It wasn’t the Wichita school district’s idea to propose annexing land from the Circle school district. The Bel Aire City Council asked USD 259 to make the proposal because it doesn’t like its city split between two school districts. The council will decide whether Wichita pursues the annexation. But if it gives the go-ahead, the process likely will be contentious. Circle’s superintendent said her school board would oppose the annexation. If so, that would cause it to go to mediation and then, possibly, to the State Board of Education for a decision. Wichita taxpayers also will need to know more about why it is in their best interests to expand the district and help pay to build new schools.
Posted by Phillip Brownlee
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36 Comments
The first question that occurs to me is why the Circle district extends into Sedgwick County? As well, why does the Andover district do the same?
Generally the larger a political entity is, the less it should cost taxpayers. This is why many city-county partnerships are occuring with things like police, fire, 911 and highway maintenance. Really the Wichita School District should be the Wichita-Sedgewick School District and should run all the schools within the county. Just like Wal*Mart, the bigger you are, the better deals you can get on supplies and contracts while at the same time you save on efficiencies of scale.
Vaughn,
Wichita Public Schools District #259 doesn’t even include all the city limits of _Wichita._ Parts of the far western and far eastern neighborhoods are in the Maize and Andover districts. Of course, those are some of the wealthiest neighborhoods in Wichita, yet that tax money leaves USD259 and goes to the other districts, instead. It’s a further reduction in the tax base used to fund our local schools.
Yeah, I know, Tom; but at least Maize is in Sedgwick County. It seems to me that there should be some way to redraw district lines such that the entirety of the City of Wichita, as defined by its limits, lies within USD 259.
Vaughn,
Two words: “white flight.”
The people that live inside Wichita city limits, but outside USD259 boundaries, _like_ it that way. They get Wichita city services, but don’t have to send their kids to those horrible schools…
/sarcasm off
Renwick also straddles county lines. I think the history is that when the USDs were put together they were ‘centered’ around towns and county lines didn’t enter the picture. So, for example, the Andover district was close to the town of Andover. Wichita (back then) was far away.
VT, I don’t see the kind of changes you propose taking place. In many cases, for example, Goddard school people long lived in unincorporated Sedgwick County just a few miles from their neighborhood Goddard schools. For you the change their district just because the City annexed their homes is likely to create fights. Especially when they have friends and relatives who live in the Cith of Goddard and they see their roots as being there.
“that tax money leaves USD259 and goes to the other districts”
That is like saying that my tax money leaves Georgia and goes to another state (Kansas) because I live in Kansas. ZERO USD 259 money leaves 259. 265 money stays inside 265.
I think you hit it on the head, Tom.
Ben, I know I’m not being realistic. Actually, I’m for one school district per county, which I know won’t happen any time soon, if ever.
One question would be how do we get from here to there. For example, I have voted YES for bond issues that indebt 265. Would ‘my share’ follow me to 259? Or how about the 165 schools that have been annexed into the City of Wichita? Or the 259 schools that are OUTSIDE of Wichita?
I don’t know that I would go for districts being coterminous with counties but I do think many need to be merged. There are cases where a home at the edge of County ‘A’ might be closer to a population center in County ‘B’ than to one in ‘A’
Tom – remember, we PAY for whatever city services we might receive for having been annexed by Wichita. That has zero to do with school taxes.
There are many people out at the fringes of Wichita who consider themselves to be “Goddardites” rather than Wichitans. The fact that Wichita has annexed them does not change that. There is a lot of history around the small towns in Sedgwich County.
Interesting that this has been sparked by ANOTHER CITY wanting 259 to annex it for schools while NOT paying for Wichita city services.
Ben,
I think another analogy, one that supports _my_ view (neener, neener), would be the situation where Overland Park, KS residents register their cars in Missouri, where they work, to escape the much-higher Kansas vehicle property taxes. It goes on all the time.
IMO, people are getting the benefit of living in one municipality, and sending their kids to public schools in another city. For some, it is just an annexation issue. For others, it’s intentional. Again, IMO.
Yes, Ben, I find that interesting as well. I am sympathetic to Bel Aire’s not wanting the town “split” into two school districts, but it looks like the city council wants 259 to “fight the fight”, not it.
