if such cuts did happen it would be interesting to see what would happen with wrestling in the area. i mean, if you've grown up wrestling and thats what you love to do you will probably do whatever it takes to stay in the sport. so what if 3 or 4 of the top wrestlers said, "hey derby isnt bad, lets see if we can do there" that could really be interesting to see if one or two surrounding schools would benefit greatly...of couse it would be better for this not to happen, but if it did...

PUBLIC BUDGET HEARING

The board has scheduled a public hearing on the district's budget.

When: February 14, 2005 from 5 to 7 p.m.

Where: North High School, 1437 Rochester, near 13th and Waco.

If you want to address the board at the hearing, call the clerk at 973-4553 before noon Monday.

i knew u would come through. However, Bill Faflick told me Friday at the seeding meeting that this meeting was to be held at 5:00 at north and not 7:00. You might want to check on that. I asked him twice that night and that was his response.

Mike,

I think you misread Richard's post. The meeting time is scheduled for 5-7.

If you are a patron of the Wichita School District 259, I would highly recommend that you attend this meeting. You will be sending a signal to your elected representatives: either you show up to let them know that you are strongly opposed to eliminating wrestling, are you let them presume that your absence indicates ambivalence on the matter.

If any interested party is unable to attend the meeting, and I assume many will not be able to attend with a 5:00 P.M. starting time, contact your district board member.

District 1 Board Member:
Michael Kinard

Schools in District 1:
Elementary Schools:
Adams, Buckner, Gammon, Isely, Jackson, L'Ouverture, Mueller, Price, Spaght, Washington.

Middle Schools:
Alcott, Brooks.

High Schools:
East, Metro-Boulevard, Metro-Midtown, Northeast, Wichita Urban League Learning Center.

Special Schools:
Dunbar Early Childhood Center, Juvenile Detention Center, Little Early Childhood Center.

District 2 Board Member: Connie Dietz

Schools in District 2:
Elementary Schools:
Beech, Bostic, Clark, College Hill, Harris, Hyde, Minneha, Seltzer,

Middle Schools:
Coleman, Robinson.

High Schools:
Towne East Educational Resource Center.

Special Schools:
None.

District 3 Board Member:
Sarah Skelton

Schools in District 3:
Elementary Schools: Allen, Anderson, Caldwell, Colvin, Gardiner, Griffith, Harry Street, Jefferson, Linwood.

Middle Schools: Curtis, Jardine, Mead.

High Schools: Southeast.

Special Schools:
Chisholm Life Skills Center, Greiffenstein, Sowers, Wells.

District 4 Board Member:
Chip Gramke

Schools in District 4:
Elementary Schools:
Cessna, Cleaveland, Enterprise, Franklin, Kelly, Lewis, Lincoln, Stanley, White, Woodman.

Middle Schools:
Allison, Hamilton, Truesdell.

High Schools:
South, West.

Special Schools:
None.

District 5 Board Member:
Lanora Nolan

Schools in District 5:
Elementary Schools:
Benton, Black, Bryant, Dodge, Kensler, Lawrence, McCollom, OK, Payne, Peterson.

Middle Schools:
Hadley, Mayberry, Wilbur.

High Schools:
Metro-Meridian, Northwest, Towne West Educational Resource Center.

Special Schools:
Levy.

District 6 Board Member:
Lynn Rogers

Schools in District 6:
Elementary Schools:
Chisholm Trail, Cloud, Earhart, Emerson, Horace Mann, Irving, McLean, Park, Pleasant Valley, Riverside, Woodland.

Middle Schools:
Marshall, Pleasant Valley, Stucky.

High Schools:
Heights, North.

Special Schools:
Arkansas Avenue, Midtown Early Childhood Center.

At Large District Member:
Kevass Harding

Here are the high schools which may be affected:

Wichita East
Wichita Heights
Wichita North
Wichita Northwest
Wichita South
Wichita Southeast
Wichita West

Michael Kinard
1555 N. Ash
Wichita, KS 67214-1911
(316) 269-4383

Connie Dietz
8310 Greenbriar Lane
Wichita, KS 67226-1810
(316) 684-3554

Sarah Skelton
5903 East Skinner
Wichita, KS 67218-4617
(316) 683-6162

Chip Gramke
3351 South All Hallows
Wichita, KS 67217-1207
(316) 943-2688

Lanora Nolan
1664 Melrose Lane
Wichita, KS 67212-1569
(316) 722-1127

Lynn Rogers
935 Porter Avenue
Wichita, KS 67203-3147
(316) 262-4716

Budget Hearing

Posted on Mon, Feb. 14, 2005

Hearing to target schools' budget

Officials say they need to be prepared to cut programs because they don't know how much funding the Legislature will approve.

