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KSD faces budget problems and cutbacks - KansasCity.com
The Kansas Legislature has been considering severe cuts for agencies in proposals for the next state budget, including salary cuts and furloughs at the Johnson County District Court. What could the impact be for the Kansas School for the Deaf?
The latest information is that school could face a 5 percent cut in its overall budget. Superintendent Madeleine Burkindine reports that the Kansas School for the Deaf is constantly reviewing its budget to see how to make reductions without harming students’ education. That challenge becomes more difficult each year. This year is no different but no final decisions have been made.
On the good news side, the state budget looks like it will contain money for renovation of the Roth West Wing.
This renovation, expected to cost about $270,000, is required to bring the first floor in the west wing in line with fire safety requirements, among other matters.
While the Kansas Legislature considered giving generous tax breaks for businesses, it is still cutting back on needs for state agencies, including KSD, to provide essential services.
It is possible that the cutback in state funding for education in the local school districts is one of the reasons the KSD is seeing an increase in student enrollment. The latest count is 150 students, with another 10 to 15 students expected in August.
KSD is being asked to do more with the bare essentials of professional staff. The school has already lost approximately 40 positions over the past several years. From the 2007 to 2011, the staff level has dropped 20 to 25 percent while student enrollment increased 25 percent.
Several years ago, the State Board of Education adopted new guidelines and standards for education of students with disabilities — including deaf and hard of hearing students — for local school districts to use. Perhaps for this reason, parents and deaf students have been considering KSD as a viable option and more students are transferring to the school.
At the same time, the KSD outreach program has been trying to provide more educational services to parents, deaf students and local school districts to enable deaf students to obtain an appropriate education at their local school.
There are more than 700 identified deaf and hard of hearing students across Kansas who require services. Many counties have only one or two deaf students who need such services. It may not be cost-effective to provide qualified professional staff licensed in deaf education. In most cases, it is difficult or impossible to attract qualified staff to rural Kansas.
It is interesting to note that some rural and Wichita legislators do not want to approve the additional funding for KSD. It is the deaf and hard of hearing students from rural Kansas and the Wichita area, among others, who are currently coming to receive services at the Kansas School for the Deaf.
The Kansas Legislature has been considering severe cuts for agencies in proposals for the next state budget, including salary cuts and furloughs at the Johnson County District Court. What could the impact be for the Kansas School for the Deaf?
The latest information is that school could face a 5 percent cut in its overall budget. Superintendent Madeleine Burkindine reports that the Kansas School for the Deaf is constantly reviewing its budget to see how to make reductions without harming students’ education. That challenge becomes more difficult each year. This year is no different but no final decisions have been made.
On the good news side, the state budget looks like it will contain money for renovation of the Roth West Wing.
This renovation, expected to cost about $270,000, is required to bring the first floor in the west wing in line with fire safety requirements, among other matters.
While the Kansas Legislature considered giving generous tax breaks for businesses, it is still cutting back on needs for state agencies, including KSD, to provide essential services.
It is possible that the cutback in state funding for education in the local school districts is one of the reasons the KSD is seeing an increase in student enrollment. The latest count is 150 students, with another 10 to 15 students expected in August.
KSD is being asked to do more with the bare essentials of professional staff. The school has already lost approximately 40 positions over the past several years. From the 2007 to 2011, the staff level has dropped 20 to 25 percent while student enrollment increased 25 percent.
Several years ago, the State Board of Education adopted new guidelines and standards for education of students with disabilities — including deaf and hard of hearing students — for local school districts to use. Perhaps for this reason, parents and deaf students have been considering KSD as a viable option and more students are transferring to the school.
At the same time, the KSD outreach program has been trying to provide more educational services to parents, deaf students and local school districts to enable deaf students to obtain an appropriate education at their local school.
There are more than 700 identified deaf and hard of hearing students across Kansas who require services. Many counties have only one or two deaf students who need such services. It may not be cost-effective to provide qualified professional staff licensed in deaf education. In most cases, it is difficult or impossible to attract qualified staff to rural Kansas.
It is interesting to note that some rural and Wichita legislators do not want to approve the additional funding for KSD. It is the deaf and hard of hearing students from rural Kansas and the Wichita area, among others, who are currently coming to receive services at the Kansas School for the Deaf.