Lawrence school students have their own ideas how state policymakers should best cut education spending.

Although lawmakers have shown no appetite this year for consolidating the state’s 304 public school districts, a survey of 350 Lawrence residents many of them students shows most think that should be the first step legislators take.

Lawrence school board president Sue Morgan, third from left, listens to a presentation by Lawrence High School students, from left, Nick Naidenov, Adam Walker and Maria Salcedo. The students, who are members of Distributive Education Clubs of America, created surveys of students and city residents for a marketing competition.

Maria Salcedo and Elena Delkhah, Lawrence High School seniors who did the survey for a student marketing competition, said Thursday that more than half the 350 people surveyed felt consolidation would reduce administrative jobs and create savings to preserve valuable academic and extracurricular programs.

“Consolidation of smaller Kansas districts would be one of the best ways to save money for next year,” Salcedo said.

The pair’s project, “Budget Dilemma,” explored high school student and general community opinion about options for solidifying school budgets. It’s timely because the Lawrence school board is searching for $5 million in budget cuts or revenue enhancements to balance the books in 2002-2003.

Sue Morgan, Lawrence school board president, came to the high school to receive the survey results.

“You guys put an incredible amount of effort into this,” Morgan said.

Other key findings in the survey:

l Sixty-five percent of students and 62.5 percent of community members surveyed oppose a pay-to-ride school bus system. The school board may start charging a bus fee for students who live less than 2.5 miles from their school. A majority of survey respondents believe the maximum fee should be $100 annually per student.

l Students oppose, but community members support, trimming high school class periods by 15 minutes each to allow enrollment in seven courses in the regular school day. The board has discussed limiting students to six courses each semester.

l Fifty-five percent of respondents support the board’s decision to close 42-student Grant School in May, but 62 percent aren’t interested in closing Riverside School.

l In terms of possible staffing cuts, more than 80 percent of respondents believe school counselors, full-time teachers and school nurses should be exempt.

Delkhah and Salcedo will present their findings this weekend at the Distributive Education Clubs of America competition in Johnson County. They’ll go up against other Kansas students for the right to attend DECA’s national convention.

Salcedo said the duo surveyed 100 students at LHS and 200 people in the community. Among the general public, she said, only about half the people they approached agreed to participate.

“A lot of people would say no before we had a chance to ask a question,” she said.