BY JOSH FUNK

The Wichita Eagle

Students in the Wichita district will have fewer elective courses to take and fewer sports to play if the school board goes ahead with large cuts to athletics, fine arts and Junior ROTC.

If the district cuts one-quarter of the athletics budget, the athletic director says he'll have to reduce the number of sports offered .

If the district cuts one-quarter of the fine arts budget, instrumental and vocal music, theater and visual arts programs would all suffer.

If the district cuts half of Junior ROTC's budget, Col. Bob Hester said that would almost kill the program.

Those three cuts would free nearly $1.5 million in the district budget, but they'd also diminish several of the programs that make school enjoyable.

"First and foremost, we're hopeful it will never happen," athletic director Bill Faflick said.

All three departments that face cuts -- like schools throughout districts -- are encouraging parents to call or write their state lawmakers to share their concerns . The programs serve 20,120 students.

The board set aside two hours of its meeting tonight to hear all the reasons why it shouldn't make such drastic cuts.

School board president Lynn Rogers said the district is considering the cuts because there's no way to know how much, if any, additional money the Legislature might approve.

"Until we actually see the money, we don't know what we're going to get," Rogers said. "And because we're such a big district and we want public input, we've got to start early."

Without any new funding, the district expects its costs to exceed its income next year by about $9 million because salaries, health insurance and utilities will all likely cost more.

If the current funding scheme remains unchanged, the district's $446.9 million total budget would likely still increase next year because of expected increases in the number of low-income, bilingual and special education students, but officials expect cost increases to exceed any funding increases by about $9 million.

In January, the Kansas Supreme Court ordered lawmakers to increase school funding by April 12. Two different school funding packages were proposed last week.

But it's not clear whether either has enough support to pass, and school board members say they're not confident the Legislature will deliver more money next year.

Beyond the cuts to be discussed tonight, school principals will ask parents and staff members for advice about what could be cut at each building. Nonschool departments will build their own lists.

As painful as the cuts to athletics, fine arts and Junior ROTC would be, they would reduce the amount schools would have to cut.

Faflick said cutting 25 percent of his $1.5 million athletics budget would require some combination of eliminating entire sports or grade levels of sports. About 6,300 students participate.

Most of the athletics budget goes to pay coaches' supplemental salaries.

The district's fine arts department includes instrumental and vocal music, theater and visual arts classes, director Dan Stiffler said. About 11,500 students participate.

Stiffler said if he has to make this cut, fine arts programs would lose 11 or 12 teachers.

The cut would be spread throughout all the programs Stiffler oversees. No programs are in jeopardy of being eliminated.

But all would be diminished, and students would have fewer choices in electives.

"I'm absolutely determined that we will continue to have a strong instrumental music program in this district," Stiffler said.

The district already regularly turns students away from its visual arts classes, he said, so further cuts would make it tougher for students to get the drawing or ceramics class they want.

Col. Bob Hester said cutting the $1.1 million budget for Junior ROTC doesn't make sense because of the great things the program does for kids, and because JROTC is a bargain.

"Our goal is to make kids better citizens and better students," Hester said.

About 2,300 students participate in the middle school and high school programs.

The program is a good deal because the district receives about $600,000 a year from the U.S. Department of Defense to support the high school program, Hester said, and many instructors work without benefits.

"Our instructors cost about the same as a custodial aide (to the district)," he said.

The middle school students pay a $7 fee to participate, and Hester uses that to buy supplies and uniforms at surplus stores.

"I know that it helps kids," he said. "It's good for kids."

Hopefully the people in the Wichita area will let their concerns be known to their school board members.

Next will be to let your legislators know that we will not accept in Kansas second rate schools. We should expect the funding from our state that will allow extra-curricular activities, a full and healthy curriculum, and other viable programs that benefit children to exist.

Now go contact your state congressman/woman and let them know how you feel.

Gary Ulmer

It is not unusual for matters of these type to come up when they talk budget. It does get ones attention which is in part what they intended for it to do. However, it is important to voice your concern early in the funding process with school finance rather than the day after.
One other thing, if and I do say if Wichita would cut wrestling, I think that decision could affect lots of decisions by other districts to follow so everyone, not just wichita should be concerned.

if they cut wrestling then they beter cut bball and every other sport.

Cutting wrestling is strong talk all over the state of Kansas. In 259 it is important to keep it because if the larger areas start cutting it then the more likly the smaller towns will follow.

