March 1 - Kansas City, Kansas Public Schools

Wyandotte West – March 12, 2009Candidates disagree on building programs followingteacher budget cutsby Mary RupertMarch 12 – A challenger for the Kansas City, Kansas, School Board said March 11 at a forum that he wouldnot support building new projects in the district as long as teachers are being cut.“No new projects, no new programs,” said Sam Stilwell, candidate for the school board. “We have qualityteachers doing wonderful jobs.”It was just one day after the school board announced possible budget cuts of 120 to 150 employees, includingteachers. The district is facing cuts of perhaps $16 million to $21 million from the state, although the cuts arenot final yet.Stillwell made his remarks at the Wednesday evening candidates’ forum at Kansas City Kansas CommunityCollege.Incumbent Linda Pendleton said that if the district continues its construction projects, such as building a newpreschool, funding would be from its capital outlay fund, and the money in that fund can be used only forbuilding projects, not for teacher salaries.“We are not just cutting teachers,” she said. “We are cutting from the cabinet, clear on down.”Asked if she had to prioritize the projects, she said she would place the project for a new building for thechildren at Indian Springs first.“We have a deadline to move all those children out of there,” she said.Incumbent Vicki Meyer said more than 80 percent of the district’s budget goes to staff and salaries. If thedistrict doesn’t cut staff, it would have to cut more from programs such as art, music and sports, she said.She said the district layoffs started with 20 percent of the administration, then included 10 percent of the restof the staff, including teachers.“Capital outlay cannot be used for salaries,” she noted.If she had to prioritize capital projects, she would put the preschool and Indian Springs offices first, becausethe district has no choice but to find new places for them, she said. The current space is part of a revitalizationproject, with plans to tear down the mall and rebuild.Challenger Evelyn Hudson said she would like to have more information before she set any priorities fordistrict facilities.Stillwell said his top goals would be to protect the classroom, decrease classroom sizes, and support teachersas best as possible.He said he supported more restructuring in administrative offices, perhaps heavy restructuring.“I’d start at the top and work my way down before letting teachers go,” Stillwell said. “I’d exhaust everyother resource before looking at that.”Meyer said the district had to start the process now because the district is under strict guidelines of notifyingpeople about their jobs, and also it allows employees more time to look for jobs. She said in any of the differentoptions, the district is looking at cutting some teachers as well as administrators and other staff.Pendleton said it was a very difficult decision, and the board looked at each option. She said she realizes it isdifficult to look for a job when there are none out there, but the district was forced to look at the situation March10. It is a courtesy to let employees know as early as possible about the potential jobs cuts, she added.Hudson, a challenger, said there are some difficult decisions that have to be made, and sometimes boardmembers must do what they do not want to do.“This is a tough season to be on the Board of Education,” Hudson said.