In January 2025, the Joplin Schools Board of Education approved the Long Range Facility Planning Committee’s (LRFPC) Phase 1 recommendations to address the facility needs they considered to be of highest priority:

• Suitable educational spaces for all students
• Suitable Special Education spaces for intensive programs
• Early Childhood/PreK expansion.

Those Phase 1 facility upgrades will soon be implemented using nearly $10M of the district’s financial reserves – our savings accounts – made possible by careful stewardship of taxpayer funds.

The LRFPC made further recommendations in October 2025 to address additional facility requirements in support of student success well into the future of our community. These Phase 2 and Phase 3 recommendations, if approved by voters on April 7, 2026, would be paid for through an extension of the current tax rate while maintaining our district’s current tax levy.