And Ben, I understand the issues surrounding the district boundaries being coterminous with the “county lines”. So, the part I didn’t post earlier on one district per county. “Free choice as to which school to enroll where a school in another district is closer”, which makes sense to me given the school funding scheme here in Kansas. Hey, I’m all for “choice” among the various schools in a district, except a proscription on change of school merely to participate in extracurricular activities (more or less prohibited to some extent by KSHSAA rules anyway). Yep, many issues there, too.
On the bright side, this isn’t New York City. That school district spans _five_ counties, and has over a million students. (Yes, one million students in one school district. ACK)
White Flight is an accurate term as described by Tom.
Maize has grown exponentially in the past two decades because of the flight, which includes by the way, people of color and affluent enough to move to Maize.
The amount of bus riding hours in Wichita has also increased. Some of these poor kids are on a school bus 1-2 hours before and after school.
A lot of parents dislike that about large school districts like Wichita that need to bus students all the way across Wichita to attend a Magnet School or keep the balancing standard of the 1970s in whole.
Tom – the Goddard school that my grandchildren attended last year is in the City of Wichita (due to annexation) and is paid for with my taxes. Remember Tom, none of your Wichita taxes go to support 265 schools.
Should Bel Aire residents benefit from being served by Wichita schools when they do not pay Wichita taxes?
I think the problem is that many school districts carry city names. That leads to confusion between the district and the unrelated city.
A solution for you – prohibit the City of Wichita from annexing outside of 259. Works for me!
“That leads to confusion between the district and the unrelated city.”
You’re right, it does. It leads some to think that all the property taxes, residential, commercial and industrial, inside the City of Wichita, goes to support USD259. Most troublesome? _State _legislators_ who believe this. I’m not kidding.
Shouldn’t jump in here when I don’t have all the facts. Three of my grandchildren attend Wichita (259) schools although their home is in the Maize district. It’s all above board, no misrepresentation. In fact, 259 receives extra funds for each of those three students. How does that work and why?
Tom, I know you’re not kidding. I’ve a brother who is on a school board (not local) who has shaken his head in conversations with me about conversations with the legislators who “serve” his area.
Linda, a bit hazy here on the detail, but IIRC, that’s all a part of the school finance scheme. Maize had to “permit” it to happen (given the status of their schools insofar as room is concerned, likely not a big issue), and 259, of course, is happy to have them and the $$ accompanying them.
I’m sure you’re right. It’s more funds for 259 than it would have been if they lived in the district. And I think it comes from the state. Didn’t make sense to me when I heard it and still don’t understand the why more money to transfer into 259.
linda – is there a particular reason they go to 259?
The two older are in the IB program at East, the younger attends a grade school one block from my home because I am retired and those hours are more flexible than those of her parents. ;-)
I think a bigger issue is small districts 1A 2a schools especially ones close to larger districts like flinthills in butler county that has like 40 kids, why cant they go to El dorado or bluestem, saves tax dollars in the long run
Good points. One good thing with the new finance formula is that the $$$ follows them.
Using Linda’s example to support my thesis: My extended family all live in 165 – one in Goddard city and the other two in “suburbs” of Goddard. Those “suburbs of Goddard” have been annexed into Wichita.
I live closer to a Goddard grade school than I do to a Wichita grade school. The distances to the high schools are about equal I think. So, if I had the grandkids I would want to to go the the same schools they would go to with my Goddard City resident son.
The good thing about the system as it exists now is that we can have the flexibility to do these things. BTW – everything I have heard saus the IB program is EXCELLENT.
The IB program at East is very good, but very inflexible. Our daughter went to East, and took all the Honors classes she could. Quite a few of them were mostly IB kids. She got the best of both opportunities!
Tom, My oldest grandson graduated East in 2006. I don’t know your daughters age. Is it possible they attended school together and know one another?
Linda,
Our daughter also graduated in 06. It’s very possible they knew each other, but also likely they didn’t. She was very focused on JrROTC and Journalism.
Did she work on The Messenger? If so, I know for sure they worked together!
Linda,
She absolutely did. So yeah, they certainly know one another. Email me at tom@mulliganvalley.com
If you ever want to understand property tax issues, go to the County Clerk or to GIS and ask for a “Tax Unit Map” —
There are roughly 105 different taxing authorities. You are only in one County. EVERYONE is in Sedgwick County. Then, you are EITHER in a Township or in a City. Either one or the other. And only ONE! Next, the USD overlay.Nobody has mentioned the fact that Derby School District takes in many Wichita residents, on the Southeast side of Wichita.The City of Mulvane and the City of Andover are in two different counties. That is a headache for the property tax people.Also, several USD’s are in more than one county.Of course, you have cemetary districts, drainage districts, water districts etc that also complicate the mix.
