Previous Next
Should the Lawrence School Board close one junior high or several elementary schools?
Asked at Massachusetts Street on February 7, 2010
“Several elementary schools. … I feel if you close the middle school, you will have too many children in one building.”
“Given that choice, close the junior high school because I think that they should keep smaller class sizes at the elementary level.”
“One junior high school because we need the elementary schools for the neighborhood kids; they need to go close to home.”
“I believe they should close a junior high, as opposed to elementary. It’s probably more important to have smaller class sizes for the younger kids.”
Related story
Marketplace
Arts & Entertainment · Bars · Theatres · Restaurants · Coffeehouses · Libraries · Antiques · Services
- National group seeks repeal of 'Stand Your Ground' law in Kansas May 27, 2012 · 163 comments
- Kansas tax act most regressive in nation May 27, 2012 · 275 comments
- Brownback tells federal judicial panel to toss legislative redistricting maps May 29, 2012 · 3 comments
- U.S. military sees new appreciation May 28, 2012 · 45 comments
- Study suggests continued population drop in Kansas May 29, 2012 · 13 comments
- Tax gamble May 26, 2012 · 93 comments
- On the street: How did you spend your Memorial Day? May 28, 2012 · 35 comments
- Sound Off: How much does the city’s transit system collect in fares compared with how much it costs May 27, 2012 · 136 comments
- Blog: Writing Your Erotica: An Afternoon Lead By Dixie Lubin In The Company Of Other Women May 28, 2012 · 47 comments
- Poll: Do you support Gov. Sam Brownback's income tax cuts? May 23, 2012 · 86 comments
- Kansas tax act most regressive in nation May 27, 2012
- Thread of pain ran through Jackson’s career June 28, 2009
- Friends mourn Lynn Bretz, former voice of KU May 28, 2012
- Hilltop executive director Pat Pisani stepping down May 28, 2012
- Kansas football scouring country May 29, 2012
- City, county mull upgrade to emergency radio system May 28, 2012
- How to help: Guides needed for Lamplight Tour of Black Jack Battlefield and Nature Park May 27, 2012
- Town Talk: UPDATE: Frank Male files for county commission; keep an ear open for local sales tax talk; city hires new city engineer; wholesale water district buys land near Kaw; weekly land transfers May 29, 2012
- Library kicks off reading program May 27, 2012
- Tax gamble May 26, 2012
Comments
LJWorld.com doesn’t necessarily condone the comments here, nor does it review every post. Read our full policy. Also, read about banned accounts and harassing comments.
RETICENT_IRREVERENT (Ronaldo Ignacio) says…
grammaddy (anonymous) says…
No school closings!!
RoeDapple (anonymous) says…
^^^ what he said
Valkyrie_of_Reason (Kathy Getto) says…
Here's a suggestion. Take the energy used posting here, write your representatives in the Kansas House and Senate and tell them to raise taxes. Simple. Fund schools as is constitutionally mandated.
misterlee (anonymous) says…
Legislators are afraid that if they raise taxes, they won't be re-elected. If they aren't doing the job they were sent to do, they need to be replaced. I don't mind paying higher taxes if I see the money being spent wisely.
merrill (anonymous) says…
No schools should close. Lawrence is not a dying farm community no way jose'!
Our paid for school buildings are worth millions upon millions upon millions of tax
dollars.
It is more apparent than ever that school districts are needing additional sources of funding. Teachers deserve salary increases and decent health insurance. Our legislature is not a reliable source although by law it is a state responsibility.
Neighborhood schools are good for Lawrence. No Lawrence neighborhood wants to be without an elementary school within the neighborhood. Lawrence has spoken out on this issue numerous times.
There are families that which cannot afford two cars or bus transportation. Therefore walking and/or bicycling become the modes of choice.
Two revenue sources are available. The online state wide sales tax dedicated to public schools only is a reasonable source.
A local source to help fund USD 497 medical insurance, salaries, and perhaps school fees. This could become available as a dedicated City of Lawrence USD 497 user fee:
http://www2.ljworld.com/polls/2003/ma...
Of course these mechanisms will only be supplemental.
