Budget cuts may force higher LOB for Skyline

Skyline USD 438 may have to consider increasing its Local Option Budget to make up for a loss of funds from anticipated cuts in state funding.

A combination of events have caused a reductions in funds that will affect the state, school districts and other agencies that receive state funds.

Part of the funding cut came from good news/bad news when the latest county property valuations came in. The good news was the district will receive an additional $3.7 million following the latest assessments for all three counties in the Skyline district, said Mike Sanders, Skyline superintendent following the monthly Board of Education meeting Monday.

The bad news was that when valuations go up the state perceives that district is getting more equity from land valuation and cuts funding to the district, Sanders said.

And the news gets worse. Besides the state funding cuts from the increase in valuations, the state is also looking at a budget gap of over $200 million because of cuts in Medicaid payments to special education. The state will have to make up that gap and that means more cuts for education and every other state service, Sanders said.

“We need to prepare for more cuts. The cuts are not over,” Sanders said.

Even with the one-cent sales tax increase, that will not be enough to make up the difference for the Medicaid problem. All that plus no stimulus money in 2011 and 2012 means that Skyline will probably have to increase their local option budget. Just how much and when is unknown at this time, Sanders said. 

Although school finances had bad news the new virtual school took final steps to open on Aug. 16. 

The new virtual school at Skyline, Sawyer Academy, now has an official state building code even though it doesn’t have a building.

The Kansas Department of Education requires a building code for reporting purposes even if the school is a virtual school, Sanders said.

“It’s (virtual school) not a brick and mortar building. It just has to have building code to meet state requirements,” Sanders said.

Also associated with Sawyer Academy, the BOE approved staff members for the virtual school. Teachers are: Marcia Campbell and Joyce Depenbusch; teacher’s aids are Alma Carrasco, Kristi Nelson and Marla Stark.

Sawyer Academy will start August 16 and run for two weeks. The course curriculum comes from Education 2020 and includes usual core content areas in science, math and social studies. Education 2020 also offers a few different electives.

Students that want to take vocational or music classes can do that through Sawyer Academy but they have to come to Skyline to attend those classes, Sanders said.

Students also taking at least five classes through Sawyer Academy are eligible to participate in extracurricular activities at Skyline.

Students in grades 6-12 can enroll either in or out of district or out of county.

The school as received phone calls about the academy. For information about the academy, contact Sanders or Clerk of the Board Michelle Domsch at 672-5651 or visit the web site at www.usd438.k12.ks.us and click on the Sawyer Academy link. The Skyline site also has a link to Education 2020 for more information on available courses.

The BOE is entering a new fiscal year and officers for the new year are: Robert Howell-president, Jerry DeWeese-vice-president, David McComb-special education co-op representative and Suzanne Moore-special education co-op alternate.