How the School Board Can - and CanNOT - Use Tax Money
“Blue Valley Schools has TONS of money! Look at the new aux gym they built, that addition to the high school, those stadium renovations. Our School Board should spend that money on hiring more teachers to lower class sizes instead!”
STOP RIGHT THERE.
Capital Funds and Bond Funds (used to build new buildings, improve existing buildings, and pay for large tech purchases, as examples) canNOT be used as Operating Funds. Capital Funds and Bond Funds canNOT be used by the School Board to pay teacher salaries. It’s the law in Kansas.
Kansas School funding can be confusing. Local anti-public education forces use that confusion to turn voters against our neighborhood schools. This has been going on for years, by the way. Certainly as far back as 2012 - if not earlier.
“Wouldn’t you rather have lower class sizes than (computers, a better football complex, a new elementary school...)? We need a school board with the right priorities for our kids!”
But our School Board doesn’t have that power. The Kansas Legislature does. KsLeg allocates the district’s Operating Funds (or not). KsLeg puts money toward our kids’ education (or NOT). Any person or organization telling you otherwise - or promising you “We’ll figure out a work-around” - is LYING to you. We’re hearing several accounts of this false narrative lately, so it’s important to set the record straight...again.
This is NOT the first time this lie has been told to Blue Valley voters, but it needs to be the last. If you want smaller class sizes, better teacher pay, trained personnel to support learning interventions that help students succeed, funding for sports coaches, cheer & dance coaches, music & fine arts teachers and coaches, etc. - take it up with your state senator and KS House Rep. THEY call the funding shots. If you aren’t sure how those legislators have voted to fund our BV Schools - or NOT - be sure to go back through our Facebook page to learn more.
Our BV School Board does important work - and we need highly-qualified, experienced, non-partisan individuals to do it. Make sure you understand exactly what our School Board can - and canNOT - do with finances in the first place.
