By CRISTINA JANNEY

Hays Post

The Hays USD 489 school board will vote on a draft of its 2018-19 budget at its meeting tonight.

The board will meet at 6:30 p.m. in the Toepfer Room of the Rockwell Administration Center.

The board will set the budget for publication and is anticipated to have a public budget hearing at 6:30 p.m. Aug. 20 at the Rockwell Administration Center, 323 W. 12th St.

Once the budget has been published, the district can decrease the amount spent, but can’t increase the amount spent without republication of the budget.

The budget process was delayed this year because the state was waiting on a Kansas Supreme Court ruling on the adequacy of state funding. The court ruled the Legislature has not provided enough money to public schools, but has given the state another year to increase funding.

Because of this delay, the USD 489 budget was not yet available to the public as of this publication of this story.

The board is also set to review enrollment data and vote on an agreement with Fort Hays State University on the use of Lewis Field.