I can't believe that people outside of wrestling don't look at the good it does but the fct is that our sport isn't in the spotlight enough. As fans we need to voice our opinions and start talking up wrestling to friends and neighbors alike.

make sure the board members are invited to each contest by parents and to sit with them to help them understand the greatness of the sport we all love. It is our sport and I decided this year to start being more vocal in my community and try to get it revived. Good luck to all and hopefully wrestling is here for awhile

At the public hearing portion of the budget meeting tonite at Wichita North High School, I am scheduled to be the thirty first (31st) speaker.

This public forum is time limited and the speakers will be cut off at 6:45 P.M.!

I have a conflict in my schedule as I am scheduled to be at my daughters middle school Site Council meeting, and as there are thirty speakers before me, I may not attend.

Remember, if any program is to have their budget reduced, all programs should share the burden.

Why should football and boys and girls basketball go unschathed?

I hope for the sake of all involved, they don't go into the meeting half cocked. First, this is a ploy by the district to excite people into activism. They throw out the warning of "we're cutting arts/ROTC/and wrestling" as a ploy to get the public involved. Then, with the public fired up, they tell them, "we don't want to cut it, but we may have to. Contact your legislators about this."

By doing this, they get the public on their side for financial resources. It's like the oldest trick in the book.

The kicker is that yes the courts have favored an increase. That doesn't mean the legislation has to follow it. If memory serves me correctly, the legislators did nothing last term (election year) and the case was taken to the Supreme Court of KS. Now the legislators can either fix it right, or leave it up to the courts to decide how the money is generated. Arkansas legislators did something similar a couple of years ago.

I really think those at the meeting tonight should approach the situation with consolidation as a feature for discussion. The reality is that the budget will not be taken care of by the time the districts have to submit next year's budget. They will have to plan next year under the assumption that nothing will get taken care of by school time. If it does, great, but just in case, this is the plan.

Instead of running in there and raising cain with people that don't have much control over how much money the district will receive next year, it would be much wiser to sit down and collectively agree - things look bad for next year, what can we do to save the program. I guarantee the district would appreciate it much more than "you can't cut wrestling."

Jeremy Gibson

Jeremy:

You have valid points, however football and basketball should also share the burden of the budget cuts.

GWAL football and basketball are not large revenue producers for the district and should not be treated as a sacred cow.

(Bump)

Anyone that attends that meeting, please let the rest of us know how it went. I'm guessing we pretty much know the layout of the whole thing.

Anyone have a summary of how this went?

Tue, Feb. 15, 2005

Crowd condemns cuts to schools

Wichita's school board hears two hours of testimony about the importance of extracurricular programs.

BY JOSH FUNK

The Wichita Eagle


Wichitans filled the school board's auditorium Monday to argue against cuts that they say could have a devastating effect on the district's athletics, Junior ROTC, fine arts and driver's education programs.

The board spent nearly two hours listening to students, parents, staff members and others explain what a difference those programs made in their lives.

"It's crazy they're even considering these cuts," said Brock Phillips, a senior at East High. He credits athletics for his success in the rigorous International Baccalaureate program, where he maintains a perfect grade point average, in student council and other activities and in life.

Board members told Phillips and the other speakers that they already know how important these things are.

"We know what great programs these are," board member Chip Gramke said. "We're the ones that put some of these in place."

Board president Lynn Rogers told the crowd repeatedly that the way to prevent these cuts is by writing or calling state legislators, who will decide this spring whether to increase the amount of money schools receive.

The Kansas Supreme Court set an April 12 deadline for lawmakers to address the shortcomings of the current school finance system.

Several proposals to comply with the court order will be considered in the coming weeks, but it's not clear whether any of those will pass.

Without new funding, the district expects its costs to exceed its income by about $9 million next year because salaries, health insurance and utilities will all cost more.

The district's total budget of $446.9 million would likely still increase next year under the current funding scheme, but would not increase enough to cover the added costs.

Here is a summary of what the cuts being considered would mean to these programs and highlights of what speakers said:

Sports

Athletic director Bill Faflick said if he had to cut 25 percent of his $1.5 million budget, 12 sports would be eliminated and several others scaled back, eliminating opportunities for 1,843 students to compete.

At high schools, the remaining sports would be football, soccer, volleyball, bowling, basketball and track and field.

Lee Williams, a mother of two, said cutting sports doesn't make sense.

"USD 259 wants more parents involved in the day-to-day operation of schools," Williams said. "We already have a program that does that. It's called athletics."

