With Kansas facing a funding crisis for the classroom, school districts across the state are racking up billions of dollars in debt. And all Kansas residents will pay for it.
A new Kansas Policy Institute study shows Kansas ranks 10th in the nation in school bond debt at more than $10,000 per student. That number is far in excess of neighboring states, including Missouri.
Construction is well under way for the new Olathe West High School. Scheduled to open in the fall of 2017, the three-story building will be able to accommodate 2,000 to 2,300 students for that rapidly growing school district.
"Really needed, our four high schools are all over capacity right now, all four over 2,000 students," said John Hutchison, Olathe Schools chief financial officer.
Olathe voters approved more than $114 million in bonds to pay for the new school. But Hutchison says it's expected to cost about $94 million.
Olathe, the second largest school district in the state, is No. 1 in bond debt. State records show Olathe Schools added more than $516 million in new debt from 2005 through 2015. The current debt load with some refinancing of bonds is roughly $450 million.
Other Johnson County school districts, including Blue Valley, Shawnee Mission and DeSoto, are all in the top five.
The Kansas Policy Institute study shows based on a funding formula, taxpayers' obligation statewide to help repay that debt has nearly tripled in the last 10 years.
In Olathe's case, while local taxpayers pay most of the bill, about $1 out of every $10 is paid by taxpayers statewide.
"They didn't get to vote on whether that should be spent, they just got the bill," Trabert said. "It's the modern day version of taxation without representation."
Trabert also says if state-subsidized bonding payments had stayed flat over the last decade, schools would've had a half billion dollars more money to use in the classroom over that time frame.
"How much of that is taking money away from teacher pay, how much of it is taking money away from other instruction?" he asked.
"Unfortunately, we don't control the growth that comes our way, so we have to build the buildings for the kids," said Hutchison.
Olathe West will be the first three-story school built by the district. Hutchison says it will be more efficient and cost roughly the same per square foot as other recently built Kansas schools.
The Kansas Policy Institute study points out school bond debt statewide has grown in 10 years from $3.1 billion to $5.4 billion. That jump is a 71 percent increase.
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Andy Alcock can be reached at anderson.alcock@kshb.com.
