Public hearing on Wichita school budget scheduled

The Wichita school district has posted its proposed budget online before a public hearing on the budget set for Monday.

To see the proposed budget, go to www.usd259.org, click the “About WPS” link and then scroll down to “Budget.” The 147-page document, which details proposed expenditures for 2016-17 in various categories, is posted along with a 13-page “Budget at a Glance,” which the district posted earlier this month.

The Wichita school board is expected to approve the $662 million budget at Monday’s meeting, which begins at 6 p.m. in the lecture hall at Wichita North High School, 1437 N. Rochester.

The proposed budget lowers the local property tax rate and cuts about $22 million in programs and expenses. It presumes about $23 million in increased state aid in all categories, including funds earmarked for teacher retirement payments, virtual education programs and tax relief.

If approved, the budget would decrease the district’s mill levy by 2.643 mills, or about $30 a year for the owner of a home valued at $100,000.

Among other changes, the budget:

▪ Trims 15 days from the school calendar and adds 30 minutes to each school day districtwide.

▪ Closes Metro-Meridian Alternative High School and consolidates alternative programs at Chester I. Lewis Academy in northeast Wichita.

▪ Eliminates many buses that transport students who live within 2.5 miles of Wichita schools.

▪ Cuts more than 100 positions across the district, including about 65 teachers and others who work at alternative education programs such as Gateway, eSchool and alternative high schools. Most have been reassigned to other positions in the district.

▪ Reorganizes Wichita’s eSchool, Transition, Gateway and Adult Learning Center programs and moves Gateway to the former Emerson Elementary School, 2330 W. 15th St.

▪ Reduces the need for substitute teachers by cutting back on professional development activities.

Speakers who want to address the board during the public hearing on the budget may register to speak by calling the clerk of the board at 316-973-4553 by noon Monday, or they can register at North High until 10 minutes before the meeting begins. Each speaker’s comments are limited to three minutes and must be limited to budget issues.

This story was originally published August 21, 2016 at 1:36 PM with the headline "Public hearing on Wichita school budget scheduled."