Governor Sebelius recently approved budget cuts for the current school year. What will be the impact to the Olathe School District?
The reduction plan approved by the Governor includes a base state aid per pupil (BSAPP) reduction of $33 per student and a Special Education adjustment, for a total state funding reduction to the district of $1,319,005. Since the local option budget funding is based on a percentage of state funding, there is also the potential for an incremental $409,000 funding reduction unless the Legislature eliminates that requirement for the 2008-09 school year. Therefore, the total potential reduction to the Olathe School District for the current school year will be somewhere between $1.3M and $1.7M.

Does the Olathe School District have a plan to overcome this education reduction?
The district has identified a total of $2.2M of revenue increases (see a list on page 4), staffing efficiencies and spending reductions. The staffing efficiencies involve a hiring freeze on administrative and food service positions rather than classroom teachers. The spending reductions primarily impact professional services, travel and conferences, and supplies / materials.

What was the impact to the Olathe School District in losing the recent 1/4 cent Johnson County Sales Tax?
The Olathe School District lost $5.4M in annual revenue that had previously been received each year over the past six years. When the 1/4 cent sales Johnson County Economic Development Grant (otherwise known as the Johnson County Sales Tax Renewal) was formalized, it eliminated funding for school districts of Johnson County. In August of 2008 the Olathe Board of Education and district staff chose not to adopt a formal position opposing the renewal of the 1/4 cent Johnson County Sales Tax Renewal. I encouraged the Board to oppose the 1/8 cent Sales Tax Renewal because it no longer provided funding to the Olathe School District and other Johnson County Schools. As an alternative, I advocated supporting a community solution similar to what had successfully been in place during the past six years where the funding would be shared between Johnson County, the various cities in Johnson County and the Johnson County school districts. Attached is a guest column that I wrote that was printed in the Olathe News.

How did the Olathe School District obtain access to additional funding for the district in November 2007 with regard to increasing the local option budget (LOB)?
During the August 2007 meeting of the Board of Education, I presented a written resolution authorizing the placement of an initiative on the November 2007 election ballot seeking the right to increase the Olathe School District’s local option budget (LOB) up to an incremental 1%, for a total of 31%. By doing so, the Olathe School District was able to approve a balanced budget for 2008-09, while also gaining authority to utilize the 5% cost of living allowance (COLA) funding in future years for the school district. This 1% increase provided the Olathe School District access to a considerable source of funding in the event of financial challenges. Attached is a copy of the LOB proposal that was approved by the Board.

Does the State of Kansas have statutes in place allowing the Olathe School District to maintain a cash reserve?
Yes, the State of Kansas allows the Olathe School District, and all other Kansas school districts, to maintain cash reserves up to 6% of the district’s operating budget in a Contingency Reserve. Currently the Olathe School District has $9,525,000 in their Contingency Reserve, reflecting the maximum 6% allowed by Kansas statute.

How does the amount of cash in the Olathe School District’s Contingency Reserve account compare to other school districts in Johnson County?
Actually, the Olathe School District has the highest level of cash in its Contingency Reserve of any school district in Johnson County and the second highest of any school district in the State of Kansas.

Is the Olathe School District’s Contingency Cash Reserve level higher, lower or about the same as when you began on the board on July 01, 2005?
The Olathe School District’s Contingency Cash Reserves are over 91% higher than when I began my first term on the board on July 01, 2005. The table below outlines the value of the Contingency Reserves over the past four years (as of the end of each fiscal year, defined as June 31).

Did the District spend down cash reserves solely at your urging, as alleged during the February Board Meeting?
As you can see from the chart above, Contingency Reserves have not been spent down, but have increased each year I have served on the Board. In addition, all decisions made by the board require a majority vote, meaning that at least four of the seven board members must approve. No decisions are made based on one board member.

Recently the board voted to increase fees to parents for food services, fee-based kindergarten, early childhood disability, instructional materials (enrollment registration) and bus services. Why did you vote against this increase?
I voted against this increase because I felt that there were additional funding sources that should have been thoroughly investigated first prior to raising fees on families during this time of significant economic challenges. Given the fact that the Olathe School District serves the highest percentage of Johnson County families living at or below the poverty line, I felt that we should have explored all other options prior to increasing fees on the community.

Do you support curriculum standards in the classroom?
Yes. I also support the opportunity for parental input into the standards and materials that their child is exposed to in the classroom environment or other school sponsored events. During my time on the board I have been requested by parents to become involved with their concerns regarding the age appropriateness of materials and videos for which their children were exposed, some without parental knowledge or consent. In these instances I have been pleased with the expedient response from district staff in responding and evaluating parent concerns. In all instances, district staff agreed that the parents’ concerns were valid. As a result, the appropriate actions were taken by staff to the satisfaction of the parents involved.

A specific example of my support of parents involved a parent who requested that the book Of Mice and Men not be required reading for ninth grade students, but rather that parents be notified in advance and be given an opportunity to select an alternative reading for their child. The parent request, as reaffirmed by the Review Committee Notes, did not request removal of the book from Olathe School District libraries. During the November 2007 Board of Education Meeting, the requesting parent came before the board and read a variety of excerpts from the book. Later, during the December 2007 Board meeting, the Board voted unanimously to strike from the district‘s public broadcast a portion of the books excerpts, as read by the parent, as they were deemed to be in violation of Board policies and the broadcast station’s decency guidelines.

I was pleased, however, with the District Superintendent’s commitment as a result of this parent request to do the following:

1. To ensure consistent communication, all parents of ninth graders will be notified by letter of all core reading titles to be taught in the ninth grade language arts classroom.

2. All parents will be offered the opportunity to check out a book of any title to read prior to their student participating and be encouraged to contact appropriate language arts staff to discuss.

3. All parents will be notified that if they object to any novel, an alternative assignment will be provided. That assignment will be consistent with the curriculum objectives, be offered without penalty and be available across all schools and classrooms.

What are the City of Olathe rules governing the placement of political signs?
The rules governing political signs may be viewed below or at the City of Olathe web-site at http://www.olatheks.org/Development. A copy of the rules is included below for reference.

Political Sign Regulations
As the spring election approaches, we would like to remind all political candidates, campaign workers, and residents of the City of Olathe's regulations for political signs. These signs are considered temporary signs under the Unified Development Ordinance (UDO) and the following, general regulations apply to sign placement and height:

• No signs shall be located within the city right-of-way, which includes the street and the area between the sidewalk and street curb.
• No sign shall be located within a designated sight distance triangle as to avoid potential visibility conflicts with vehicular traffic.
• Political signs in residential zoning districts are limited to yard signs with a surface area not to exceed four (4) square feet per sign face. A maximum of two (2) sign faces are permitted for each sign.
• Political, freestanding signs in commercial and industrial zoning districts shall be set back a minimum of ten (10) feet from any property line and shall not exceed four (4) feet in height with a sign face no greater than thirty-two (32) square feet.
• No permit is required to place political signs on private property, although the signs may only be placed with the consent of the property owner.

Is there a limitation on when signs may be placed in the community and for how long they may be displayed?
Yes, according to the City of Olathe ordinance regarding political signs, any campaign sign may be placed at any time for a period of 60 days.

Is there someone at the City of Olathe that I may contact to verify the above sign-related information or if I have a concern or question pertaining to the placement of a political sign?
Yes, you may contact Mr. Tanner Fortney, the City of Olathe Development Services, at 913-971-8984.