School district faced with hard choices
GOP state leaders promised the block grant approach to K-12 school finance would deliver flexibility and stability. A year later, thousands of Wichita families are finding out the plan could mean the end of bus transportation for their children or a sleepy 7 a.m. start of their school day. And that may not be the worst of it.
Such disruptive options are in the mix as USD 259 tries to cut $16 million to $30 million from next year’s budget, thanks to the vicious cycle of underfunding and litigation that is school finance in Kansas.
The Wichita school board and superintendent John Allison have no choice but to seek budget cuts as they wait to learn whether the “hold-harmless” bill passed by the Legislature last week meets the Kansas Supreme Court’s order to make funding more equitable across districts by June 30.
Monday’s board meeting looked at saving $3.7 million on the district’s $27 million busing budget by moving start times from 8 to 7 a.m. at nine schools and by eliminating buses for 2,185 students who live within 2.5 miles of school and technically aren’t covered by the hazardous-route policy. That there is an equity argument to make on the route changes wouldn’t make it any less of a hardship for the affected families.
Most of the other ideas being studied are similarly objectionable, including a four-day school week; laying off teachers, school nurses, librarians and counselors; outsourcing janitorial services; axing all-day kindergarten; and cutting athletics, fine arts and special programs such as International Baccalaureate, AVID and JROTC. Closing schools is on the table, too.
Many conservative legislators would argue that schools in Wichita and statewide have more than enough money, that too much is spent on administration rather than in the classroom, and that some of the proposed cuts are meant to stir public emotion rather than actually be implemented.
But the school board debates in Wichita and around the state show that unlike much of what’s discussed and passed in Topeka, the recent actions on school funding stand to affect daily family matters as fundamental as when kids must wake up and how they get to school, including whether they must walk under interstates and across busy streets. For many families, early start and stop times would require costly child care or challenging work changes – another case of the state’s poor budget management affecting Kansans’ finances.
Parents should let their views on the proposed cuts be heard in the coming days – not just at the USD 259 board table but at the Statehouse.
This story was originally published March 29, 2016 at 7:08 PM with the headline "School district faced with hard choices."