3rd Edition of Money Talk
by Larry R. Combs, Superintendent
February 24, 2009
Money Talk
3rd Edition - February 24, 2009
The Governor vetoed a portion of the education cuts for the current school year which were passed by the Kansas House and Senate. USD #239 would have been cut by $74,436 for the current school year with the legislation that was approved by the Kansas House and Kansas Senate. However, the Governor vetoed a large portion of the education cut in the legislation and initiated cuts which were approximately one-half the amount approved by the Legislature.
USD #239 will be cut by a total of $37,213 for the current school year. The cut will result in a decrease in the General Fund of $31,492 and $5,721 in Special Education funding for the 2008-2009 school year. At this point it appears that the Kansas House and Senate will not attempt to override the Governor’s veto.
This should finalize the cuts for the current school year. However, there is always the chance this issue could be revisited if the economy continues to decline at its current rate. Although the chance of the cut issue for the current school year being revisited is slim, it is important to keep in mind there is that chance it could be revisited later in the legislative session.
Cuts for the 2009-2010 school year continue to be a major topic of discussion in Topeka. At this point in time there is no more to report than was reported in the last edition of Money Talk. Kansas superintendents continue to be advised to be prepared for additional budget cuts of 5% up to as much as 18% for the next budget year. However, this is all speculation at this time with the wildcard in this issue being the Federal stimulus package.
At this time the regulations that will govern the dollars sent to states in the Federal stimulus package are being drafted. Until those regulations are completed the state will not be able to know the impact the stimulus package will have on potential education cuts in Kansas for next school year. It does appear that the Federal stimulus package will have a positive impact on the potential cuts for Kansas schools. However, the degree of that impact remains to be determined.
Kansas superintendents are being advised that there is a strong possibility that the impact of the stimulus package and the final amounts for cuts for next school year will not be finalized until mid to late April at the earliest. In the mean time, in USD #239 we will continue to plan for the worst and hope for the best. As I learn more concrete information on this topic I will keep you informed via this news article.
Thanks for reading…
Larry R. Combs
Superintendent
