photo by: Journal-World

The Lawrence school board will meet on Monday at the school district offices, 110 McDonald Dr.

The Lawrence school board will review its maximum budget authority and property tax rates on Monday. The board is considering a plan to keep the property tax rate largely unchanged for 2025, with the proposed budget set at $215,698,464.

The proposed mill levy – one mill equals $1 for every $1,000 of a property’s assessed value – is 52.252 mills. This is an increase of 0.042 mills from last year’s rate. School districts generally set their maximum budget authority high to allow flexibility in addressing district needs and to secure as much state aid as possible. These maximums do not represent anticipated spending, which will more accurately align with the actual net expenditures of $160,154,790 for the 2023-2024 fiscal year, according to a news release from the district. An increase of 0.042 mill would result in an annual property tax increase of $1.45 for a $300,000 home.

At the school board meeting on Monday, Executive Director of Finance Cynde Frick will give the board an overview of the proposed budget, including a 5.7% increase in state Base Aid for Student Excellence, or BASE. That program generally pays a district $5,378 for each student enrolled in the district, and covers a large amount of a district’s general operating expenses.

Following the Kansas Supreme Court’s ruling in the Gannon school finance lawsuit, which found state funding at the time to be both inadequate and inequitable, BASE funding increases are now based on the three-year average of the Consumer Price Index for the Midwest. Had BASE funding kept pace with inflation, it would be around $7,600. Due to a decline in district enrollment, the state will permit the school district to use an average of the past two years’ enrollment figures. In the future, the district will be required to use the Sept. 20 enrollment from either the current or the previous school year, meaning continued enrollment declines in the Lawrence district will cost the district future state funding.

The Lawrence school district will receive approximately $2 million in additional special education funding from the state. Additionally, the state has increased the funding for part-time students enrolled in virtual education to a prorated rate of $5,600, up from the previous prorated rate of $2,800.

The state of Kansas mandates a general fund levy of 20 mills. The board’s proposed budget includes the maximum allowable Local Option Budget at 33% of the general fund, equating to 14.517 mills, along with 8 mills for capital outlay — a type of account used to pay for building repairs and other such projects — and 8.301 mills for bond and interest payments on debt service.

According to a press release, the mill levy history for the Lawrence school district has remained relatively stable, with rates of 52.984 for 2019-20, 53.122 for 2020-21, 52.840 for 2021-22, 51.070 for 2022-23, 52.210 for 2023-24, and a proposed 52.252 for 2024-25.

The district’s latest budget proposal is in line with expectations.

As the Journal-World reported, the school board notified the Douglas County Clerk that the school district’s property tax rate will be no more than 52.42 mills for the 2025 budget. The school district late last month was required to submit a maximum mill levy amount to the county clerk’s office in order to comply with a state law related to public budget hearings.

The board will review the proposed budget at its Monday meeting, but is not being asked to give it final approval yet. Rather, the board will hold a budget hearing at 6 p.m. on Sept. 9 to consider approval of the budget. As part of that approval process, the board could change the budget, but won’t be able to raise the property tax mill levy beyond the maximum amount.

In other business, school board members will:

• Hear a report on the district’s needs assessment and state assessment review, which is used to analyze the specific needs, strengths, and areas for improvement within a school district.

According to the meeting agenda, the school board will receive state assessment results, identifying barriers to achieving grade-level expectations, discussing budget actions, and estimating the time required for all students to reach proficiency if the proposed budget actions are implemented.

This report follows up on the draft needs assessment presented to the school board on June 10. The finalized document will be posted on the district website after the board’s final review.

• Consider approving an increase of funds for wearable panic button systems at an additional 16 locations. The Centegix CrisisAlert badges, activated by a button press, are designed to send alerts with precise location details to administrators and first responders in a crisis.

The approval covers an initial cost of $265,600 for the first year, including installation, setup and training. For years two through five, the annual cost will be $131,200. According to the agenda, funding will be split equally between a grant that provides a 50% match for safety-related purchases and the Facilities and Operations Safety and Security Capital Outlay Fund, resulting in a district expenditure of $132,800 for the first year.

The administration proposed extending the implementation of Centegix wearable technology badges to the remaining 16 buildings: Kennedy Early Childhood Center; Hillcrest, Langston Hughes, New York, Prairie Park, Quail Run, Schwegler, and Sunflower elementary schools; the Community Connections at Pinckney building; West and Southwest middle schools; Free State and Lawrence high schools; the Lawrence College & Career Center & Academy; the Education Support Center; and the Facilities & Operations campus.

The board will meet at 6 p.m. on Monday at the district offices, 110 McDonald Drive. The meeting will also be available via the school district’s YouTube channel. Residents who want to share comments with the board may sign up in advance by emailing PublicComment@usd497.org by 6 p.m. Monday and may participate in person or via Webex video/phone conferencing.