Construction crews are hard at work on the campus of Park Hill High School, more than a year after voters approved a $128 million bond to fund the first phase of a major overhaul. New science classrooms, a library and media center, special education classrooms, a new cafeteria, a football field house and a baseball field are all part of the project taking shape in Platte County.
The work is part of Park Hill School District's GO Bond initiative, which voters approved on April 8, 2025, according to KSHB 41 Kansas City. Marcus Fryatt, chief operations officer for the district, said the bond dollars will touch every student who walks through the doors. “We can't do what we do in Park Hill without the community,” Fryatt said, referring to what voters “passed and are allowing us to do,” according to the station's report.
Only the First Phase of a Bigger Plan
The current construction represents only phase one of the Park Hill High School project, which includes replacing portions of the aging school. That phase is expected to be complete in time for the 2028-29 school year, per the same account. District officials have said the bond's impact is expected to last 75 years or more.
The $128 million bond passed on April 8, 2025, with roughly 62% of voters in favor and 38% opposed, clearing the four-sevenths supermajority Missouri law requires for municipal April bond elections, according to The Beacon. On the same ballot, voters approved Proposition G with 67% support, authorizing a 10-cent operating tax increase expected to generate roughly $6 million a year for teacher and staff salaries, the outlet reported.
What the Tax Increase Costs Homeowners
Proposition O raised the district's debt service property tax levy by 30 cents per $100 of assessed valuation, according to district figures presented by Park Hill School District. Combined with Proposition G, the increase adds $152 in annual property taxes for a home valued at $200,000.
Proposition G marked the district's first operating tax levy increase since 2002. Before it passed, Park Hill ranked 12th out of 17 Kansas City metro peer districts in starting teacher salaries and 8th out of 14 Missouri benchmark districts in average teacher pay — a gap district leaders pointed to when asking voters to fund both facilities and staff compensation on the same ballot. According to the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, the minimum teacher's salary for FY 2024-25 is $25,000.
A Campus Nearly 60 Years in the Making
A Campus Nearly 60 Years in the Making The bond would replace and renovate aging buildings.
The $128 million bond funds Phase 1 of “Park Hill 2034.”
Beyond the High School: Elementary Additions and a New Stadium
Proposition O funding extends well past the high school rebuild. The measure also includes facility additions at Chinn Elementary, Line Creek Elementary and Southeast Elementary, along with districtwide security updates and land acquisition for future building projects, according to the district's GO Park Hill initiative.
Athletic upgrades are part of the district's projects, including stadium work at Park Hill South High School. Back at Park Hill High School, the new baseball field is expected to be ready next spring.
This isn't the district's first recent capital investment. The district also had 2022 bond projects. District officials have said another bond will eventually be needed to fund a future phase of construction, underscoring that the current wave of building is just the start of a longer overhaul under the Park Hill 2034 plan. Park Hill School District meeting minutes from June 26, 2025, reference a change order for Angeline Washington Elementary under the district's 2022 Bond Projects.
