By Cristina Janney
Hays Post
The Hays school district seeks to use a portion of an estimated $1.9 million increase in state funding to raise wages for faculty and staff for the coming school year.
In a preliminary budget report presented to the school board at its meeting Monday, the district had set aside $743,275 for salary increases.
How that money will be distributed has yet to be determined as negotiations with the teacher’s union and custodial and maintenance staff union are still ongoing.
Tracy Kaiser, USD 489 executive director of finance, said teachers are paid on a step grid based on education and experience. The teachers will likely request a move upward on the step scale. Teachers last received a raise for the 2015-16 school year, but have gone several other years recently without raises.
Classified staff are usually given a percentage wage, and the district tries to keep it in line with teacher raises. Four years ago, Fort Hays State University conducted a wage survey for the district. USD 489 wages were far below those in the private sector, Kaiser said.
Kaiser said the district hopes to move the wages at least a third closer to the district’s private peers.
The district hopes to wrap up negotiations within the next couple of weeks.
Superintendent John Thissen said the negotiation process was moving forward. However, he noted the entire budget process has been delayed for all districts in the state because the Legislature approved its school funding formula later than usual.
The district will see savings for 2017-18 of about $435,835 from a decrease in insurance premiums, staff attrition, reduced sick leave payout and decreased Internet costs for a total revenue increase of $2,356,515.
Although the district is anticipating an increase in state aid and some savings in other areas, it is also forecasting a decrease in other funding and increases in other expenses.
The district is facing a drop of $150,000 in federal funding, a $241,650 decrease because of enrollment decline and an $80,000 loss in Medicaid funding in 2019.
Excluding the increase in salaries, the district expects a $1,139,265 increase in expenses for the coming fiscal year. Almost $400,000 of that increase is in health insurance premiums. About $582,000 will go back into classrooms in the form of new certified positions, classroom aids, bilingual support and curriculum support.
The district also voted to decrease the material/workbook fee for all students at its meeting Monday. This, coupled with a required elimination of kindergarten fees, which are going to be supplemented by state aid, means a $121,000 decrease in district revenue for the coming year. All this means negatives to the bottom line equal to $2,354,190.
Kaiser said ultimately the district is hoping for a balanced budget with a net of $2,325.
However, the district’s budget is far from set in stone at this time.
A lawsuit is pending in front of the Kansas Supreme Court that alleges the state’s funding level for schools is inadequate. Although the Kansas Legislature passed legislation that would increase funding by $293 million during the next two years, the plaintiffs in the lawsuit still assert the Legislature has not provided enough funding to the state’s schools. The Kansas Board of Education requested a $900 million funding increase for the current fiscal year.
The Supreme Court heard oral arguments in the case on July 18. The court has allowed the Legislature’s funding plan to become law, but has yet to issue a ruling on the adequacy of the funding formula.
The school board approved two special meetings Monday to deal with the budget. The board will meet at 7 a.m. Aug. 10 for its budget hearing and 5:30 p.m. Aug. 24 to approve the budget.