Topeka ? The Kansas Supreme Court on Wednesday blocked a lower court order that would have closed the state’s public schools after June 30.

The Supreme Court’s one-paragraph order said “all further proceedings” in a school finance lawsuit against the state remain stayed until the high court rules on the lawsuit.

Supreme Court order

Last week, Shawnee County District Judge Terry Bullock declared that public schools would not be permitted to spend any money after June 30 unless legislators corrected constitutional flaws in the state’s formula for distributing its education dollars. His order, if implemented, would have prevented schools from opening in the fall.

The day after Bullock issued his ruling, Attorney General Phill Kline asked the Supreme Court to intervene.

“I’m pleased that our schools will remain open and our dedicated teachers will continue being paid for their hard work,” Kline said in a statement, adding that he is confident legislators and Gov. Kathleen Sebelius will work together to resolve school finance issues.

Sebelius, said spokeswoman Nicole Corcoran, “is pleased that the fears of parents, teachers, and children have been put to rest about schools closing in June.”

Bullock’s order, issued last week, came in a lawsuit filed in 1999 by parents and administrators in the Dodge City and Salina school districts.

The Supreme Court’s order, signed by Chief Justice Kay McFarland, did not explain why it was blocking Bullock’s ruling from taking effect. Separately, the Supreme Court made public its plans to have attorneys argue the school finance lawsuit before the justices the week of Aug. 30. The court disclosed its timetable in a memo to news organizations.

“They’ve got this on the fast track,” Supreme Court spokesman Ron Keefover said.

If the court hears the case the week of Aug. 30, it could issue its ruling as early as Oct. 15. However, the court often takes longer to decide complicated cases.

Senate President Dave Kerr and others were hopeful the Supreme Court will issue its ruling before the 2005 Legislature convenes in January.

“I think of most of us had confidence that the Supreme Court would take a rational view of the situation and make sure it was handled in a responsible way,” said Kerr, R-Hutchinson.

In a December preliminary ruling, Bullock said the system for distributing $2.77 billion in state aid is unconstitutional partly because of how it funds programs for poor and minority students. He also found the existing level of funding to be inadequate because the Kansas Constitution requires the state to “make suitable provision for finance” of education.

The plaintiffs argued that Kansas spends too little money and distributes its dollars so that districts with high concentrations of poor and minority students get less than their fair share, hurting efforts to close gaps in academic achievement between those students and other children.

Bullock said the only concrete evidence about whether the state spends too little money was a 2002 consultants’ report commissioned by the Legislature, which suggested funding falls more than $850 million short a year.

The judge gave Sebelius and legislators until July 1 to fix the flaws he identified, but legislators adjourned their session on May 8 without passing a school finance plan. Three days later, Bullock issued his final order, closing schools after June 30.

Kline and legislative leaders had said they did not expect Bullock’s order to take effect because the state already had appealed his December order to the Supreme Court.

Also, state officials argued, Bullock’s order could have cause major problems. For example, State Treasurer Lynn Jenkins said Tuesday that her office would no longer be able to issue some $303 million worth of annual payments on bonds issued by school districts, meaning local districts would default. She said the state’s bond rating could be affected as well.

Bullock issued a court memorandum Tuesday that said his ruling would not affect payments on bond issues.

Alan Rupe, lead attorney for the plaintiffs in the lawsuit, said he welcomes the order because it will simplify his task. He said he will not have to argue about Bullock’s proposed remedy of shutting down public schools while trying to convince the Supreme Court that the school finance formula is flawed.

“The last thing we wanted to do is fight a battle on two fronts,” Rupe said.