ST. MARYS ? Brandon Floersch and the other juniors in his afternoon high school English class think a lot about their senior year.

They have misgivings because of a decision by the Kaw Valley Board of Education to merge its two high schools. Next year, St. Marys Bears will travel seven miles east to Rossville to attend classes with previous archrival Dawgs.

Supporters say the merger will improve education, especially for middle school students, who will take over the St. Marys High building. They also believe it will save as much as $500,000 a year at a time when districts across Kansas are feeling squeezed by the state’s financial problems.

The dispute has divided residents of the district, which covers 311 square miles of countryside northwest of Topeka. A lawsuit failed to block the plan, and three board members face being recalled in a Dec. 3 special election.

Floersch and his fellow Bears side with merger critics and have a long list of objections, such as having to drive into the sun every morning along a two-lane stretch of U.S. Highway 24. They wonder how well they’ll mix with their former rivals.

“We can’t be on the same bus together,” Floersch said.

There’s little doubt the board’s decision in April stirred up district residents.

“I think people will accept change only when they’ve exhausted every means possible of holding on to the status quo,” Supt. Martin Stessman said. “I understand that.”

Budget problems

Some of Stessman’s fellow superintendents could face similar controversies in the future because of budget problems.

For the current school year, the state was supposed to give districts $3,890 per pupil, an amount many education officials say is inadequate. A legislative study released in May suggested that the per-pupil figure ought to be $4,650.

But faced with a shortfall in state revenue collections in August, Gov. Bill Graves ordered $41 million in cuts in the state’s current $4.4 billion budget. The Department of Education lost $17.4 million; for Kaw Valley, that was about $29,000.

Faced by rising health insurance and personnel costs, many districts already have squeezed budgets and reduced staff. About 800 fewer teaching positions were filled this school year than last, said Craig Grant, lobbyist for the Kansas-National Education Assn.

“There are going to be a lot more discussions about how to save money,” Grant said.

Poor planning

Merger supporters said Kaw Valley’s discussion didn’t start in 2001 with money troubles, but rather with drafting a strategic plan.

“We never had a strategic plan,” said Board President Diane DeBacker, a St. Marys resident. “We needed direction for the district.”

Currently, about 250 sixth-, seventh- and eighth-graders attend schools in Delia, Emmett, Rossville and St. Marys, along with younger students.

Stessman said after the merger, when the middle schoolers start going to the former St. Marys High building, teachers in core subjects will be able to work as a team and plan lessons together.

The district also plans to hire teachers for art and foreign language classes for middle schoolers.

DeBacker said seventh- and eighth-graders had been “simply biding their time,” adding, “We aren’t preparing them for what they’ll see in high school.”

Yet financial considerations remain significant. Estimates for annual savings range from $240,000 to $500,000 a year; the district receives about $6.7 million from the state and raises another $1.68 million through extra local property taxes.

Wealthy district

Having two high schools also is a carry-over from Kaw Valley’s past.

Before 1992, local boards of education set their own levies, and they varied greatly, depending on each district’s property wealth.

Kaw Valley remains among the state’s 10 wealthiest districts in terms of assessed property value per student because of the Jeffrey Energy Center near Emmett, a coal-fired electric generating plant owned by Westar Energy Inc.

After 1992, Kansas law set a single, statewide property tax levy for all districts, as well as the per-pupil budget figure, with districts having limited authority to raise extra money. With its high property wealth, Kaw Valley considered itself a loser in the debate.

The district built its current high schools in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Their designs came from the same template.

“We have been a very fortunate district for many years,” DeBacker said. “We’ve never had to do anything differently, because we’ve had plenty of money and we’ve had great facilities.”

School cooperation

Stessman said the district anticipates enrollment approaching 400 students for Rossville High next year. St. Marys has 173 students now; Rossville, 194; the district has 1,120 students in all.

He said students from both schools already participated in plays and Future Farmers of America events together. St. Marys students travel every other day to Rossville for physics classes.

“All indications are that these kids will be able to work and play together without incident,” he said.

Students having differing opinions.

For example, Floersch said that on a recent bus trip for an FFA trip, the two groups couldn’t help but trade insults. Fellow junior Thaddeus Swann added, “I don’t think there’s any avoiding it.”

Other juniors shrugged off the idea of potential conflict.

But that doesn’t make the merger easier to accept.

“They did it in one year and expect us to handle it,” Swann said.