All USD 497 schools benefit. Perhaps experienced USD 497 teachers will stop fleeing to Blue Valley as well.
smitty (anonymous) says…
Let us decide what administration costs to cut before any class rooms close..
sherlock (anonymous) says…
well if they close a Junior high, can bet on it being central! Now that would make another empty school????? So how about selling the old milk barn where the staff for 497 now congregates, and move them to now empty Central building? Savings? should be a lot IF they can sell the bldg..
merrill (anonymous) says…
The admin staff could relocate to the virtual school building.
There are some who would rather have the admin offices "in the community" no matter what.
Money from the sale of the current admin building could be applied to the new sports affiliated debt aka tax increase.
Or that money could be applied to maintenance on existing structures.
oneeye_wilbur (anonymous) says…
Well, now Lawrence reaps what it sowed with two ill conceived bond issues.
There is no money.
A community cannot have the second largest employer be a pubic entity and expect to attract private business which generates jobs and pays taxes.
The educated residents are slowly finding out that they are not too smart after all.
Close Cordley, move the admin staff into it. NO remodels either. move the desks and get to work, or sell off the property for the Drop In Center.
This talk of $4million, for one year, well, what about the next year and the years thereafter? Where is the story on that?
scary_manilow (anonymous) says…
Why does it have to be either/ or? The phrasing of this question is very one-sided, regardless of the false choice it presents.
JHawker (anonymous) says…
If they close a junior high school, think of the repercussions on the already fragile-minded early teenagers who have a hard enough time adjusting in new settings and are in a time of their life when changing schools, leaving formed social groups, could severely damage their thought processes and could lead them to less desirable paths and habits such as early drinking and drugs; forms of rebellion. If they close elementary schools, these young minds would have to navigate their learning in too-large classroom sizes and neighborhoods would suffer. I would like neither of these to occur, but in looking at the options available, I would also not like to see administrative/teacher positions being cut. Maybe Lew Perkins could donate revenue from a Men's basketball game to the School Board to generate good will in this community as well as foster a stronger tie between Lawrence communities and the strong, successful, KU Athletic Department.
tomatogrower (anonymous) says…
I can write to my reps, but I know they will do everything they can to save schools. It's the reps from other districts who are anti-public schools. What are we suppose to do about other parts of Kansas who apparently hate public schools? Maybe we should go back to keeping all our property tax here, and using it just for us, and let those people in western Kansas figure out their own problems. Yes, we will have unequal schools, but they keep voting in these reps who want to destroy public education. Let them home school all their kids.
gr3sam (anonymous) says…
The question is based upon the false premise that any schools need to be closed. If the LJW would simply review the budget documents available as open records, the LJW would see that money is available, making school closures unnecessary. But, that would require actual investigative reporting, as opposed to mere digestion of the administration's rhetoric! Look! Look! Report!
oneeye_wilbur (anonymous) says…
Lawrence could close all of the schools. This is becoming a retirement community.
The reps in Topeka are not responsible. Topeka has been sending plenty of money along with what local property taxes provide. The problem is in a university community, the university #1 employer pays no real estate taxes, the USD 497, #2 employer pays none but consumes taxes. It won't work. With the educated people in this town, they just don't get it. ONe employer pays $380,000 in property taxes and the school portion can only provide enough to pay two people. Why doesnt' the J/W give some examples of how money gets to the Dairy Barn and how many residential households it takes just to pay a couple salaries, and DO NOT cheat , keeping in mind that those households cannot be employees of the district. What about nepotism in the district? How many people in the household work for the district? We know it exists in the city and county offices.
Two bond issues, both ill conceived and now finally catch up with the community.
The Journal World polls never options, only a choice that is skewed to another story.
WilburM (anonymous) says…
No Question, Southwest. Sell that valuable real estate.
lindseydoyle (anonymous) says…
Cut out admin jobs. They create more work than they actually do. Put an end to their empire building on your tax dollar.
