NICK GOSNELL
Hutch Post
HUTCHINSON, Kan. — School consolidation is the third rail of K-12 discussions in Kansas, but as he prepares to retire from Hutchinson USD 308 at the end of the month, superintendent Mike Folks admits its something the state needs to at least look at, even though it is complex.
"I think there needs to be some incentives for school districts based on educational opportunities," Folks said. "We go back to what's best for kids in getting an education and having the electives. I think it should be incentivized, where districts can consolidate on their own and it's not just based on sparsity, it's based on some other factors."
Because of the way the school finance formula works, there are some advantages to having fewer students in terms of getting more money for those students. According to the Kansas Department of Education, low enrollment weighting applies to school districts with Full Time Equivalency (FTE) enrollments that are less than 1,622 and the weighting is calculated on two linear transitions: for districts with 100 or fewer students the weighting is 101.4 percent of the enrollment of the district, and that amount transitions to approximately 3.5 percent of the enrollment of the district as the enrollment approaches 1,622 students.
"I fully support local decisions on their schools," Folks said. "Small schools, which I've led, I've attended, provide a great education. When you look at how much taxation is local, versus how much of it is equalization, which comes from, you know, state income tax and sales tax, versus just the local property tax, that's where it gets complex."
Folks noted a comparison from several years ago what at the time he considered an apples to apples comparison between two counties.
"There was a very smart legislator that shared that in Doniphan County, there's five school districts, 632 square miles, 1400 kids," Folks said. "Clay County, USD 379, 632 square miles, 1400 kids, one school district. The state paid $10 million more a year in Doniphan County to educate those kids, because of low correlation weighting."
The last time consolidation was forced in Kansas, according to Folks, was 1965.