ELLIS — The Ellis USD 388 Board of Education on Wednesday was offered a taste of what is to come as they discussed the impact of declining enrollment in the district.
While enrollment in the district has been slowly declining for years, a graduating class of 49 students — nearly double a typical class size — two years ago has dealt a significant blow to overall student numbers.
And fewer students means less money for next year’s budget and the potential for staffing and program cuts.
To begin board discussions addressing the issue, during the meeting, the board was presented with the question: “With budget cuts occurring, does the Vocational Agriculture program need to stay full-time, go to a part-time or eliminate?”
“Obviously, nobody wants to cut anything,” Superintendent Janice Wilson said. “And so, this is just a discussion, and we're throwing ideas out on the table for what are some things we can look at.”
Earlier in the meeting, she shared enrollment figures from the last decade.
During the 2012-13 school year, the district had 410 enrolled. During the 2020–21 year, enrollment was recorded at 375.
Next year that number has been projected at 324.
With state funding tied directly to enrollment in two-year increments, next year’s enrollment will create a significant drop in aid.
Currently, Wilson said the base aid per pupil is set at $4,486.
To open the discussion, she told the board that Future Farmers of America currently has 21 members and shared an overview of the welding and agriculture courses offered in the district.
“The numbers in the classes have been decreasing,” Wilson said.
She said only five students were enrolled in the welding course, 10 in ag science and half of the eighth-grade class.
And next year, even fewer students are expected in those programs.
While the Vocational Agricultural program was under the microscope during the meeting, Wilson frequently reminded the board and the assembled audience that came in support of the program that it is only the first part of the conversation as the district administration and board are forced to address declining funding that comes with lower enrollment.
“This is just to throw ideas out there,” she said. “We need to talk about it, we need to discuss it and figure out what is going to be the best thing for our families.
“We know that we are rural America, we know that ag is extremely important. But when our class sizes get down to certain numbers, we have to be concerned about some of that.”
Board member Marty Hollern asked if the students are aware lower program involvement may lead to a program being cut.
“I don't think so I don't think they're aware of that,” said Ellis High School Principal Donna Schmidt.
Many in the audience spoke in favor of the programs, along with board member and Ellis High Vocational Agriculture program alum Dean Gottschalk.
“Not every kid is able to go to college, so they go choose a Vo-Tech school,” Gottschalk said. “I chose a Vo-Tech school because of my instructor. And I feel I've done very well.”
“Two of my sons that went through this class. One that just graduated last year, has already graduated from welding class school in Wichita as a certified welder thanks to this program. I don't want to see any of this cut out of this program, me personally, because we are ag and oil field supported.”
He said losing the program would be “bad” for studentUSD s.
Hollern said it’s important to recruit incoming students to the program.
Audience members spoke to the same effort, including an emotional plea from the current Ellis High School FFA president, suggesting there could be many more potential students in the program if an effort was made.
“I don't disagree with that at all, that I think every program that we're looking at, with low involvement, could be said the same, unfortunately,” said board member Latisha Haag.
Some noted if the program was eliminated, the district would lose students to neighboring Hays and WaKeeney districts.
“You have to look at the emotional side of things, but you also need to look at the numbers side of things,” Hollern said. “I've got text messages, I've got emails of people saying, ‘We live close enough on the county line that we could probably go to a different district if our children want to pursue the Vo-Ag side of things' and stuff like that. So, there's a cost of us not having them available.”
He suggested having a fuller picture of the impact on enrollment if a program is cut should be a part of the discussion, and all options should be considered.
“We can't leave any stone unturned,” Hollern said. “How can we be creative? How can we try and save some of these programs and stuff as well? So, if we can come up with what, potentially with that part-time, savings would look like for us as a district, would I kind of like see what those numbers are.”
But as other rural districts face similar decisions, Wilson said there have been discussions of sharing staff across districts to cut costs and save programs.
And as the board mulled cuts to the program, other low-participation programs were noted.
