๐ช๐ต๐ฎ๐ ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ป ๐ ๐ฑ๐ผ ๐๐ผ ๐ต๐ฒ๐น๐ฝ ๐๐ฎ๐๐ฒ ๐ฆ๐๐ฟ๐ถ๐ป๐ด๐?
- Stand Up Blue Valley
- Feb 21
- 4 min read
Q: Iโve heard that BV Schools may cut its 5th-Grade Strings program. This is terrible! ๐ช๐ต๐ฎ๐ ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ป ๐ ๐ฑ๐ผ ๐๐ผ ๐ต๐ฒ๐น๐ฝ ๐๐ฎ๐๐ฒ ๐ฆ๐๐ฟ๐ถ๐ป๐ด๐?!
A: We completely agree that 5th-Grade Strings is a valuable program. (Some of our own kids have participated over the years.) Parents are right to be concerned about cutting it. The BV School Board has NOT made a decision on the program - or any possible cuts - yet. But what they HAVE made clear - and what BV parents need to know - is that ๐๐ต๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐ช๐๐๐ ๐ฏ๐ฒ ๐ฐ๐๐๐ ๐ณ๐ผ๐ฟ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ฎ๐ฌ๐ฎ๐ฒ-๐ฎ๐ณ ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฑ๐ฒ๐บ๐ถ๐ฐ ๐๐ฒ๐ฎ๐ฟ ๐๐ผ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐๐๐ป๐ฒ ๐ผ๐ณ ๐ฎ๐ฏ๐ผ๐๐ $๐ญ๐ฌ ๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ข๐ก, ๐๐ป๐น๐ฒ๐๐ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐๐ฆ ๐๐ฒ๐ด๐ถ๐๐น๐ฎ๐๐๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐ฎ๐ด๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฒ๐ ๐๐ผ ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐น๐ฒ๐ฎ๐๐ฒ ๐ฎ๐น๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฎ๐ฑ๐ ๐ฒ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐บ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ธ๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐ณ๐๐ป๐ฑ๐ ๐๐ผ ๐๐ฐ๐ต๐ผ๐ผ๐น๐. Since most of the operating budget is spent on staff, eliminating jobs will be necessary; that includes teachers. This is why itโs critically important for KsLeg to fully fund SPED - freeing up those dollars for BV Schools to retain teachers & staff that directly serve students.
Q: Wait. I keep hearing that KS public schools are โfully funded,โ so why would BV Schools need to make budget cuts within our district?
A: This can definitely be confusing. In KS, public schools ARE adequately funded on a per-pupil basis (though it took a lot of work on the part of Gov. Laura Kelly - and a ruling by the KS Supreme Court - to get the legislature to meet the โadequateโ per-pupil funding threshold). HOWEVER, some districts - including BV - spend millions of dollars above the per-pupil cost to educate students with Special Education needs. BV Schools has a notable percentage of students receiving SPED services, so this especially impacts districts like ours. State law says the KsLeg should ALSO fund 92% of these excess SPED costs - but the legislature has ignored the law and refused to fully fund excess SPED costs for many years. ๐ฆ๐ผ ๐๐ฉ ๐ฆ๐ฐ๐ต๐ผ๐ผ๐น๐ ๐ถ๐ ๐ณ๐ผ๐ฟ๐ฐ๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐๐ผ ๐๐ฎ๐ธ๐ฒ ๐บ๐ผ๐ป๐ฒ๐ ๐ณ๐ฟ๐ผ๐บ ๐ผ๐๐ต๐ฒ๐ฟ ๐ณ๐๐ป๐ฑ๐ ๐๐ผ ๐ฐ๐ผ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ ๐๐ต๐ฎ๐ ๐ฒ๐ ๐ฐ๐ฒ๐๐ - ๐ฒ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ ๐๐ถ๐ป๐ด๐น๐ฒ ๐๐ฒ๐ฎ๐ฟ.
Q: So if this SPED underfunding has been going on for years - why the problem now?