Fine arts

Fine arts director Dan Stiffler said cutting 25 percent of his budget would cost 11 or 12 teachers their jobs. The cuts would be spread across all the programs Stiffler oversees, including instrumental and vocal music, visual arts and theater.

Mostly, the cuts would reduce the fine arts offerings but not eliminate them.

Tim Jones, a senior at East High, said playing in orchestras has helped him make friends, taught him valuable skills like memorization and helped develop his work ethic.

"I don't believe you can find another program that can generate personal growth the way music can," Jones said.

Junior ROTC

Eight-grade cadet Shelby Martin said that before she joined Junior ROTC this year, she struggled in middle school. Shelby said she was failing math and made regular visits to the principal's office for discipline.

Now she is passing her classes, improving her study skills and learning to speak in public -- something she practiced Monday.

"This is my first year in JROTC, and my first year of not being called to the principal's office to be yelled at," she said.

That's why Martin doesn't want to see 50 percent of the budget for Junior ROTC cut.

Col. Bob Hester, who oversees the program, said he would have to eliminate half his teachers for the program, which includes about 2,300 students.

Driver's education

The board is considering eliminating its driver's education program to save $419,337. This year 2,100 students took classes from 16 teachers.

Several of the program's teachers and an insurance agent told the board that eliminating the program is a bad idea.

Insurance agent Vic Everett said four of his kids have gone through the program and learned from quality instructors.

If the program is eliminated, Everett said, he worries about the quality of instruction teen drivers would receive. He suggested increasing fees instead of cutting the program.

http://www.kansas.com/mld/eagle/10902466.htm

see u knew it, they would still have basketball. id say that if wrestling goes, basketball should have to go too, or split the budget between the two so that they both would be available to the kids.

Just as I predicted, this is a rallying the troops agenda.

The more angry parents we get, the more pressure on the legislators to increase funding. 259 is leading the way for school funding.

The problem is that the message will fall on deaf ears. The legislators will more than likely not fund schools the way we would like to see. So out goes the fluff (extra curricular activities that don't generate some sort of revenue), but the meat and potato things stay (football/basketball).

If 259 was truly bent on pressuring our government for an increase in funding, they should have come forward and said ALL sports would be cut. That would get the football/basketball players/fans fired up. It would also bring some national exposure to school finance.

The kicker is that NCLB is not interested in extra curricular activities. They want kids to read and write and do math and science. Advocates of NCLB will say that all the things outside of the classroom are perks for those that do well. Since the students aren't doing well, more money should be spent on helping them achieve that goal.

I'm not saying the activites don't help foster excellence. What I am saying is that the policy is intended to fix what is wrong, not reward what is right. I can provide countless articles of the benefits of sports, but it's all a numbers game. One article I read some time ago said that only 25% of the student body participates in sports. A few years ago, while teaching at SE, I learned only 8 of ever 13 students will graduate high school. I don't know the ratio today. NCLB advocates will say that the money is more wisely spent on raising that graduation rate. Once you have the rate at an acceptable number, then any left over money should go to the fluff.

Before you jump in and say, "well the athletes will just leave then," I know. They will move to districts that can afford athletics, leaving 259 with that 75% that do nothing. Then the dropout rate will increase because sports is what helped kids through school. When the athletes leave, up goes the ratio.

Wichita has been suffering from Urban Sprawl for quite some time. Just look at the growth in one neighboring district, Maize. If memory serves me correctly, Maize was a 3A school some 20 years ago, and now is a pretty good sized 6A. Look at Goddard's growth. Don't forget Derby (they've always been big, but now they are huge). Or Andover.

I wish I had some sort of appropriate answer on how to fix this mess, but I don't. Wichita's problems are unique because they have surrounding districts that the upper middle class are flocking to. This couldn't happen in Hays, or Garden City, or Liberal. Those athletes who's parents can afford the move, are leaving the city to go to places athletically friendly. This is not a slam on the coaching staffs, of which I have great admiration for. Not many would stick around in Wichita - those that do are troopers. SE's football coach Dan Johnson, NW (formerly West) coach Shartz, coach Lentz at North (has yet to have a state champ in all the years he's coached wrestling), Drieden at West, SE's BBall coach Taylor, Niggs - they've all decided to stick around because they knew that Wichita wasn't the "ideal" place, but have stuck it out because in their minds, it was the right thing to do.

It's a shame that it's all come down to this. It's a shame that the metro of Wichita's citizens look more to the pretty astroturf and big gyms on the outskirts instead of the quality of education provided on and off the field in 259. What's worse is that there are multitudes of kids and families that can't leave that don't appreciate what kind of education the student can get in life by associating themselves with "those kids."

Okay, enough ranting.....