By CRISTINA JANNEY
Hays Post
The West Central Kansas Special Education Cooperative is asking for a 5 percent funding increase for the upcoming budget year.
This would be about $80,000 for the Hays school district, which would come from the general fund.
The co-op has not requested a funding increase in five years. The average increase in payments from districts in the region to their co-ops has been about 12 percent over the last two years, Chris Hipp, co-op director, said.
The co-op is administered by Hays USD 489 and also includes Ellis, Victoria and La Crosse. The co-op also provides special education services for private school students in those four communities.
The co-op budget is up an estimated 9.3 percent, or $638,000, this year compared to FY2018. The most significant increase was in salary and benefits.
The co-op has had to dip into its reserve to cover expenses two of the last five years. Hipp estimates this year the co-op will have a cash balance of about $1.5 million, which is $274,000 less than at the end of the last fiscal year.
The majority of the co-op’s expenses are teacher and paraprofessional salaries and benefits. This equals about $625,000 per month. The co-op is trying to maintain at least two months worth of salary in reserve.
The co-op is legally required to provide special education services to any student that lives in its member districts. Reserves are important, because officials never know when a high-needs student might move into the district and the co-op’s costs would increase.
The co-op is expecting a 3 percent increase in expenses for FY2020 for a total budget of $7.7 million. State revenue is estimated to be up by about 6.5 percent, but federal funding is expected to remain flat. Because Hays has the majority of the special education students, it pays 75 percent of the co-op budget. Hays’ share of the budget for FY2020 is estimated at almost $1.7 million.
The Hays USD 489 plans to republish its budget to account for about $25,000 in additional money the co-op received in state money. This was due to the district adding more teachers and paras.
Once the school district publishes its budget, it can’t spend any more than is listed in that budget. Republishing the budget will allow the co-op to spend the additional money it has received. No additional taxes will be levied as a result of this action, Keith Hall, USD 489 finance director, told the board Monday night.