The Kansas City, Kansas, school board, meeting today at 5 p.m., will consider a bond refinance and increasing the local option budget authority to 33 percent.
Currently the local option budget (LOB) is at 30 percent.
District officials explained at earlier meetings that by refinancing the bonds they could save about $4 million in interest costs.
Then the district proposes to move 1.16 mills from the bond and interest fund into the LOB fund for additional operating expenses.
That would increase the local option budget to 33 percent, but according to the district officials, it would not increase the dollar amount of taxes that are paid by local taxpayers.
While the school district has not yet approved its budget for the next school year, it has held some discussions on it. Some of its decisions were pending budget bills in the Kansas Legislature, which wrapped up its session over the weekend.
The school board meeting space is not yet open for the public to attend, because of COVID-19 precautions. The public may watch the meeting on YouTube at https://youtu.be/a3x6wQyeKls.
Several other items are on the school board’s agenda for Tuesday night. The agenda is at https://go.boarddocs.com/ks/kckps/Board.nsf/vpublic?open#’.
Dr. Anna Stubblefield was named superintendent of the Kansas City, Kansas, Public Schools on Friday afternoon. (Photo from KCKPS video)
The Kansas City, Kansas, Public Schools board on Friday afternoon appointed Dr. Anna Stubblefield as its new superintendent.
Dr. Stubblefield, currently deputy superintendent for the Lawrence Public Schools, will become superintendent on July 1.
Dr. Stubblefield replaces Dr. Charles Foust, who left last summer for another position. Dr. Alicia Miguel has served as interim superintendent since August 2020.
The school board voted unanimously to approve Dr. Stubblefield’s $235,000 base salary contract at the meeting, held at school district administrative offices. The contract is for three years. The public was not at the meeting room because of COVID-19, but watched on a YouTube meeting video.
The names of other finalists for the position were not released. The school board did not conduct any discussions about the individual candidates in public, but met in several closed sessions previously under a personnel exemption to the open meetings laws.
A district spokesman said that because of COVID-19 restrictions, the district couldn’t hold in-person community meetings as it did in 2018 with the last superintendent search. It held some virtual town hall meetings in January with community members able to make comments about the process. It also held an online survey.
“I’m excited about leading KCKPS, and I am just grateful for this opportunity,” Dr. Stubblefield said. “I really appreciate the board entrusting over 22,000 students under my care with the team that’s already in place.”
She said she looked forward to working with staff, students and community members to reach the vision of being one of the top 10 school districts in the country.
“I look forward to listening to your stories and to hearing what it is you’re doing well and where we can grow, so we can ensure that all our students, when they leave KCKPS, that they have options and opportunities that we all have,” Dr. Stubblefield said.
She said she hoped with their support, they can empower and change lives as they move KCKPS forward.
A photo of Dr. Anna Stubblefield, new superintendent, on the KCKPS social media site. (From KCKPS social media)
Dr. Miguel, who will continue to be the interim superintendent until July 1, said KCKPS is strong and she knows it will be stronger with Dr. Stubblefield’s leadership. Lopez thanked Dr. Miguel for her service, and Dr. Miguel received a standing ovation from the staff who were present at the meeting.
With the appointment Friday, Dr. Stubblefield will become the first Black woman superintendent of the Kansas City, Kansas, Public Schools.
“We are truly excited about the hiring of Dr. Stubblefield and look forward to the experience and leadership she will bring to our school district and community,” Randy Lopez, board president, said. “She brings a wealth of invaluable knowledge in the areas of school improvement and organizational change, which will be vital during this time of transition.”
The school district started its superintendent search in November 2020. They received 21 applications from 11 states.
Dr. Stubblefield served as interim superintendent of the Lawrence Public Schools in 2017-2018. Her responsibilities as deputy superintendent included human resources, special education and student services, curriculum and instruction and the Lawrence Virtual School.
Active in the district’s equity work, she also served as an assistant superintendent, director of human resources and middle school principal. She began her career as a teacher and became a coach and assistant principal in the Blue Valley and Center school districts.
Dr. Stubblefield received a bachelor’s degree in education from the University of Kansas. She has master’s degrees in special education, and teaching and leadership. She has an educational specialist’s degree from the University of Missouri at Kansas City. Her doctorate in educational leadership is from St. Louis University.
Currently, Dr. Stubblefield also is an adjunct instructor for KU and Baker University.
The April 23 meeting is online at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PlY_yKJd8VE.
Update: Change to agenda announced. See end of story.
The Kansas City, Kansas, Board of Education is expected to vote on a contract for a new superintendent on Friday, April 23.
A special board meeting will be held at 3 p.m. Friday online, and is expected to be live-streamed on the district’s YouTube channel. The board room currently isn’t open to the public because of COVID-19 safety precautions.
Edwin Birch, a spokesman for the Kansas City, Kansas, Public Schools, did not release the name of the superintendent candidate on Thursday when asked.
While there were some reports made earlier at board meetings on the superintendent search, there wasn’t any report on it made during the past few school board meetings.
The agenda for the Friday meeting did not contain the name of the superintendent candidate.
When asked why nothing has been heard publicly about the superintendent selection for the past few meetings, Birch said the year was different because of COVID-19.
There was hesitation about holding large gatherings this year because of the pandemic, he said. Birch said there had been community input early with four virtual town hall meetings and an online survey where residents were asked what characteristics they would like to see in a superintendent.
In 2018, prior to the selection of Dr. Charles Foust as superintendent, there were board meetings where the public was invited to meet the finalists for superintendent.
Dr. Alicia Miguel was named interim superintendent of the school district in August 2020 when Dr. Foust accepted another position.
JG Consulting of Austin, Texas, was the search firm.
At a school board meeting on Feb. 23, the school board president said the search firm was affected by the extremely cold temperatures and power outages in Texas. The president reported at that meeting they had 21 completed applications from 11 different states.
The school board received a letter from Rachel Russell that was read at the April 13 board meeting. It said in part that she was disappointed at the lack of the opportunity for the community to engage with the two finalists. She felt that transparency and communication was lacking. The April 13 meeting is online at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z1YTmWAsAzg.
The agenda for the 3 p.m. April 23 board meeting has been changed to include a budget priority discussion from 3 to 4 p.m., followed by the superintendent selection scheduled around 4:25 p.m.
