Budget Communication and up-to-date Board Considerations
Watch this page for the most recent
district talk about the budget challenges we are currently facing in USD #400.
December 17
Governor to Support Kindergarten Funding Phase-in
December 16
So how serious is the budget situation for our district?
The Governor, with support of the legislature, has placed school districts across the state in the most devastating financial situation in the history of the state. You have certainly been reading in the daily news of the drastic cuts to education, as well as other state services. After the recession, Governor Brownback implemented the largest cut to personal income tax, in an effort to bring about economic growth. Income tax is the most relied upon tax for Kansas. This move has brought about major concerns to all factions of state services, especially K-12 education. And many argue that this was an extremely detrimental move by Governor Brownback. Some legislators and advocate groups argue that Kansas has selected a direct path to financial bankruptcy.
So what exactly are we talking about in terms of dollars that need to be cut?
After consideration of our current situation, expenditures and anticipated budget for FY'15, the Board of Education has anticipated that a minimum of $379,500 must be cut from the budget for next year. Some would argue that the number is much higher than that. In either case, this becomes a daunting task. Adding in the spending down of the contingency reserve fund, the board has cut nearly 1 million dollars over the past 3 years. Our students HAVE been affected, and additional cuts will certainly be devastating. This is not just another "tighten your belts"; this is SERIOUS business.
December 13
The Smoky Valley Board of Education began official budget discussions on November 11 with a budget work session. Discussion continued with a Special Board Meeting on November 26, devoted entirely on budget planning for next year, and digging deeper into the root cause of lack of state funding.
Based upon the anticipated loss of the Local Option Budget equalization along with declining enrollment, rising costs, and decreasing federal and state funds, the Board is faced with a challenging situation of balancing the budget for 2014-15. Budget talks will continue at the regular meeting on January 13, 2014.
This past week Duane Goossen reported that lawmakers have not budgeted enough to fund our CURRENT budget. You can read the detailed article in the "What's in the News" section of this wiki. If legislators do not come up with a way to fund the additional money, we will lose over $37,000 in this budget year. Here we go again!!!! And we wonder why schools are making devastating cuts across the state.
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