We the undersigned neighbors, Kansas City residents, and supporters of historic preservation oppose the proposed demolition of Bryant Elementary School, located at 319 Westover Road in Kansas City, Missouri. Furthermore, we support reconsideration of demolition plans in favor of a development on the site that would see preservation of the historic school building alongside adjacent new construction.

The Problem

Bryant Elementary School has stood at Wornall Road and 57th Street since 1915 and served generations of families in the surrounding neighborhoods before Kansas City Public Schools closed the building in 2009. The approximately 46,000-square-foot historic school has remained vacant since that time. While KCPS has successfully transferred numerous former school buildings for rehabilitation and new uses in recent decades, Bryant School now faces the imminent prospect of demolition.

The Kansas City Public Schools (KCPS) Board endorsed demolition of the Bryant School in August 2026 through selection of a redevelopment proposal from Sunflower Development Group calling for demolition of Bryant School and redevelopment of the site as fourteen single-family homes. Historic schools transferred out of KCPS ownership in recent decades have generally followed one of two paths, either seeing occupation by other schools or conversion to residential housing. These adaptive reuse projects benefit from historic schools' eligibility for state and federal historic tax credits, helping to spur investments in rehabilitation. 

The Bryant School is also subject to longstanding deed restrictions that limit future uses, allowing use of the site either as a school or for single-family housing. This has significantly narrowed the range of redevelopment options available for Bryant and complicated efforts to identify a viable reuse of the historic building.

Recent Developments

In June 2026, KCPS presented three proposals for redevelopment of the Bryant School site, followed by a July community survey. Although a plurality of all respondents favored preservation, KCPS cited the preference of a plurality of self-identified residents of the three surrounding neighborhoods for the “Group C” Sunflower Development proposal in its decision to advance that plan for single-family housing and demolition of the school. The survey represented only a small share of the total population of those neighborhoods, while the preservation-focused “Group B” proposal also received substantial support. Earlier public engagement efforts identified strong trends in general preferences for development, prior to evaluating individual proposals. An April 2024 survey showed majority support for reuse and opposition to demolition, while a 2025 public meeting exercise and online survey reflected roughly 90% support for preservation.

The Board's selection has been made, but the property is not yet under contract. For that reason, this petition is not an endorsement of any particular redevelopment proposal. Instead, it asks KCPS, the selected developer, and any future development partner to keep preservation of Bryant School on the table and to pursue rehabilitation rather than demolition. If the currently selected proposal does not proceed, we ask KCPS to reopen the process with preservation and adaptive reuse of the historic school among the options under consideration.

We recognize the frustration of neighbors who have watched Bryant remain vacant for seventeen years, and we share the desire to see the property returned to productive use. We believe that redevelopment of this site can move forward without sacrificing the historic school that has anchored these neighborhoods since 1915.

Further reference:

From the Kansas City Star: "KCPS had 17 years to save the Bryant School in Brookside. It just blew it."

This petition is organized by Nicolas Kemper on behalf of the Bryant Deserves Better Committee.

Notes:

• Donations not necessary - the ask for one when signing is for change.org, not this cause.
• Please include your zip code - it is important and helpful to demonstrate and prove local support.
• Please also leave comments with your perspective on why to save the school.
• Drawing by Lauren Harness!