With the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education planning to close the Prairie View State School after the end of the 2025-26 school year, attention also turns to the fate of the school’s campus on the northern edge of Marshall.

The school is one of 12 across Missouri’s school system for the severely disabled that will close or has recently closed, following last month’s vote by the state board of education. It could also become the fifth school building in the city limits to be listed for sale in recent years, following the consolidation of Marshall Public Schools’ elementary grades into Spainhower Primary School and the new Marshall Intermediate School. However, DESE assistant superintendent Mark Wheatley says the process to determine the fate of Prairie View will be overseen by the state Office of Administration and their Division of Facilities Management, Design and Construction. Wheatley adds that DESE and other state agencies would have the first opportunity to decide whether any of the state school buildings would suit their needs.

Wheatley notes proceeds from any sale would go into the general revenue, rather than to DESE specifically.

Following the closure of Prairie View, Wheatley says MSSD will turn its attention toward renovating their remaining 12 campuses or replacing them with new buildings. The EW Thompson State School in Sedalia is among those that will remain open and receive students from the closing schools.