Olathe Families United launched a petition Friday, Oct. 2, to force a state-level review of the district's plan to close six schools.

The drive, called "6,100 Voices," opened the morning after the Olathe school board voted 7-0 on Thursday, Oct. 1, to close six schools. The closures target Indian Trail Middle School and five elementary schools: Black Bob, Heritage, Scarborough, Tomahawk and Walnut Grove. All six will shut down at the end of the 2026-27 school year, affecting roughly 2,200 students, KCTV5 reported.

Under Kansas law, opponents have 45 days from the board vote to collect 6,100 signatures, equal to 5% of registered voters in the district. If they hit that threshold, the board would be required to hold a public hearing and re-vote on the closures.

But the process has limits. The state review is advisory only. It cannot undo the board's decision. Kansas has used the review process three times before. Earlier in 2026, the state upheld a similar closure in Emporia despite a petition there.

Parents organizing the petition said it is not intended to stop the closures permanently. Instead, they want to slow the process so families can see proposed attendance boundaries before any final vote, according to KCTV5's earlier reporting.

Olathe Families United plans to hold in-person events to gather notarized signatures and will announce drop-off locations at later dates, according to the Olathe Reporter.

Why the board voted to close

Board member Stacey Yurkovich made the motion to close the six schools. The vote was followed by dead silence in the room, save for one person clapping in the crowd, according to the Olathe Reporter.

Board President Julie Steele said the district faces declining enrollment and a $44 million annual shortfall in special education funding. "We could pause, but the data will not change," Steele said at Thursday's meeting.

The closures are expected to save roughly $12 million a year, according to the Johnson County Post.

Enrollment has dropped from more than 30,000 students to just over 28,000 as of fall 2026, according to the Kansas City Star. District projections show enrollment falling to just under 26,000 by roughly 2041, according to the Johnson County Post.

What comes next

Parent Heather Robinson, who has been part of the organized opposition, spoke at Thursday's meeting. She said parents need to be able to tell their children they did everything they could to get an answer that makes sense.

Boundary adjustment meetings for affected school communities are scheduled to run from October through November. New attendance boundaries are expected to be announced in December and approved in January 2027.

Steele and board member Robert Kuhn asked that Black Bob's Spanish immersion families be surveyed before the district decides to relocate that program to Arbor Creek Elementary.

The petition is available at olathefamiliesunited.org. The 45-day signature window closes in mid-November.