DougCounty (anonymous) says…
Once again, a strongly manipulative question frames the issue in a way that throws folks off, like getting rid of some scary dogs by throwing a stick so you can get away. I thought the issue was supposed to be meeting a financial shortfall, so here we are discussing a question that will hopefully lead folk to the hidden agenda: let's move 9th graders to high school and close a junior high! Never mind that it won't save money, will increase transportation costs, and perhaps increase the number of students in a classroom.
Show me where cutting administrative overhead will end up creating a worse outcome than shutting schools as a means to financial solvency. Only if you can clearly demonstrate this should the idea of closing schools even be on the table for discussion.
Bladerunner (anonymous) says…
How about a usage tax for apartment dwellers and other renters? Not fair that property owners should have to pay the bulk of everyones education.
tangential_reasoners_anonymous (anonymous) says…
Whenever a school is closed, a hollow is opened.
oneeye_wilbur (anonymous) says…
Lawrence barely exists with KU. Lawrence is the laughing stock of communities aross the state. Hop in your beobachter mobile and find out, and you will get the straight skinny from those folks.
What wilbur does not like ,is the incompetence of those within the community who believe they are so highly educated and are deserving of any and all that they want. Education does not seem to garner intelligence within the community.
Close the schools. Lawrence is becoming a retirement community and those closed schools will serve as feeding sites for the elderly, the poor, the indigent, and that group of people will be forthcoming from within the ranks of those who foolishly supported at least the last two bond elections and now want this current mess to go away.
It's not going away. Lawrence , city, county, and school district need to start doing with less. If there are families here who do not like it, MOVE, if there are residents without children who do NOT like it, MOVE.
The world is big. Housing is good a good buy in other communities. Eventually Lawrence will continue to wrap it's collective arms around itself and strangle the community into debt , bigtime. It is happening, it is coming.
Easy_Does_It (anonymous) says…
Correct the wrong when the additional High School was built and then we would rule in football once again.
jumpin_catfish (anonymous) says…
School vouchers, more private schools and close a bunch of public schools.
Now let the hate begin.
none2 (anonymous) says…
tomatogrower (Anonymous) says…
I can write to my reps, but I know they will do everything they can to save schools. It's the reps from other districts who are anti-public schools. What are we suppose to do about other parts of Kansas who apparently hate public schools? Maybe we should go back to keeping all our property tax here, and using it just for us, and let those people in western Kansas figure out their own problems. Yes, we will have unequal schools, but they keep voting in these reps who want to destroy public education. Let them home school all their kids.
========================
What an ignorant, bigoted post.
For years eastern Kansas has raided the western Kansas with severance taxes.
Furthermore, Douglas County gets more money from various levels of government than it ever pays in. So if you only want to use money generated from within this county, then perhaps you should look into the price of public education via correspondence.
Just so you know, MOST people in western Kansas send their kids to PUBLIC school too. So get over yourself.
polkadottedzebra93 (anonymous) says…
Something obviously needs to be done about funding schools. All of the suggestions made about trying to save money by switching freshmen to the highschools, 6th graders to the jr. highs, and now this? Leave the kids of Lawrence where they are.
Liberty_One (anonymous) says…
Close them all down. Huge waste of money with little return.
oneeye_wilbur (anonymous) says…
Whichever one is closed , make sure it is nice so that the elderly can have a nice place for eating congregate meals and leave the doors to the art rooms open so they can make paper mache things to sell on the playground as the cars drive by. And leave some rooms available for housing as the elderly who wil continue to pay for the district waste will need a place to live when they lose their homes.
An educated community, it thinks, and it still does not understand that there is not enough money coming from the local tax base, but instead want the state to send more, when it is already sending more to Lawrence, than it got from Lawrence.
Do the story J/W!
overplayedhistory (anonymous) says…
"How come they don't build schools anymore
All they build are the prisons, prisons"
Lucky Dube
Prisons have gone corporate and judges are stock holders. That's where we are people. So lend a hand in the choice of which school to close down.
