Poll: Covington wants to close half of KC’s schools, cut staff

Kansas City School District officials want to close half their schools, including ones that house the African-centered education program.

This news should shock no one who paid attention when John Covington took over as superintendent of KC’s schools and talked about stripping away the district’s waste and bureaucracy.

No official proposal will be made until Covington’s people can complete a series of community forums seeking input, but right now the proposal is to close up to 31 of the district’s 60 schools along with the administration building. That could cut up to 333 jobs in building level administrators and support, along with cutting 285 teaching jobs. Under Covington’s proposal, the ACE program would be moved entirely into Southeast High School, which now shares the program with the former Zoo Academy and an annex.