LJWorld.com

October 18, 2006

This chat has already taken place. Read the transcript below.

Bassetlover:

I've been told that parents in the Eudora school district parents don't have to pay the extraordinarily high start-up fees each August that Lawrence school district parents are forced to pay because you believe a public school education should be free. How do you manage to pull something this amazing off? If it is true, kudos to you!

Moderator:

Hello I'm 6News Reporter, Haley Harrison and I'll be moderating this chat.

Marty Kobza:

Hello. I appreciate the oportunity to chat with everyone today. The answer to your question is that we do not have fees in the Eudora School District. The board has always made it a priority to provide a free appopriate education. Since we budget with this in mind, it is relatively easy to do. If we were a district that currently charged fees and then were asked to eliminate them it would create problems.

TomKat:

Do you feel that Eudora needs to build state of the art schools to compete against other schools such as Lawrence? Are new buildings more important than small class sizes and teachers?

Marty Kobza:

I do not think that we build state of the art schools to compete. We feel that we have an excellent community and school system. Our priority is class size and teachers. We believe that the decisions that have been made and will be made in the future will put students first. Our class size is less than 20 in most areas. We are looking to expand facilities to keep class sizes down. Our salaries are very competitive from a regional and state wide basis. Our philosophy is to do things the right way, and the rest will take care of itself.

It is important to understand that money for facilities and money for teachers are two seperate issues. Bond money can only be spent on facilities and not on personnel. Thank you for your question.

Moderator:

You have been conducting a series of meetings with citizens, city leaders and schoold officials this month. What have you learned in those meetings about the needs of USD 491 in coming years?

Marty Kobza:

Great question. We had a very productive meeting last night. We are trying to guage the communities feelings about the future of some of our current facilities, the grade level configurations within those buildings, and exactly what the community feels is the most appropriate way to proceed to address our growth. We have one more meeting left. After that meeting we will be providing the members of the Eudora community with our findings. In addition, we will do a community wide survey of the potential direction of future facilities and programs.

kansasmom:

I am a citizen of Eudora with children in the Eudora Public Schools. I appreciated so much the fact that Eudora doesn't charge fees for enrollment. We read and heard all of the horror stories from Lawrence residents of the outrageous school fees they were charged. My concern is how will this be paid for and will we be charged for school fees. It already costs a lot to attend the Friday night football games and other sports. I'm afraid people will not be able to support teams if there is another increase for all these fees. You do a great job managing Eudora's money and I'm proud of our school systems.

Moderator:

With Kansasmom's question, do you forsee fees becoming a need for the district as Eudora and its schools grow?

Marty Kobza:

Thank you for your support. The Board of Education feels strongly about not charging fees. I feel the same way. We do not plan on charging fees in the future unless it involved a specific service such as an expanded pre-school program or some type of after-school care. These are both ideas we are kicking around but as far as the K-12 component we are not considering any fees.

Marty Kobza:

I hope the answer to kansasmom also addresses the moderators. To reiterate, we do not plan on charging fees even as we grow. I have five children myself and fully understand the impact of fees and the other expenses associated with helping schools with fundraising and other areas. It is a philosophy that we feel is important.

Moderator:

Part of the proposed $40 million bond issue is a new stadium. How essential is that to the development of the district and why is it needed now?

kansasmom:

Please explain the reasoning for a new stadium. I understand the need at the middle school.

Moderator:

We have time for one more question before our chat closes.

Marty Kobza:

Good question. The primary reason a stadium has been considered for several years has been safety. Parking, traffic, crowd management, and the crossing of a busy highway are all of great concern.

Restrooms, shower facilities, and the need for an 8 lane track are also issues that need to be addressed. When the stadium was built over 30 years ago it was a wonderful solution for Eudora. We have simply outgrown the facility.

In addition, it makes economic sense. With what has been proposed we can support football, soccer, track and several recreation programs and save operating funds at the same time.

We feel that a child's education extends outside of the classroom and that a safe environment for student athletes and spectators is important. We feel that this is part of the educational program. We call it the unwritten curriculum in which many life lessons are taught.

TomKat:

What about donations for the stadium instead of a bond issue.

Marty Kobza:

I appreciate the brief time we have had to interact. Please do not hesitate to contact us about anything that concerns you or with any suggestions you may have. We are launching a new website in the next few weeks. www.eudoraschools.org>

Marty Kobza:

TomKat,

I know of several private schools such as Rockhurst in KC that have used donations. We would love to use this method but realistically we probably would not be able to raise enough money. We are actually at a very unique time in that we can bring on the bond issue which includes a stadium without a mill rate(tax) increase. If we are able to do this we can take care of this issue for at least 30 years. We have used some modular units and squeezed a few schools to get to this point. We are very aware of the burden increased property taxes can place on people and feel confident that we have a unique opportunity to have an impact on every program we offer while minimizing the impact on tax payers.

Moderator:

Thanks to Marty Kobza for joining us today. We appreciated your questions.
This closes our chat.

TomKat:

Thank you to Mr. Kobza, Eudora is way ahead of the Lawrence School distict in many ways. I believe that the residents of Eudora will continue to support the schools if you keep up with the track record that you have started. We are proud to be part of your district.