On September 25, KCPS hosted another meeting to discuss options for repurposing the former Bryant Elementary School at 319 Westover in Brookside. I was reading over my blog post about the meeting KCPS hosted about this same topic in May 2024…and last week’s meeting was very similar to the 2024 meeting. The school district wants community input on reproposing the site and ultimately, it’s up to the school board as to what will happen.

It seemed clear to me that KCPS would prefer to use this site for teacher housing; and based on current deed restrictions, the land can be only be used for a school or single family homes (see chart above). Through “condemnation authority”, teacher housing could be an option. KCPS has no plans to reopen the building as a school; nor are they considering other “school purposes” allowable such as a school library, warehouse, museum. As at the previous meeting, Shannon Jaxx (former KCPS employee, now a consultant) said about 25-45 apartments could fit on the site; rental rates would be well below market value for the teachers. It also seemed those in attendance, at least 100 persons or so, would prefer to use the land for new single family homes. Concerns expressed about the teacher housing included: the impact on nearby homes regarding traffic and home values; adding too much density to the area, and KCPS’ ability to manage and maintain the apartment building.

After several questions and comments from the audience, each person was able to indicate, based on two different colored dots, their preferences for how the site could be used and possible concerns. Because of the current (to me, confusing) land restrictions, it wasn’t clear if KCPS would consider asking for a rezoning of the site to use for another purpose (for example, a park or senior center/senior housing). Also there was no discussion how something like the teacher housing idea would be paid for. I suppose they leave that up to the potential developers!

The next steps are for KCPS to solicit proposals for the site over the next several months and then present options to the community next summer. After a proposal is chosen, negotiations would begin and additional community meetings would be held. The final decision on what happens to the site is up to the KCPS school board; 5 of the 7 members must agree for the project to move forward.

If you would like to give your comments on the project options, take this survey:

https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/bryantreuse

There are also more details at the KCPS website.