Udall ? Hoping to boost enrollment, the Udall school board has taken out advertisements in area newspapers touting the advantages of its schools.

From updated athletic facilities to all-day kindergarten, officials say a lot of good things are happening in the tiny district about 30 miles southeast of Wichita.

“Why not let people know we exist?” Udall superintendent Roger Robinson said. “We’re very proud of our district; we’ve got a lot to offer our students.”

School board president Steve Brown offered a simple explanation as to why the board unanimously supported spending more than $3,000 on advertising.

“This is one way we can increase our enrollment,” he said.

Udall’s enrollment has hovered between 361 to 328 in the past five years.

State school funding is based on a district’s enrollment, so if a district loses students, it also loses money. Udall received $5,888.26 in state aid per student this past school year, according to state figures.

The district also was among those recommended for consolidation by a consultants’ report to state lawmakers last year.

But Robinson said the report had no bearing on the decision to advertise.

“It didn’t even enter my mind,” he said.

Part of the consultants’ recommendations were based on the districts’ lower-than-expected performance on state tests in 1998 and 1999. Udall’s performance has improved since then. On the state science test, for example, Udall fourth-graders scored higher last year than the state average. Sixth-graders also performed well on the social studies test, earning a standard of excellence.

More school districts could adopt Udall’s strategy if state funding for education continues to lag behind costs, said Mark Tallman, lobbyist for the Kansas Association of School Boards.

“A public school district frankly has the same incentive to advertise for students as a private school does,” he said.

Still, he said, advertising for students carries some controversy. Attracting students from neighboring school districts takes money away from them.