As we are about to enter yet another
legislative session, there will be much rhetoric and misinformation regarding
school funding, services, etc. USD 331 contracted with Southwest Plains
Regional Service Center following the Kansas Learning Network (KLN) evaluation
of the schools after the district was placed “on improvement” prior to the
beginning of the 2010-2011 school year. USD 331 has not been “on improvement”
status for two years now.
The improvement process was begun when district
special needs students were not scoring at adequate levels on assessments. KLN
findings included recommendations of evaluating and improving curriculum, hiring
a district level curriculum director, development and implementation of walk-through
observations, improvement of instruction and further integrating technology.
These were just a few of the recommendations that have been developed and
implemented or are under the implementation process. Completing these
initiatives has been especially difficult since the deepest cuts in educational
funding occurred at nearly the same time. However, several new curriculum
adoptions have occurred and a curriculum leadership team has begun the process
of writing the curriculum for all grade levels and subject areas. The
walk-through staff observation tool was adopted and been modified to reflect
best practices and research-based instructional techniques. As a result, along
with changes in educational policies, neither the district nor any of its
buildings are currently “on improvement” status by the state department of
education.
The bar has been set higher again with the
adoption of Kansas College and Career Readiness standards. Annually, the Board
of Education has adopted and revised a strategic success plan to emphasize
improvement goals for the district schools that includes meeting or exceeding
standards. Professional learning is the key way improvements can be attained in
instruction, curriculum development and preparation of our kids for their post
secondary education and future careers. This is a difficult challenge when
school funding is limited while all costs of educating our students increase. Furthermore,
with reduced state aid, local property taxes continue to rise. Though USD 331
was able to keep the tax levy stable, it would have been lower if the state
legislature met its legal obligation of funding the current school budget
formula. In USD 331, since the state is not fully funding its legal equalization
share of the local option budget, the property tax mill levy is 2.57 mills.
Simply put, local taxpayers could be paying 2.57 mills less. State equalization
is not funded at all with regard to capital outlay that also costs the local
taxpayers and the base aid per pupil funding law is supposed to be $4492. We
received $3838 this school year.
The CEO and consultants of Southwest Plains
Regional Service Center, along with a subcommittee of superintendents,
developed the attached “K-12 Education Funding – The Clear Facts.” As you
review the document, I trust you will find the vision is clear and it is
powerful. If you have questions, do not hesitate to contact me. We need
all of your support to continue helping improve student learning opportunities.
Every one of us benefits.
Thank you and best wishes for a wonderful new
year!
