Outstanding Implementation
Kansas City Public Schools Repurposing Initiative
In 2011, Kansas City Public School's (KCPS) embarked on an innovative and comprehensive approach to promote the reuse/redevelopment of 30 of its closed school sites. The underlying principle of the Repurposing Initiative is to ensure that KCPS's surplus sites, which are no longer needed for school use, can once again benefit and serve the neighborhoods in which they are located. The Repurposing Initiative has garnered national attention and has been recognized as a model for other districts due to its community-driven, transparent process, as well as it's strong results in economically challenging neighborhoods. To date, more than 2,500 community members and 30 neighborhood associations have actively participated by attending site visits and exploratory meetings and/or actively weighing in on reuse proposals durning public presentations. As a result, KCPS has SOLD 14 sites, LEASED 1 site, REUSED 1 site, has 6 sites UNDER CONTRACT and 3 sites IN NEGOTIATIONS.