HUTCHINSON, Kan. — With Monday being the 98th day of the 2017 legislative session, educators have little more information on the 2017-18 budget than they did on the first day.
Superintendent Dr. Shelly Kiblinger reported that Kansas is coming off a two-year “block grant” to fund education that was supposed to give legislators a chance to craft a new finance formula because the old formula was considered by some to be “too complicated.” Little was done in the intervening time.
Proposals that have surfaced late in the 2017 session have created formulas that look extremely similar to that used by the state prior to the block grant formula. Nothing, however, has been made final.
One proposal, House Bill 2410, would increase USD 308’s budget by $607,000 in 2017-18, but then cuts the budget by $640,000 in 2018-19 because of the way it calculates declining enrollment. The district, then, would have less state funding in 2018-19 than it does this year.
The Kansas House Monday rejected a proposal that would have raised income taxes to fix the state budget and provide additional funds for public schools.
The vote was 68-53 against a bill raising $1.2 billion over two years. House and Senate negotiators will have to draft a new plan.
The Legislature faces a June 30 deadline from the Kansas Supreme Court to create a school finance formula that is both equitable to districts and provides adequate funding for K-12 schools.
The superintendent gave an overview of plans that have been made in case the district is forced to shut down because the court has not approved the Legislature’s school finance plan. The plan is similar to that created in 2016 when the Legislature had to fix the equity portion of school finance.