Topeka ? The Nes Tre La Go school district in Ness County faded into history, the latest casualty in an ongoing battle in communities where demographics and finances collide.

As legislators debated the Kansas Supreme Court’s mandate for them to spend more on education, many opined that further changes in funding education could come at the expense of rural schools.

Rep. Mike O’Neal, R-Hutchinson, said the recent ruling suggests extra funds for small schools is “is in the court’s cross-hairs.”

The closing of Nes Tre La Go had been in the works for more than a year after enrollment fell to about 30 students. The desks, books and other supplies were removed from the district and the land and buildings will be divided among neighboring districts.

At least one more district will close after the current school year. The Prairie Heights district in Jennings along the Kansas-Nebraska border will cease operations, reducing the number to 299 districts.

Big schools v. small schools

Legislators wage a perennial battle over funding big schools vs. small schools. Before 1992, school districts were divided by enrollment with each receiving funding based on a complicated formula that tried to account for differences in district size.

Sen. Ralph Ostmeyer, R-Grinnell, represents 18 counties in northwest Kansas, including the school districts of Nes Tre La Go and Jennings. He’s watched nearly 30 school districts struggle to survive. Ostmeyer was critical of any school plan that increased their difficulties.

When a lawsuit prompted a rewriting of the formula in 1992, legislators created a system where all districts receive the same amount of state money per pupil, but also included additional money for small schools.

That provision has been attacked in the Statehouse and the courts as being unfair to large and mid-size districts. In 1995, legislators responded by giving districts larger than 1,725 students extra funds.

In January, the state’s highest court said the failure to adequately fund schools exacerbated funding disparities between urban and rural districts. Legislators responded by eliminating the extra funds for bigger schools, but recognized that low-enrollment money could be next.

Legislators proposed during the special session that started June 22 to restore the larger-school funds and require the State Board of Education to develop a plan for reorganizing school districts. That likely means consolidation, something that hasn’t happened on a large scale in 40 years.

“When we are all underfunded, we begin devouring our own,” said Sen. Janis Lee, D-Kensington.

‘Bite the bullet’

Four districts have consolidated in the past five years, including Nes Tre La Go, a decision local school boards made after painful discussions. Rural legislators know more consolidation is coming, but don’t want it forced.

“In my district, they know they need to bite the bullet and do it. They don’t want the state coming in to tell them to do it,” said Rep. Mitch Holmes, R-St. John.

Val DeFever, lobbyist for small and rural schools, said districts are fighting to preserve a quality of life that has exemplified Kansas for more than 150 years.

“It’s a hard decision and it’s real. People aren’t ready to let their schools go,” said DeFever, a former Board of Education member.

Unlike urban districts with increasing population and property value growth, rural districts are shrinking, leaving fewer people to pay the taxes.

Pooling resources

But those in rural Kansas say just because there aren’t enough people to get enough property tax for schools doesn’t mean the care less about education.

“They have a sense of community that often we lack in our bigger counties,” DeFever said. “When they have a problem, they come to their aid.”

Many smaller districts rely on the Internet and distance learning courses by television, allowing them to keep offering a range of courses by pooling resources among districts.

“Schools will continue in rural Kansas, but there will be a dramatic change,” Lee said. “You can only require students to travel to school so far.”