As we prepare for the start of the 2009-10 school year, the financial condition of the State of Kansas is one of the major topics. The focus on student improvement can become a secondary when so many financial distractions loom. While we hope to make around $60-70,000 in cost savings for the 2009-10 year, we are not eliminating programs. If our enrollment remains constant, state funding will be reduced by about $120,000 from 2008-09 school year with the possibility of $100-150,000 in further cuts projected by the state. A dark financing cloud is present on the horizon where the state is predicting about a $1.4 billion cut in state funding by the 2011-12 fiscal year. This will obviously result in further funding challenges. If we are to maintain our programs, we have to plan now.
Maintaining these programs requires both reducing costs and increasing funding locally. We are making up the short fall this year by increasing our Local Option Budget (LOB) by $250,000. Because we had spent significantly less that the state average on our LOB over the past years, we have this much increase available. Unfortunately, this does shift more the funding burden onto the shoulders of our local property owners. The board held a public meeting on August 2nd to discuss any questions on the school budget and funding. Senator Steve Abrams was in attendance to give a presentation on the financial condition of the State of Kansas and answer any questions patrons had. The meeting was attended by over 50 persons and helped provide a positive venue to ask challenging questions. I appreciate all those who were able to attend and encourage anyone with budget questions to call the district office.
One of the ways we are trying to reduce costs is by attending school fewer days while going longer on those days. We are reducing the 2009-10 school year by 10 days and will not start classes until September 1. South Haven students will be able to attend the same hours and will not see a reduction in instructional quality. On the contrary, over the past four years, the district has been able to expand several programs. These include: improving at-risk instruction with more paraprofessionals and teachers which allows more flexibility for secondary students to complete failed courses; all-day kindergarten; a comprehensive 3 & 4 year-old preschool program; one-to-one laptop initiative for 10-12 grade students; and increasing state-funded technical education program offerings. I’m sure that I’ve failed to mention others but only want to help patrons understand that South Haven Schools is not planning on remaining stagnant in the arena of school improvement and will look for ways to improve the education of our students even during challenging financial conditions. One way is by using grants as is evidenced by the purchasing of our new high-definition interactive distant learning equipment that is being totally funded by a Rural Utilities Services grant and a REAP Small Rural School Achievement Program grant. Even in tough times, we plan for the 2009-10 school year to be the best ever. To prepare for the new school year, please attend our Back-To-School event at 6:00pm on August 31st. Thank you for being a major part of what makes South Haven Schools special.