The USD 257 budget will include a slight tax rate increase, mostly because the district is receiving less state aid.
At Monday night’s meeting, school board members reviewed next year’s budget, which calls for raising the mill levy from 68.8 to 68.9. A public hearing is scheduled for 6 p.m. Sept. 12 to finalize the budget.
That means the owner of a $100,000 home can expect to pay $792 in taxes to support the school district next year. Of that amount, about $270 will go to pay for the school bond issue for new schools.
Most of the district’s funding is based on enrollment numbers, which have historically declined year after year. It’s not yet known if a new elementary school will help attract new students. Superintendent Stacey Fager said enrollment is difficult to predict, as students enrolled last week and preliminary numbers are still being calculated. The district saw a lot of new students, but also had many leave. He’s not sure if that will result in more, fewer or the same number. Officially, students are counted in September.
But for budget purposes, Fager estimated the district will have about 1,084 full-time students, with about 50 preschoolers (they count as half-time, representing 25 students for budget purposes).
That number is adjusted based on numerous other factors, such as how many students qualify for free lunch. As a result, the district expects to receive $9,920,732 in state aid.
The district will still need to generate another $3,373,269 in local taxes.
Athletic apparel
Team uniforms and athletic apparel will now come from Jock’s Nitch, which is opening a location in downtown Iola in November.
The board agreed to a contract with the business to provide Adidas brand apparel.
Uniforms are replaced on a rotation cycle, and that won’t change. Rather, as new uniforms are needed, they’ll be supplied by Jock’s Nitch rather than Midwest Sports in Oklahoma, which had previously supplied uniforms.
Jock’s Nitch will also offer an in-store discount to those affiliated with the school district.
District needs assessment
All Kansas schools are required to submit a “district needs assessment,” and curriculum director Jenna Higginbotham shared the report with board members.
Administrators looked at state assessment scores and chose from a list of challenges that face USD 257 when it comes to success in taking those tests.
Among those issues are: a high number of students receiving free and reduced-priced meals, high levels of student trauma, a special education funding shortfall from the state, declining enrollment, difficulty attracting or retaining high-quality teachers, increased or high levels of student discipline problems, lack of instructional time or opportunities during the COVID-19 pandemic, many single-parent families, high absenteeism, social-emotional challenges for students, high numbers of students moving into and out of the district and difficulty engaging parents in the educational process.
The assessment also included a statement that the district does not believe one assessment score is an accurate measure of student success.
