The Emporia school district would lose $4.3 million in state aid under a plan now under consideration by a committee in the Kansas House of Representatives.
Emporia School Superintendent John Heim testified Thursday before the House Education Budget Committee, a subcommittee of the House Education Committee.
Heim said he was one of 10 to 15 school superintendents who went to Topeka to explain to legislators the potential effects of the state cuts.
School district officials have known for months that state monies would be less for the current year as well as for the 2009-10 school year.
The legislature this week sent a bill to Gov. Kathleen Sebelius that would reduce the current year’s state aid by $66 per pupil.
The plan being discussed for the coming school year, however, would contain far larger cuts than anticipated.
“We were thinking somewhere between 3 (percent) and probably 7 (percent) at the worst,” Heim said.
The local district had not expected the cuts to have substantial effect next year.
When the Tyson Fresh Meats downsizing happened in January 2008, the effect on enrollment was unpredictable. Local officials worked with the legislature to produce a bill that set 2 percent as the maximum loss the district could experience for the 2008-09 school year, to help stabilize the district budget temporarily.
When the number of at-risk students rose after the downsizing, and the anticipated exodus of students did not fully materialize, the district actually benefited and received more than $2 million more than had been estimated.
Heim and the board have said that the district will be able to manage this year and next, if state budget cuts are not too deep.
The 10 percent cut currently under consideration in Topeka would be more than Emporia and other school districts across the state could absorb.
Emporia does have reserves to draw on, if needed, but that is something Heim wants to avoid.
“Really, you know when we talk about reserves and being ok, what we’re really talking about is we’re putting it off and eventually we’re going to have to deal with it. ... (T)he chickens are going to come home to roost,” Heim said. “There were several schools districts up testifying yesterday who don’t have reserves, don’t have any at all.”
If the budget cuts do reach 10 percent of state aid to school districts, the board would need to re-evaluate its spending and programs.
And, Heim added, the district also anticipates a decline in enrollment, both from the Tyson downsizing and from the natural shrinkage that is happening in many Kansas school districts.