Governor making more school cuts

Superintendent Dean Katt saw it coming.

But that doesn’t mean he wasn’t disappointed to hear Gov. Mark Parinkson’s Thursday announcement.

Parkinson outlined $160 million in adjustments to Kansas’ budget — including additional cuts in aid to public schools and universities.

“It’s disappointing that it’s so high,” Katt, USD 290 superintendent, said. “We’ll be able to get by next year with carry-over funds, but obviously we were hoping not to have to cut into the reserves.”

Katt said the adjustments will drop the amount of aid per pupil by $62, resulting in a loss of about $200,000 to the Ottawa School District.

“A couple hundred thousand dollars is a lot of money,” he said. “We did anticipate it when we made cuts last year.”

Parkinson’s move comes just a day after the fiscal year began and will include a 2-percent reduction to general state aid for students within the K-12 school system.

“It’s obviously not going to be a positive impact,” Dotson Bradbury, West Franklin superintendent, said. “We’re in as good of a position as we could be under the circumstances.”        

Bradbury said no additional personnel will be cut from the school district, despite its nearly $80,000 shortfall.

“In terms of impact, we’ll continue with the same number of personnel at this point,” he said. “The reality is that we knew there were going to be additional cuts.”

In addition to Parkinson’s most recent cuts, Bradbury says he fears this wave of reductions isn’t the last.

“There’s an even longer-range concern that the governor may have to make additional cuts,” Bradbury said.

In order to help combat these reductions, Jim Reece, Central Heights superintendent, said the school district plans to use its cash reserves.

“The board of education elected to use cash reserves to get through the year in an effort to minimize the negative impact to students,” Reece said. “The latest round of cuts will make that strategy more challenging.”

The Wellsville School District, which tallied an enrollment of about 836 students during the 2008-09 school year, falls in the middle of other Franklin County schools with a shortfall of about $76,000. Superintendent Denise O’Dea could not be reached for comment.

 The adjustments are designed to keep the state’s budget in the black for its 2010 fiscal year. A deficit loomed when tax collections fell $126 million short of expectations for the just-completed fiscal year.

Parkinson’s proposed cuts mark the fourth time since January that the state’s budget has been trimmed and will make it even more difficult for area school districts to make reductions.

“We’re probably going to have to rethink what we’ll have to do next year,” Katt said. “What we’re trying to do is close out our current budget and roll all those numbers into our current one.”

All area boards of education will meet to discuss necessary budget cuts in the coming months.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.