Now that Iola’s new elementary school is up and running, the focus shifts to what to do with the old elementary schools.
A plan is underway, as BNIM, a Kansas City, Mo.-based architect and design firm, is working to convert all three former schools into housing. Their efforts hinge on a combination of tax credits, grants and other financing.
BNIM representatives are expected to submit an application by the end of the month for Kansas Low-Income Housing Tax Credits. Award announcements will be made in the summer.
“We’re very encouraged,” USD 257 Superintendent Stacey Fager said.
BNIM wants to invest about $21.7 million into all three of the schools, converting them into around 61 mixed-income apartments with the possibility of other types of housing or amenities on the properties.
The first phase would renovate McKinley and Jefferson for $13.4 million. The second phase would rehabilitate Lincoln for $8.3 million.
The district has given BNIM a couple of years for the process. That means if they aren’t successful with this round of financing, they can try again next year.
“If you look at what the district spent on the new elementary school, which was $26 million, and another $21 million into repurposing the facilities we have, that’s almost $50 million in investments into our community,” Fager said.
“That would be a huge win.”
Several citizens and organizations, including Iola Industries, wrote letters of support for BNIM’s proposal. Thrive Allen County also has been instrumental in working with the company.
“We have a lot of support in our community and I’m hopeful that will help,” Fager said.
The district must continue to maintain the buildings while BNIM seeks financing. Two of the buildings are still in use. Southeast Kansas Mental Health leases McKinley for a youth program and the ANW Special Education Cooperative leases Lincoln.
The district uses Jefferson for storage; the historical society organized a program there after the school closed.
It’s good for the buildings to remain in use, BNIM representatives previously told the school board. Vacant buildings are subject to vandalism and damage from weather or varmints. 
DETERMINING the fate of the former elementary schools is one of the district’s top priorities for 2023, Fager said.
He also talked about other topics the district is likely to face in the year ahead.
Work on the bond issue is mostly complete — with a new elementary school, new science center at the high school and new HVAC at the middle school — but facilities are always one of the top issues for a school district, Fager said.