A: This has actually been a problem for years, but has now reached critical mass. BV CFO Jeremy McFadden explained this during his presentation at the Jan. 12, 2026 BOE meeting. BV Schools has pulled money from district cash reserves every year to cover the SPED funding shortfall, but now reserves are too low to do that anymore.ย
Q: Why does a school district need cash reserves, anyway?
A: This was also covered by CFO McFadden. Large one-time expenditures; unexpected increases in cost of utilities or other expenses, etc. Multiple times before Gov. Kelly took office, the state was late with its payments to districts - they had to pull from reserves to make payroll and pay bills on time.
Q: OK, so this is actually an issue for the KS Legislature then. But what would KsLeg have to ๐๐ช๐ฉ to be able to fully fund excess SPED costs like itโs legally supposed to do?
A: NOTHING! The money is already in the public education budget. Because enrollment is lower than projected (largely due to a nationwide decline in birthrate), there is EXCESS money available in the K-12 Education budget. Legislators must simply agree to use those funds for...get this...K-12 Education.ย
Q: I know the legislature is often unresponsive to school funding needs. I want to bypass KsLeg and vote to raise taxes in Blue Valley to pay for the program I care about.
A: State law (the KS Legislature) prohibits that. BV Schools has a Local Option Budget (LOB) that the BOE (representing the voters who elected them) may use to raise local funds - but the KsLeg caps the LOB amount allowed, and BV has been at that cap for a while now.
Q: So, who exactly should I email to save 5th-Grade Strings in Blue Valley*?
A: ๐ฌ๐ผ๐ ๐๐ต๐ผ๐๐น๐ฑ ๐ฒ๐บ๐ฎ๐ถ๐น ๐๐ผ๐๐ฟ ๐๐ฆ ๐ฆ๐ฒ๐ป๐ฎ๐๐ผ๐ฟ ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐๐ฆ ๐๐ผ๐๐๐ฒ ๐ฅ๐ฒ๐ฝ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐๐ฒ๐ป๐๐ฎ๐๐ถ๐๐ฒ. Tell them you want district staff and programs to remain intact. You want the funds already in the K-12 Education Budget to be used to fund schools by fully funding excess Special Education costs. Funding education on a per-pupil basis is not enough for districts with high SPED costs like Blue Valley.
Q: If KsLeg refuses to release the funds that are already allocated for K-12 Education, why canโt BV Schools take money it uses to build schools and athletic fields and redirect those dollars toward 5th-Grade Strings?
A: ๐๐ ๐๐๐ฎ๐๐ฒ ๐น๐ฎ๐ (๐๐๐๐ฒ๐ด, ๐ฎ๐ด๐ฎ๐ถ๐ป), ๐๐ฉ ๐ฆ๐ฐ๐ต๐ผ๐ผ๐น๐ ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ป๐ป๐ผ๐ ๐๐๐ฒ ๐ณ๐๐ป๐ฑ๐ ๐ฎ๐น๐น๐ผ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐ณ๐ผ๐ฟ ๐ฏ๐๐ถ๐น๐ฑ๐ถ๐ป๐ด/๐บ๐ฎ๐ถ๐ป๐๐ฎ๐ถ๐ป๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐ณ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ถ๐น๐ถ๐๐ถ๐ฒ๐ ๐๐ผ ๐ฝ๐ฎ๐ ๐ณ๐ผ๐ฟ ๐๐ฒ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ต๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ - like 5th-Grade Strings teachers.ย
*๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐ช๐ด ๐๐๐ ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ญ๐บ ๐ข๐ฃ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ต ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ค๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ด๐ต๐ณ๐ข. ๐๐ ๐ฑ๐ณ๐ฐ๐จ๐ณ๐ข๐ฎ ๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ด๐ต๐ข๐ง๐ง ๐ช๐ด ๐ฐ๐ง๐ง ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ข๐ฃ๐ญ๐ฆ.
Email addresses for all BV-area KS legislators are below. We suggest you email them ALL. Be sure to sign with your full name and address. Then, note the differences in the responses you receive (or donโt receive):
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