas City district once flush with cash is so broke official wants to close half its schools

Kansas City wants to close half its public schools

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The once flush-with-cash Kansas City school district is considering a radical plan to close nearly half its schools to stay afloat.

Schools officials say the cuts are necessary to keep the district from plowing through what little is left of the $2 billion it received as part of a groundbreaking desegregation case.

A final plan presented last week calls for closing 29 out of 61 schools to eliminate a projected $50 million budget shortfall. Superintendent John Covington also has said he wants to cut about 700 of the district’s 3,000 jobs. The school board vote is Wednesday.

The proposal has rattled the community into activism. Public hearings on the plan have been filled with hundreds of parents, students and community members holding signs and chanting in protest.