The Park Hill board of education approved an expansion of the LEAD Innovation Studio high school program, which is now under construction.
At the Thursday, March 14 board meeting, board members unanimously agreed to dip into operating and capital fund balances to fund an extra $3.6 million in construction on the originally $23 million project. According to administration reports, enrollment at LEAD for 2018-2019 is 291 students — 144 freshman, and 147 sophomores. Based upon student registration data collected in the last two months, the 2019-2020 freshman class is expected to exceed 220 students.
LEAD construction started in February at the site located off Northwest 68th Street and Waukomis Drive. The facility was designed for a capacity of 600 students, or approximately 150 students per grade level. The expansion includes 6,700 square feet of instructional space as part of a new third floor addition, which would increase the student capacity to 700 students and the total square footage to 67,120 square feet.
The board also discussed the permit fee to the City of Kansas City for construction of Line Creek Parkway connecting LEAD and Hopewell Elementary School — also now under construction — to 68th Street. The fee is a little more than $68,000 and the board is expected to approve the expenditure at the Thursday, March 28 board meeting.
Hopewell is scheduled to open this fall with a total construction budget of close to $23.8 million.
LEAD and Hopewell aren’t the only construction projects currently under way. Walden Middle School and a support services facility are also now under construction. Walden is located at Northwest 56th Street and North Northwood Road. The school will open this fall and is part of the district’s plan to realign all middle schools to a sixth through eighth grade format, eliminating the sixth grade center. Walden is expected to cost $34.4 million.
The support services building is located at Tiffany Springs Road and North Congress Avenue and will also house the district’s transportation facility. It is expected to open in winter 2019 and cost approximately $23.8 million.