“Is the declining enrollment correlation to the overall declining enrollment, is that why there's not interest?” Haag said. “I'm looking at one teacher who, outside of the junior high rotation, has 17 students. Is that because of declining enrollment across the high school, or are there other reasons that are factoring into that declining enrollment in those courses?”
While many on the board shared the desire to have a more complete picture of the district classes, programs and student participation, the need to include district staff and the community was noted as crucial.
“I would like to get input from the community and just have a brainstorm session because we're going to have to be creative,” said board member Cindy Hertel.
But time is short.
Ideally, any cut that would affect a teacher should be made prior to May 1.
“The sooner, the better, just because if we have people who need to look for a position, this is their livelihood, and we can't wait for too long out of respect for them,” Wilson said. “I believe that the final day is around May 17. But I would hope that we could do that a lot sooner.”
Board member Brian Shannon suggested a committee be formed to collect input and generate ideas for the board.
“I think we need to get more input, more involvement,” he said.
Haag echoed the desire to move as quickly as possible and to involve more people in the fact-finding and recommendation process. She said that by having that involvement, staff may better understand the district’s position.
“I think that some staff feel that the board has been very much against them this year with decisions,” she said. “And that's not the case. We're doing our best to make decisions that are best for the students in the district. And with the budget that we're facing. There are some tough decisions coming, but I still want to hear some of their suggestions.
“We have got to get on the same page because we are tearing our district apart. And we need to be a better district than that. We've got to start having conversations, tough conversations, that result in productive solutions, rather than talking behind everyone's back and going to the people that you think are going to solve your problem the way you want it solved. We've got to remedy that situation.”
“I get the impression from some staff that there is definitely some animosity there,” said Board President Randy Honas. “I don't really want to speculate on where that may come from or where it started from, but that's only going to get worse when we have to make these types of decisions.
“Everybody’s going to have to go into it with an open mind, understanding that it's pretty factual. You are not going to get what you want or all of what you want. You might get something. You are going to have to compromise. There's going to be some give and take.”
But he said the numbers do not lie.
“They are subject to change, they can get worse, they could get slightly better. But if they get worse, these conversations are going to be a lot tougher, and it's not anybody's fault. … As a board, I think we need to listen to other ideas, other possibilities, and other suggestions, knowing that many of those are going to be great ideas but may or may not.
Haag said she hopes as more voices are added to the discussions, generating ideas come to the forefront.
“I'm tired of the griping, I'm tired of the complaining, I want people to come with solutions, rather than just throwing out there how unhappy they are,” she said. “Because that's what I'm getting more of. And when I ask, ‘What's the solution?’ I'm not getting answers to that."
“We need to make sure that our programs, our staff, our school board, our administration, and the kids themselves have to buy into this as well,” Hollern said. “This is your school, and let's see what we can do to make this thing better.
“Those are tough decisions that we have to make. And that's why they voted us to be board members. Now we have to do what our responsibility is. Unfortunately, this is not the fun time.”
As the conversation continued, board member Stephanie Johnson questioned the overall goal of this first of many conversations that will happen in coming weeks and months.
“This is a sample of what’s to come,” Wilson said. “It’s not easy.”
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In other USD 388 board news
The Board unanimously voted to enter into the Hays West Central Special Education Cooperative Agreement with USD 489 Hays, USD 432 Victoria, USD 395 La Crosse and USD 407 Russell. The agreement will go into effect on July 1, 2024.
The coop was established by Hays to make special education services available to students in the participating districts.
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The search has begun for a new Ellis High School principal.
Current principal Donna Schmidt’s resignation was unanimously approved by the board during the meeting. She is set to serve the remainder of this year’s contract.
Applications are currently being accepted.
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Glassman Construction was selected as the contractor for the HVAC system replacement. The system upgrade was approved as part of a bond issue passed by voters last year.
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The board also approved the purchase of 85 new Lenovo laptops for student use. The purchase was paid through a grant.