Craig Neuenswander will join the front ranks of Kansas education leadership when he becomes director of finance for the State Board of Education next summer. Dr. Neuenswander will work directly under deputy commissioner Dale Dennis, who has been the unquestioned authority on school finance in Kansas for decades, to help school districts find their way through the school finance maze which becomes more complex with each Session of the Legislature.
Commissioner Dennis will have a top notch assistant in Neuenswander: USD 257 has benefited enormously over the 12 years he has been the district’s chief executive officer. Finding a new superintendent who is as knowledgeable and as able an executive will be a challenging chore for the Board of Trustees.
Dr. Neuenswander leaves the district’s schools when the K-12 system in Kansas is under great stress. It will be good to have a champion of rural schools from the poorest (money-wise, that is) quadrant of Kansas.
When the Legislature convenes next month the budget for fiscal year 2112 may be $500 million in the hole, with school funding again at serious risk. There will be an effort to supplement state funding of the schools with higher local tax revenue, a move the courts may declare unconstitutional even if it is politically attractive in Johnson and other rich, populous counties.
Dr. Neuenswander won’t have the power to raise, lower or redirect state aid to schools, but he will be able to explain to administrators, school board members and legislators alike what the consequences of changes are likely to be.
The Neuenswanders have made a host of friends and admirers in the dozen years they have been in Iola, all of whom will wish them nothing but the best as they tackle exciting new responsibilities.
— Emerson Lynn, jr.