Hopefully the wealthiest 1% will donate their old laptops and all schooling will be on computers.
getreal (anonymous) says…
I can write to my reps, but I know they will do everything they can to save schools. It's the reps from other districts who are anti-public schools. What are we suppose to do about other parts of Kansas who apparently hate public schools? Maybe we should go back to keeping all our property tax here, and using it just for us, and let those people in western Kansas figure out their own problems. Yes, we will have unequal schools, but they keep voting in these reps who want to destroy public education. Let them home school all their kids.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
If you think that only legislators from Western Kansas are for cutting school funding, think again. Johnson County has a plethora of elected officials who don't want to fund schools, and one of them wants to be the 3rd District Congressman, representing part of Lawrence! Just how high do you think you can raise your own property tax to keep schools running? There needs to be a fairer tax system and we need to hold ALL elected officials responsible for making that happen.
BobandAlice (anonymous) says…
Rather than closing a Junior High or Elementary Schools, why not:
1. Move 9th graders to the high schools where there is space for the additional students
2. Move 6th graders to the junior highs
3. Move all the early childhood programs and preschools back to the elementary schools and close East Heights
Wouldn't this keep most Lawrence students in their community schools AND save money?
Just an idea. There is no easy solution. And, I'm sure, many will post their objections.
Unfortunately, Kansas is in a "no win" situation. Small rural school districts have even tighter budget cuts.
I try to do my part: talk with my legislators about why I want them to support funding for public education (even those that already support it, need information to convince other legislators) and I spend my money locally rather than on-line or in another state (not that I have much to spend: I work in education).
NME (anonymous) says…
Im with bob and Alice, also closing a elementry school for some families is terrible. The reason alot of people live where they do is so they can walk, alot of people in Lawrence don't have cars. So they live in a area that they can get around with out. If you close a middle school ,it should work out fine, adjustments of course but come on we have more on the line with our neighborhood.
1029 (anonymous) says…
Schooling is overrated in general. It really don't do much for lots of people. Instead, there needs to be more training of how to work on cars, or fix pipes, or clean grease traps in kitchen's. Prepare the kids for what they will see out there in the real world beyond the school.
SpunKey (anonymous) says…
As the public is saying, it isn't just pick which to close! There are lots of good ideas here.
Making rent a taxable sale is common in many states! Require rentals to be registered/licensed with county (helps monitor many other local issues). Plus it would also start addressing some of the income tax being evaded by unreported rentals that are slipping between the cracks.
Why not make longer class days & reduce total number of days per year (reduces AC & transportation, etc.)?
Why not close ALL the jr highs and keep kids in elementary longer? Two things we hear over and over: young kids need to be local and younger kids need smaller class sizes than older kids. This would also reduce sports program costs. Plus jr high kids would be in same school with younger siblings - have to set example and help kids get to school safely.
In summary: + tax revenue - 4 buildings - 4 adminiatrations - total school days per year = big savings that keep kids local longer!
merrill (anonymous) says…
1.
Property owners in the areas of closed public schools will lose 10% of property value by this decision according to Kirk McClure. Property owners cannot afford, the city cannot afford to lose the property tax dollars and USD 497 cannot afford the loss.
Who is Kirk McClure?
Education Ph. D., City Planning, University of California, Berkeley,
Department of City and Regional Planning, 1985.
Concentrations in Housing Economics and Public Finance.
Master in City Planning, Massachusetts Institute of Technology,
Department of Urban Studies and Planning, 1978.
Specialization in Housing Policy Analysis.
Bachelor of Arts, University of Kansas,
College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, 1974.
Special Major in Urban Studies.
Bachelor of Architecture, Graduated With Distinction
University of Kansas,
School of Architecture and Urban Design, 1973.
=========================================
center for urban policy and the environment
december 2003
What determines the price of real estate? Location. Location.
Location. This cliché is a good starting point for a discussion of
property values and public choices, for it leads to the question
why property values vary in different locations.
Most property owners know from experience that similar
properties in different neighborhoods can command vastly dif-
ferent prices. But many may not realize that public choices can
have large effects on property values. Public choices about capi-
tal investments, public services, and taxation affect property val-
ues because their impacts vary in different places.
A new highway interchange, for example, generally increases the value of
nearby property because it increases its accessibility.
Conversely, a decision to close a school or a neighborhood police
station may decrease the value of property in the neighbor-
hood.
In public policy debates, moreover, decision makers
often lack information about how their choices will affect
property value.