Legislative report not considered a formal plan but a guide for future discussions
BY ANDY TAYLOR
Prairie Star
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 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 80 percent of all school districts as well as 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 Caney Valley and Sedan school districts; the West Elk and Elk Valley school districts; the Cedar Vale, Central-Burden and Dexter school districts; the Oxford and Winfield school districts; and the Madison, Virgil, Eureka and Hamilton school districts. The Arkansas City 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 could net savings of as much as $83,783 and a $13,756 savings in the merger between Cedar Vale, Central-Burden and Dexter school districts.
However, the merger of the Elk Valley and West Elk school districts won’t trim the budget waistline, the audit says. Instead, a merger of those two districts could see a net loss of about $36,273, meaning more taxpayer dollars would be needed to fund a consolidated district.
Will such efforts really happen?
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 (such as the Elk Valley/West Elk merger), 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