A “tax unit” is a contiguous area of identical jurisdiction and taxation” — There are literally thousands of “tax units” in Sedgwick County.
(It is more complicated than that, since the “specials” issue does treat some people, in the same, exact, jurisdiction -combination, in a different way.)
Anyway, the school district boundaries do not conform, in any way shape or form, to the city boundaries. It is fair to say that at least some of the people in each city MIGHT go to a school district with the same name.
However, look at Park City. Wichita, USD 259 takes some of the Park City kids. I think Kechi gets a few more on the East side of town. I think Valley Center might get a few on the West.
Schools are a source of identity. I think the politics are hard enough as they are. There is no reason to combine the political headaches of school boundaries with the other headaches of city annexation decisions.
The annexation appeals are complicated enough, already.
Anyway, next time you are in the Court House, go look up a “tax unit map” — you will be amazed at how complicated it all is.
Econ – so true!
Paul Rosell, who cares about the MINUTIA that you are babbling on about?
Even if every statement you made is true, it really has little bearing on the discussion of the possible Wichita district annexing areas that are currently in the Circle district.
This is about children, specifically the children of parents who live or will soon live in BelAire. You and your fellow Cons constantly babble about “choice”. If the parents choose to not have their community split between two school districts, why not allow this change?
Circle will certainly NOT approve this change because it will cut into their future tax base. As a parent and taxpayer in the Wichita district, I am undecided where I stand on this. Truthfully where I stand, and you, doesn’t matter in the least. This entire issue is something that will play out between the Wichita and Circle BOE’s, their lawyers and many parents bellowing on both sides. Ultimately, it will end up in Topeka with the specific governing body there (State BOE?) making the decision on the adjustment of the USD boundary. Which side will prevail? I’m not sure on that, but the concept of what is best for the child will be the guiding influence.Expect the BelAire parents to mount a concerted effort to unify the education of their children.
As a resident of formerly unincorporated property, who unlike counterparts in many other states didn’t get to vote on whether to be annexed by a city–many Kansas don’t realize it, but in other states PEOPLE get to decide things like this, as well as express their will in things like presidential primary elections, political “privileges” that Kansans are denied– I can say that most people in my area like sending their kids to Andover district schools. They like a smaller, more personal situation. Moreover, Andover educators, many of whom are refugees from the USD 259 bureaucratic blobocracy, also like a smaller, more personal situation.
Vermont has been experiencing consolidation for several years. The pitch has been, “It will save money for bigger districts to absorb small ones.” But Vermonters now realize that this is a Faustian bargain, and they are saying “No more” to it. Small-distric schools are essential centers of community (citizen) get-togethers and community identity. People don’t want to lose this.
The largest school districts in America, New York City and Los Angeles, are disasters. These cities’ only public bright lights are charter schools operating outside of district control. In education smaller is better than biggger.
“Shouldn’t jump in here when I don’t have all the facts. Three of my grandchildren attend Wichita (259) schools although their home is in the Maize district. It’s all above board, no misrepresentation. In fact, 259 receives extra funds for each of those three students. How does that work and why?”
That’s because state and federal funding go to the district in which a student enrolls. And the “receiving” district (Wichita) must have an “open district” policy in place. They do – while most of the surrounding districts do NOT because they do not want to become a dumping ground safe haven for the undesirables in USD 259.
common sense – one reason outlying districts do NOT have open admissions is that they are overcrowded. USD 259 has, I think, a surplus of ‘desks’
“USD 259 has, I think, a surplus of desks”
No, they don’t. Even with the new schools, the district has crowding problems. Which is why they want to build some more schools.
I wonder why Council Member Dave Sly from Bel Aire has not yet disclosed his wife’s employment with USD 259? Council Member Marlier as a retiree from USD 259 maintains close ties with district officials, but it appears that she has no financial interest. Sly on the other hand (appropriately named) does. Is he afraid that if he votes against USD 259’s land grab that his wife’s job will be in jeopardy? Probably not, but at least he should disclose his potential conflict of interest.