By KARI BLURTON
Hays Post

While the state Legislature continues to wrangle over public school funding, the Hays USD 489 Board of Education on Monday voted to retain enrollment fees implemented last year for the 2015-16 school year.

Board members Lance Bickle and Greg Schwartz voted against the measure, while board President James Leiker, vice president Marty Patterson and board members Sarah Rankin, Danielle Lang and Josh Waddell voted to extend the fees, adding the fee discussion should resurface when the district has a clearer idea of the state’s funding plan.

RELATED: Block grant proposal could help USD 489 budget.

“If you feel we need to vote on this now so those who do budget this far in advance can do so, I can comfortably vote that way,” Rankin said to Superintendent Dean Katt. “However, I, too, would want to have this discussion again around May when we have a better idea of our budget and are headed into that budget with a firm (commitment) that we will be crunching numbers seriously in an effort to will reduce these.”

Katt agreed enrollment fees are too high.

“None of us want to have high fees,” Katt said. “When I  first came here, I was shocked, then we raised (the fees again) and I think I actually recommended we don’t raise them, but now that we have, our budget is contingent on that. … Until we get (funding from state), I feel more comfortable knowing (the revenue) could be there, depending on what the Legislature does.”

According to Finance Director Tracy Kaiser, the $100 increase to workbook/materials fee along with the $50 activity fee increases at Hays High School and Hays Middle school will generate a total of nearly $360,000 by the end of the school year.

Last month, Gov. Sam Brownback announced a proposed 1.5 percent cut to K-12 funding along with a 2 percent cut to higher education, and also suggested changing the school finance formula.

The 1.5 percent cut means a loss of $155,000 to USD 489.