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Wichita, Kan., School Board Shows Proposed Budget

Posted on: Tuesday, 2 August 2005, 18:00 CDT

Aug. 2--Nearly 78 percent of the Wichita district's new money will be spent on additional teachers, raises and classroom programs under the proposed budget the school board reviewed Monday.

The district plans to invest heavily in smaller class sizes at 15 elementary schools, all-day kindergarten at all elementary schools, more help for struggling students at middle and high schools and more programs for students whose native language is not English.

The district also plans to build a new school.

A new Earhart Environmental Magnet Elementary School would be built if the board approves this budget later this month.

The total school tax bill for the district will not increase, officials predict, and the owner of a $100,000 home will pay $544. The district's main local tax would increase, but three other taxes will be reduced to keep the total tax rate of 51.3 mills flat.

Altogether, the district will have $39.4 million in new money to spend. Most of that is new state money, though some of it will come from local property taxes.

Parent Dana Aaby said she would be thrilled if the district built a new building to replace Earhart at 4401 Arkansas.

"It would be so awesome," Aaby said.

About half of the former county school's 338 students attend class in portable classrooms, and the library is in two former classrooms where the wall between the classrooms has been knocked out.

"This one is crumbling around us," said Aaby, who will have a son in fourth grade at Earhart this fall.

The district did not make many improvements at Earhart as part of the bond issue voters approved in 2000 because at the time the school relied on an old septic sewer system and wasn't considered a good investment.

The old septic system broke down often and didn't have the capacity to support a new school.

Since 2000, Earhart has been hooked up to city water and sewer service, which the district paid to have installed.

Board president Connie Dietz, who taught at Earhart in the late 1970s, said a new building is long overdue.

"The reality is they need a new school," Dietz said.

The board is committed to building a new Earhart at some point and this might be the right time, she said. But Dietz wanted more time to review all the figures before committing to do it now.

Board member Lanora Nolan said she thinks the district should consider building a new elementary school in a black neighborhood instead, because of possible changes in the district's desegregation plan.

"I don't want to be committed to Earhart now," Nolan said.

But other board members said Earhart must be addressed now while changes in the desegregation plan remain uncertain.

"Earhart is something of a disgrace and something that we need to take care of now," board member Chip Gramke said.

Raises for employees are the single biggest item the district plans to invest in.

About $15.5 million is earmarked for raises with $12.5 million reserved for teachers. But those amounts are not final because contract negotiations with the United Teachers of Wichita and Service Employees International unions have not been completed.

As part of those raises, the district wants teachers to agree to work four more days a year, and that extra time would be used for training.

But the teachers union wants significant raises before it will consider more days; those contract talks resume Wednesday.

Superintendent Winston Brooks has also proposed $1,500 annual bonuses for teachers at 51 high-poverty schools to attract the best teachers. That would cost $2.66 million.

"We are having difficulty in this district retaining teachers and encouraging them to go work in our low-income schools," Brooks said.

The teachers union reacted coolly to the bonus concept at negotiations last week.

Fifteen elementary schools will have smaller class sizes this fall in kindergarten, first, second and third grades at a cost of $3.4 million.

Sixty-five classroom teachers and five music, gym and art teachers will be hired to help students at the 15 schools the district decided needed the most help improving test scores. The five support teachers are needed to provide planning time for the classroom teachers.

Brooks said the district has hired most of those teachers already, but finding classrooms for all of them hasn't been easy.

"We do not have enough classroom space in the 15 at-risk schools to accommodate all the teachers," Brooks said.

So the district plans to have some classes of 25 students with two teachers to provide the individual attention. The goal for most of the classes is to have 15 students with one teacher.

All-day kindergarten, like smaller class sizes, is a program the district thinks will help improve student achievement, and that's why it is being added at the last nine schools without it.

"Most of our principals are enthused about the possibility of having all-day kindergarten," Brooks said.

But if at least 15 families at any of those nine schools are interested in keeping half-day kindergarten, Brooks said he'll allow that.

The district also plans to invest nearly $2 million to help middle and high school students who are struggling.

That money would go to a mix of things such as tutoring, special curriculum programs for struggling students and additional math and reading classes.

But Brooks said each school will decide what its greatest needs are and how to address them.

The proposed budget calls for increasing the main local property tax to raise an additional $5.4 million for the Earhart project.

To keep the total tax rate from increasing, the district plans to lower its special assessment and special liability property taxes by 0.4 mills.

The other tax that will decrease is the one that pays for the bond issue. That tax will drop one mill, to 6 mills, because the district has refinanced some of its bonds at a lower interest rate.

A mill generates $1 of taxes for every $1,000 of assessed property value.

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Copyright (c) 2005, The Wichita Eagle, Kan.

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Source: The Wichita Eagle (Wichita, Kan.)

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