By CRISTINA JANNEY
Hays Post
The Hays USD 489 school board voted to lower student fees for the 2022-23 school year at its meeting Monday.
Multiple fees were lowered. Parents of elementary school students will save $20 per student. Middle school fees were reduced by $32. Parents of high school students will save at least $36.
In addition, the $35 summer weights fee was eliminated, and the driver's education fee for in-district students was dropped from $225 to $175. The driver's education fee for out-of-district students was dropped from $275 to $225.
Superintendent Ron Wilson said the district was able to eliminate the technology repair fee because all of the district's computers and iPads will be under warranty for the next three years.
The administration recommended keeping the $90 textbook fee for all students. Wilson said the district is spending all of the textbook funds that it takes in annually through fees.
Revenue from textbook fees ranges from $190,000 to $230,000 each year.
Last year, the district spent about $626,000 from the textbook fund, and the year before it spent about $740,000 from the fund.
The textbook fund is used to buy textbooks, including online subscriptions; curriculum; and consumables, such as student workbooks.
The district transferred $300,000 each of the last two years from the general fund into the textbook fund to supplement revenue from fees. The balance coming into this year was $718,000. Members of the board asked if capital outlay funds can be used for textbooks. They can't.
Chris Hipp, assistant superintendent of business services, said the district had not planned to transfer any funds from the general fund into the textbook fund this year. He is estimating the July 1 balance in the textbook fund will be about $350,000.
The transfers were made in anticipation of several large curriculum purchases upcoming.
Earlier in the evening, the board approved $51,000 in purchases for curriculum material.
"This is revenue," Wilson said of the textbook fees. "You have to look at this as revenue that we will use to help our kids in the classrooms every day."
Board President Tammy Wellbrock said the district is not making money off families. The textbook fees are pass-through fees.
Board member Allen Park said he would like the textbook fee to go to zero. Park suggested dropping the textbook fee to $45.
"I think it is time we be champions for kids and put our money where our mouth is," Park said.
Wilson said the textbook fee cuts could affect the district's budget in the future.
The COVID relief funds the district has received in the last three years will not be available in the future. State funding levels may change after schools are out from the protection of the Gannon lawsuit that required the Kansas Legislature to increase K-12 education funding, Wilson said.
Board member Ken Brooks suggested the local option budget, which is a local mill levy, could be raised to bring in more revenue for the school district. However, an increase in the local option budget, also referred to as the LOB, has to be approved by voters.
The district has already passed the deadline for an LOB increase for the upcoming budget year, which is set to start July 1.
Wellbrock said she thought voters would be unlikely to approve another mill levy increase after just approving a $143.5 million bond issue.
"I would love to be able to say to the parents and my friends, we were able to get you a savings," Wellbrock said, "but it is really difficult to tell them we are going to charge you more now because we cut too much. ...
"Part of what we have to do from these chairs is not look at it from where we would like it as a parent, but how we have to manage a budget for this business."
Board member Curt Vajnar made a motion to amend the administration's proposal and cut textbook fees for elementary students from $90 to $50.
Board member Craig Palliser said he did not support the motion because he thought the decrease was too large.
The motion failed with Vajnar, Park and Brooks voting for and the rest of the board voting against it.
Pallister followed with a motion to decrease the elementary textbook fee from $90 to $70.
Wilson said he thought the district should be able to make up for the loss in revenue in the coming school year, but the board will have to make decisions on how it will support the textbook fund in the long term.
"I love the idea of helping families, but my job is to manage this district financially," Wilson said.
Vajnar said, "We're really good at increasing, increasing, increasing, but we don't make cuts very often."
That motion passed with board member Lori Hertel the lone no vote.