𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗰𝗮𝗻 𝗜 𝗱𝗼 𝘁𝗼 𝗵𝗲𝗹𝗽 𝘀𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝗦𝘁𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴𝘀?
- Stand Up Blue Valley
- 2 days ago
- 4 min read
Q: I’ve heard that BV Schools may cut its 5th-Grade Strings program. This is terrible! 𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗰𝗮𝗻 𝗜 𝗱𝗼 𝘁𝗼 𝗵𝗲𝗹𝗽 𝘀𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝗦𝘁𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴𝘀?!
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 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝗪𝗜𝗟𝗟 𝗯𝗲 𝗰𝘂𝘁𝘀 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟲-𝟮𝟳 𝗮𝗰𝗮𝗱𝗲𝗺𝗶𝗰 𝘆𝗲𝗮𝗿 𝘁𝗼 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘁𝘂𝗻𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝗮𝗯𝗼𝘂𝘁 $𝟭𝟬 𝗠𝗜𝗟𝗟𝗜𝗢𝗡, 𝘂𝗻𝗹𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗞𝗦 𝗟𝗲𝗴𝗶𝘀𝗹𝗮𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲 𝗮𝗴𝗿𝗲𝗲𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝗿𝗲𝗹𝗲𝗮𝘀𝗲 𝗮𝗹𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗱𝘆 𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗺𝗮𝗿𝗸𝗲𝗱 𝗳𝘂𝗻𝗱𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝘀𝗰𝗵𝗼𝗼𝗹𝘀. Since most of the operating budget is spent on staff, eliminating jobs will be necessary; that includes teachers. This is why it’s 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 “fully funded,” 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 “adequate” 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. 𝗦𝗼 𝗕𝗩 𝗦𝗰𝗵𝗼𝗼𝗹𝘀 𝗶𝘀 𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗰𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗼 𝘁𝗮𝗸𝗲 𝗺𝗼𝗻𝗲𝘆 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝗼𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿 𝗳𝘂𝗻𝗱𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝗰𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗲𝘅𝗰𝗲𝘀𝘀 - 𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆 𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗴𝗹𝗲 𝘆𝗲𝗮𝗿.
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.
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 𝙘𝙪𝙩 to be able to fully fund excess SPED costs like it’s 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.
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: 𝗬𝗼𝘂 𝘀𝗵𝗼𝘂𝗹𝗱 𝗲𝗺𝗮𝗶𝗹 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗞𝗦 𝗦𝗲𝗻𝗮𝘁𝗼𝗿 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗞𝗦 𝗛𝗼𝘂𝘀𝗲 𝗥𝗲𝗽𝗿𝗲𝘀𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗮𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲. 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 can’t BV Schools take money it uses to build schools and athletic fields and redirect those dollars toward 5th-Grade Strings?
A: 𝗕𝘆 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝗹𝗮𝘄 (𝗞𝘀𝗟𝗲𝗴, 𝗮𝗴𝗮𝗶𝗻), 𝗕𝗩 𝗦𝗰𝗵𝗼𝗼𝗹𝘀 𝗰𝗮𝗻𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝘂𝘀𝗲 𝗳𝘂𝗻𝗱𝘀 𝗮𝗹𝗹𝗼𝗰𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗯𝘂𝗶𝗹𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴/𝗺𝗮𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗮𝗶𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗳𝗮𝗰𝗶𝗹𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗲𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝗽𝗮𝘆 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝘁𝗲𝗮𝗰𝗵𝗲𝗿𝘀 - like 5th-Grade Strings teachers.
*𝘐𝘊𝘠𝘔𝘐 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘴 𝘕𝘖𝘛 𝘰𝘯𝘭𝘺 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘰𝘳𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘢. 𝘕𝘖 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘮 𝘰𝘳 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘧𝘧 𝘪𝘴 𝘰𝘧𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦.
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 don’t receive):
