Axtell — A sign along the side of Kansas 110 invites residents of this northeast Kansas town to experience the excitement of high school basketball.
However, with enrollment and school funding both declining, Friday night basketball may soon be relegated to the realm of memory for Axtell's 445 residents.
"In the next six or seven years, we're going to be hard-pressed to maintain the district as it is," said Bill Biggs, superintendent in Axtell.
Made up of three towns just south of the Nebraska border, the Axtell district has seen enrollment decline from 355 students in 1995 to 344 in 2001. While that drop is less pronounced than in other districts, Biggs said the state's funding formula has not kept up with expenses.
Last month, Biggs gave school officials a report projecting that enrollment will fall to about 250 students by 2007. In the same year, according to the report, the district would probably have expenses of $2.8 million and revenues of just $2.2 million if the funding formula is unchanged.
The Legislature received a study in 2001 recommending consolidation of districts to save money and improve education. Legislators acknowledged the study but took no action on it.
"It's almost like the Legislature is letting us do this on our own," said Biggs, who has assembled a 15-member committee from the towns of Axtell, Bern and Summerfield to review the district's options.
Prospects for funding increases have faded, meanwhile, as state revenues slumped along with the economy and the events of Sept. 11 put new demands on state government. Gov. Bill Graves put the state on notice that cuts in spending were needed to cover a projected $426 million gap.
For Kansas' 303 school districts the 304th ceases to exist July 1 Graves would cut the base state aid per pupil of $3,870 by $158.
Such a reduction would pare about $200,000 in Axtell's total funding of about $2.5 million, forcing the district to make cuts beyond the already eliminated new textbooks and field trips.
Axtell is not alone. Three school districts in central Kansas have begun discussing consolidation, to increase their economy of scale.
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