In May 2024, patrons of the USD 348 school district voted to fund a $17M bond issue to improve our Career and Technical Education (CTE) facilities and expand the program offerings for our students. In addition to the new CTE building on our secondary school campus, the bond issue will also fund safety and security updates, and additional parking in the district.
The bond election was a culmination of several years of work reviewing district course offerings, facilities, and the college and career interests of our students. Prior to the bond election, the USD 348 Board of Education selected the Overland Park-based DLR Group to lead the design process. DLR Group has extensive experience working with school districts on the architecture, engineering, and design of school buildings.
We will keep track of project plans, progress, and updates using this webpage.
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Next Steps
20 November 2024 Update
At the November 18, 2024, Regular Baldwin Board of Education meeting, our project’s architecture firm, The DLR Group presented an updated CTE design floor plan. This updated design was fueled by input from our Design Team focus group consisting of members from our staff, students, and community & industry leaders, while also giving consideration to staffing needs. Additionally, the design update was the result of the most recent one-on-one meetings with teachers and administrators, as we work to identify program priorities and cross-curricular collaboration opportunities. We intend to prioritize instructional space, while allowing for program expansion over time.
As a result, we have made an intentional decision to pivot away from our woods program and move towards enhancement of our Ag Science programming. Please know this was not an easy decision. This allows us to continue serving our students with interests in welding and manufacturing, while also expanding learning opportunities for automotive technology and repair (fuel-injected and diesel engines). The decision to expand our Ag Science programming will allow the district to hire a second Ag Science teacher to start with the district in the 2026-2027 school year.
These decisions have allowed us to impact 7 programs, whereas the initial plan only impacted 4. The seven programs located in the new CTE facility will be:
- Agriculture Science, Agriculture Technology, and Automotive (Plant Science, Animal Science, Welding, and Automotive)
- Culinary
- Health Sciences
- Business
- Computer Science
- Drafting
- Graphic Design
Even with these changes, we are still working within the budget. By increasing the number of instructional spaces in the new CTE facility, we will be creating much-needed space in the high school, as three classrooms will be made available. In the coming weeks, The DLR Group will provide us with updated imagery that will help bring this new space to life.
1st Quarter Newsletter 2024 Update
“When will construction begin?” That’s a common question we’ve heard as we embark on the community’s bond projects in our schools.
I wanted to provide you with an update on where we are in the design and construction process, and what we’re looking forward to.
The first step is completion of the design process to ensure the draft design plan meets the current and long-term needs of our students and our teachers. Once we complete this part of the process, construction is targeted to begin in late spring-early summer of 2025.
Since June, we have been working with our architecture firm, DLR Group, to host a series of design planning meetings with a feedback group. This group is made up of students, teachers, staff, community members and local employers. Their feedback has helped us fine tune the design work and narrow the scope down to the classroom level. The end result will be an efficient and adaptable facility that will allow the district to update and scale our Career & Technical Education programs over time as workforce needs and demand evolve.
From these design planning meetings, the immediate feedback we’ve received has identified a need and desire to maximize instructional space. This feedback has allowed us to better utilize some of the collaboration space and convert that into instructional space so that two of our business classrooms can be incorporated into the new CTE facility. This creates an exciting opportunity – identified by our teachers – for cross-program partnerships to occur. This also frees up two classrooms inside the existing high school to provide additional instructional space for our core academics.
Over the next several months more planning meetings will take place to ensure we deliver well-planned improvements that will serve our community for years to come.
Thank you again for your commitment to our students, teachers and school community. We are very excited about the learning opportunities and much-needed safety improvements that will come from your support and passage of the USD 348 bond project. I look forward to keeping you updated throughout the design and construction process.
Site Plans & Construction Maps
Building Plans for the proposed new CTE building
Satellite-view image of the proposed CTE building in relation to our current secondary schools campus.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
What is a school bond issue?
A bond is a state-approved funding process for a set scope of projects. When voters approve a bond, the school district sells bonds in the authorized amount and uses the proceeds of the sale to pay for those projects in the bond. In many ways, the bonding process is like a homeowner obtaining a mortgage and making payments over a period of years. School bond elections require a simple majority to pass (50 percent plus one).When will construction begin?
Early Summer 2025When will construction be completed?
The new CTE building is on track to open in time for the 2026-27 School YearRendering
More images of what you can expect will be coming to this space soon!