NICK GOSNELL
Hutch Post
HUTCHINSON, Kan. — The Kansas Attorney General's Office is seeking to have the Gannon school finance lawsuit terminated. Hutchinson USD 308 Superintendent Dr. Dawn Johnson isn't sure it's time for that yet.
"The Attorney General may be a little bit premature in wanting to dismiss the case," Johnson said. "He's claiming that the phase in was complete on June 30. There is a statute out there that says, this school year, fiscal year 2024, is the first year for the CPI adjustment. Keep in mind that current year funding is based on last year's enrollment, but it's based on this year's weightings. September 20 just happened where we counted our enrollment."
That September 20 count still must be verified by an audit, which usually isn't finished until Spring and often isn't completely done before the end of the school year.
"We don't yet know what that audit's going to look like, or have all of the data from all of the schools to see what this year's weighting is," Johnson said. "I think it may be a little bit premature to say that we've really completed the phase in portion of this."
The current funding formula is only authorized for a few more years as it stands now.
"July 1, 2027, the school funding is going to go away," Johnson said. "There's no follow up funding yet on what that might look like. There's a whole lot of things going on around school funding. We'll keep our eye on it, for sure."
Schools for Fair Funding still has over 30 dues paying members. The group continues monitoring the situation each legislative session.
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