The day may not be far off, Rep. Bill Otto warns, when a resident in Gas could wake up and see school buses from Iola, Humboldt and Moran pick up students along his street.
Legislation passed in Topeka this month opens the doors for schools to “invade” neighboring districts, provided the students live at least 2.5 miles from their respective schools.
“How many people in Gas live at least 2.5 miles from school?” Otto asked. “More than you might think.”
The bill was bundled into other legislation, Otto explained, making it unlikely to be vetoed by Gov. Sam Brownback.
Two local superintendents, Brian Pekarek of Iola-USD 257 and K.B. Criss of Humboldt-USD 258, said they would recommend against entering their neighbors’ districts to pick up students.
“Something like this could be more trouble than it’s worth,” Criss said.
A district may enjoy the benefits of higher enrollment now — more students means more state aid — but pay later because of ill will between districts.
Pekarek agreed.
“It may pit one district against another,” he said. “I think it’s important to realize we’re all in this together. It’s not us against them.”
As reported in Tuesday’s Register, Otto is concerned about how “stealing” students from a larger district to a smaller one could skew the state budget. Smaller districts get significantly more funding per-pupil because of low-enrollment weighting.
So the same student worth about $4,000 in state aid to a larger district could be worth $7,000 in aid to a smaller one.
David Hardage, Marmaton Valley’s superintendent of schools, is out of office this week and could not be reached for comment.
PEKAREK’S OTHER main concern is how a new funding formula signed into law Tuesday will affect USD 257’s budget.
The formula includes an increase in general education funding per-pupil — part of a $40 million boost in education spending this year — but takes away state funds for schools such as USD 257 that must supplement their coffers with a local options budget.
