USD 244 Board of Education would like to gain public input on the future of Burlington Elementary School facilities.  The accompanying document was discussed at town hall meetings on October 17^th and 22^nd.   If you were not able to attend one of these meetings, we invite you to review the document at your convenience.  If you have any questions, you may reach out to members of the board (usd244ks.org/boardmembers) or Superintendent Craig Marshall at cmarshall@usd244ks.org. 

Town Hall Information Document

BHS Students:   Now is your chance to order your 24-25 yearbook!   

Josten’s Yearbooks

USD 244 Board of Education members do an excellent job serving our students, staff, community, and me as your superintendent.  In case you didn’t know, board members are not paid.  It is a true community service position that requires a lot of time and effort. 

Here are some of the things that board members have done in the months of October and November.  We had a linkage meeting with the Coffey County Evangelical Ministerial Alliance for an hour before the regular board meeting on October 14.  We followed this meeting with our regularly scheduled board meeting.  Board members get the board agenda and packet a few days before the meeting and review the material ahead of time to be prepared for the board meeting.  The board also hosted two open house/town hall meetings at BES that lasted about 3 hours each night on October 17 and 22.  Board members get a weekly Friday Notes e-mail from me sharing information related to the school district from the past week.  They read this information and talk to me as needed about the updates.  On November 4, board members reviewed Construction Manager At Risk (CMAR) companies for the BHS welding shop remodel/addition.  There were six excellent construction companies evaluated for over 2.5 hours.  This process will continue with formal interviews of the three companies chosen to present on November 22.  The board will meet again on November 25 to choose a construction company for the project.  The regular board meeting occurred on November 11.  Some board members gave up their weekend Nov. 15-18 to attend the Kansas Association of School Board convention to learn and grow in their community service.  James Higgins, board president, Lucas Allen, board vice-president, Stacy Augustyn, Monique Hart, Ron Hess, Selena King, and Bob Plummer all deserve our gratitude and respect for the work they do for USD 244. 

The board has asked for information from the public about the future of BES.  Here are the facts that everyone needs to know:

• The board has not made a decision on what we should do.  They have spent a lot of time gathering information trying to determine what we need to do to meet current and future needs for our students and staff.
• There are not unused hallways or classrooms at BES.  There are some rooms that are used to provide supports and accommodations throughout the day for students with special needs.    
• We don’t have the ability to move 5^th grade back down to BES with the current set up.  Some people may think we have a few rooms that could be converted to classrooms.  That is true, but we don’t have enough space to meet the needs of 5^th grade students and staff without creating challenges for our PK-4^th grade students and staff.  There are other problems like our space in the lunchroom to accommodate 60 plus additional students for meals, parking for additional staff, traffic for the addition of the 5^th grade parents picking up their kids, special classes like music/PE/library during the day, etc.  This is something that Mrs. Darla Long and I have evaluated.  5^th grade really can’t move back to BES as it stands now. 
• We aren’t looking at a new BES just because of growth potential in the county.  We are looking at the current needs of BES as well as the future.  When I first started teaching 34 years ago in 1991, I was a 2^nd grade teacher.  We didn’t have paraprofessionals, OT, PT, speech/language, school psychologists, counselors as well as many other staff in the schools when I first started teaching.  It is not about the student count in the building.  It is about the different needs of kids from 1983 and 1989 when the original wings were built compared to the needs now.  It is about investing a lot of money (maybe $15 million) for a remodel/addition in a land-locked neighborhood.  If we do this and realize in 5-10 years we need more space, we don’t think the community will support another bond issue before the first one is paid off. 
• BES is in really good shape as well.  The board and administration have done a super job maintaining our facilities.  It is just time for upgrades at BES like flooring, lighting, cabinetry, etc.  There will be bigger ticket items in the future like a roof.  The question now is do we put money in a facility that is 35-40 years old without much land to expand.  If we had 8-10 acres of land by the current BES, I could tell you the decision to add on/renovate at BES would be easy. 
• Adding on/renovating will be less expensive.  It will also be more disruptive and may not meet our current and future needs. 
• BES staff received information on the possible options, costs, and pros/cons related to future construction projects and improvements.  They had the option to do an anonymous survey on what they would support.  There were 50 responses.  43 said build a new school.  6 said add on/renovate.  1 said neither.

Here are some other factual items of interest that have come up in the survey information:

• USD 244 has the third lowest school district tax rate in the state of Kansas.  The only two lower are Ft. Leavenworth and Elkhart.  Ft. Leavenworth doesn’t really count as they get many tax breaks as a military school.  Our mill levy has decreased over the past 15 years.  Our board of education has been excellent stewards of taxpayer money. 
• Taxes were not raised for the Wildcat Athletic Complex Turf.  The district has raised capital outlay taxes twice since I have been here for the BHS/BMS science room renovations and the 40-year-old BHS gym renovation.  That was an increase of one mill for five years.  Due to savings from that project, we were able to fund about one-third of the 1^st grade renovation at BES.  That mill was removed from the taxpayers after five years just like we said it would.  We added this year 1 mill for three years for a BHS Vo-Ag welding shop renovation and addition.  That mill will go away in three years just like the previous project. 
• All employee salaries, benefits, leave, retirement contributions, and other items too numerous to mention have improved a lot over the past nine years while I have been the superintendent at USD 244.  Here are a couple of examples.  Starting pay for paraprofessionals has increased from $8.25/hr. to $13.25/hr. over the past 9 years.  Teacher base salaries have increased $5,137 over the past four years.  Salaries come from the general fund.  The way to increase general fund money is to get more money from the state by the legislature increasing the amount of aid per student, increasing enrollment in the district, or raise local taxes.
• USD 244 is firmly a 3A school.  Our enrollment for grades 9-12 is 23^rd out of 64 schools.  Some people mention that we were once a 4A school.  Remember that is when the Kansas State High School Activities Association (KSHSAA) had two classifications of 4A (4A Division 1 and 4A Division 2).  They don’t have 4A in two classifications any longer. 
• The Burlington Early Learning Center (BELC) does not use any general fund money to operate.  They rely completely on fees, donations, and grants for their operating costs.  The research shows that early learning is so important for student growth and development.  Our BELC and PK programs are vital for student growth and development. 
• There have been some comments about student enrollment decreasing in the district.  That is true compared to 34 years ago.  One thing that people need to remember is that the needs of students are different than 34 years ago.  In 1990, Burlington Elementary School had 36 fewer staff members than we do now!  This is based on student needs and additional staff to meet these needs. 
• Documents on our website will give you tax information for houses, businesses, and farmland for a possible bond issue. 

The board and I thank you for your interest in our district.  Public education is such a vital part of the fiber of a community. 

If you have any questions, please contact a board member or me at cmarshall@usd244ks.org.  We really appreciate your input on this challenging decision.

GO CATS!