BY ANDY TAYLOR
chronicle@taylornews.org
A Kansas Legislature audit report concerning consolidation of Kansas school districts as a cost-savings measure is generating ample comments in school board offices and in the state capitol this week.
The report, issued late Monday by the Legislative Post Audit Committee, was requested to determine the cost savings that could be derived if more Kansas public school districts were to consolidate or merge. Lawmakers emphasize that the report is not a proposed plan, nor even a specific legislative bill; the audit report is merely a guide to examine for future discussions.
However, the audit report does provide some suggested hints at possible consolidations of school districts as a way to save millions of state tax dollars.
“We’re at a point where we are grasping for a million dollars here and a million dollars there,” said State Rep. Virgil Peck, R-Tyro, who is one of 10 members on the Legislative Post Audit Committee. “This audit report was done solely to seek efficiencies and to show cost savings to the state.”
Consolidation of Kansas school districts was a major push in Kansas during the 1960s. In 1960, there were 2,600 school districts, most of them being small, rural districts populated with few people. By 1969, there were 311 school districts in Kansas, and there are 293 school districts in Kansas today.
Because the State of Kansas is mired in the worst fiscal crisis since the Depression years of the 1930s, lawmakers have been examining ways to reduce expenses and control costs, which was the reason that the audit report was instigated, Peck said.
The report looked at two different scenarios concerning consolidation. One scenario used the criteria that was used by the State of Kansas to consolidate schools in the 1960s. Under this scenario, 32 school districts in Kansas would be impacted, generating a possible savings of about $15 million per year to state coffers.
The only area school districts mentioned for a possible consolidation study were the Elk Valley and Fredonia school districts. Elk Valley, located in Longton in Elk County, is among the smallest districts in southeast Kansas and is a neighbor to the Fredonia school system.
However, the second scenario offered in the audit report is the one generating discussions as it impacts almost three-fourths of the entire land area of Kansas. The second scenario examines school consolidation for districts that are fewer than 1,600 students.
Under the second scenario, several area school districts are listed as possible candidates for a consolidation study. They include mergers between the Cherryvale and Independence schools systems and the Caney Valley and Sedan school districts. The Coffeyville school district is not considered a candidate for consolidation in the second scenario.
A total of 239 of the state’s 293 school districts are identified as fitting the criteria in the second scenario, which, according to the report, will reap as much as $111 million in cost savings to the state.
The audit report’s authors estimated that a merger between the Caney Valley and Sedan school systems net $83,783 in savings while an Independence-Cherryvale would have opposite effect: a net loss of $623,917.
But will such efforts really happen?
School superintendents in the area were largely tight-lipped about the audit report, admitting privately that the mere mention of “consolidation” could result in strong emotions from school faculty, students and school patrons.
However, they said they discounted the predictions of financial savings mentioned in the report.
USD 447 Superintendent Randy Wagoner and USD 436 Superintendent Danny Fulton each said the audit report did not adequately examine all of the aspects of consolidation, including transportation of students, bond and indebtedness, and the budget reductions that have already taken place in each district. Nor did the audit report’s authors consult the local districts to obtain information on how efficiencies were being practiced in their local school districts, the superintendents said.
Their sentiments came in the wake of each district taking unprecedented steps toward budget reductions. In USD 436, Fulton has already implemented reductions in various funds as a result of the budget axe falling on state financial support to the local school system. And, in USD 447, Wagoner on Monday night proposed a conceptual plan that could guide the school district toward longer-term cost reductions if the state support of local schools continues to decrease. USD 447 already is looking at eliminating as much as $200,000 from its budget — even if the amount of state financial support remains level for the 2010-11 school year. The district could see as much as $600,000 to $1 million in budget reductions if state financial support for public schools continues to decrease for the 2010-11 school year.
The audit report admitted that many factors — such as transportation, academic progress, curriculum compatibility, debt retirement — will need to be studied closely by local school districts before any district decides to merger with another. And, in some consolidation scenarios, the amount of reduced state financial support to a consolidated district could be larger than the cost savings that could be created, thereby nullifying any prospects of savings to the state, the audit says.
Peck said he did not anticipate the second consolidation scenario to carry much weight, knowing that it will impact a large number of school districts in Kansas.
However, he said regardless of the emotions and concerns that naturally come with a consolidation debate, Kansas school officials and taxpayers need to be aware of the precarious financial situation confronting the State of Kansas.
“We are in a box where we are going to have to do some drastic things, and in terms of drastic, I mean merger agencies, cut offices and even consider the unpopular task of throwing a tax on the shoulders of the Kansas taxpayers,” said Peck. “But, we’re in a really, really bad financial situation. It’s extremely bad. And, I don’t foresee it getting any better soon.”
• The full report “K-12 Education: Reviewing the Potential for Cost Savings From Reorganization of Kansas School Districts” can be obtained by going to http://www.kslegislature.org/postaudit/audits_newest.shtml
