KSHB 41 reporter Ryan Gamboa covers Miami County in Kansas and Cass County in Missouri. He also covers agricultural topics. Ryan is dedicated to sharing your voice on all kinds of news stories. If you have a story and would like to be interviewed, please reach out. Share your story idea with Ryan.
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Tempers flared at Monday night's Leavenworth School District Board of Education meeting as budget shortfalls were the topic of discussion.
Superintendent Kellen Adams issued four options or recommendations to the school board to address a $2.5 million shortfall.
The most consequential option on the table was to close David Brewer Elementary — which would have saved the district $1.5 million, the amount it needed to to cut by June.
Closing Anthony Elementary School, another option, also would have saved the district $1.5 million.
There were multiple options available to the school board and that brought much discussion on Monday night.
"If they close down David Brewer, thank goodness Kansas is an open enrollment state. My kids will be going to the Atchison school district," Adam Shurtz, a parent told KSHB 41 News reporter Ryan Gamboa before the meeting.
Shurtz, whose kids attend David Brewer Elementary said he didn't know why the community has the 5th and 6th grade together in its own school.
:My daughter is currently in the first grade and she’s just barely gotten used to this school," he said. "So, to move again would be horrible."
Shurtz's concerns were larger class sizes and travel distances to schools.
KSHB 41 Leavenworth reporter Rachel Henderson sat down with the Superintendent at the end of January.
USD 453, which once served over 4,000 students and operated as a 6A high school around the turn of the century, has seen enrollment drop from just under 3,700 students in 2021-22 to just under 3,100 for this year, Henderson reported.
Enrollment projections are trending down, with another 9% decline in enrollment by 2030.
The anticipated decline in enrollment was shared with board members Monday night.
"If they’re so worried about money, maybe they should focus on retaining what they have," Shurtz said.
During Superintendent Adams' presentation, he told the board that putting off such a decision would only make it more difficult and the board would find itself in this position in the future.
The meeting offered a public comment period.
According to parents KSHB 41 News reporter Ryan Gamboa spoke with, they were not notified of the recommendation to close their school until Friday.
"Nobody had the time to schedule time to speak to the school board before they vote," Shurtz said.
Parents and residents both in favor and opposed to the school closures filled board room Monday night.
Parents in opposition to the closure clapped, snapped their fingers, or made comments while board members discussed what to do.
At one point, School Board Member Judi Price addressed the crowd and asked for them the stay quiet so the board could hold a discussion.
Motions to shy away from school closures quickly presented itself by Jessica Wilson drawing confusion among board members in the options presented and what the motion was ultimately for.
With a multitude of options, the school board was able to narrow down what it was voting on.
The school board concluded that it would close the district's fifth and sixth-grade intermediate school.
That decision will move fifth-grade students back to an elementary school location and the sixth-grade students would head to Warren Middle School.
The board voted to continue a hiring freeze, which is expected to impact 10 full time employees.
Superintendent Adams told KSHB 41 he was not sure which positions would be impacted.
With those two options selected, the board was able to balance its budget for the foreseeable future.
In addition to those board selected options, it was also agreed to consolidate the district office and nutritional services into the Intermediate School location, which saved about $11,000, according to the Superintendent Adams.
Christine Varnal is a parent with children at David Brewer Elementary School and the Intermediate School. Varnal emphasized the elementary school's important place in the community and its importance to her daughter.
"Watching my own child cry so hard because that’s where she loves to be, that doesn’t sit right with me," Varnal shared with Gamoboa. "Kids don't understand the money side of things. What they do understand is how they felt in that building and they feel loved at David Brewer, they feel seen and heard at Anthony and they feel that at the intermediate ,and I know that from experience."
Parents were able to address the school board at the end of the meeting and thanked members for their support of children's education.
One woman shared her concerns with putting this decision off and where impacted programs would now operate from.
Board members also had the chance to address Monday night's decision, with some expressing they fear the district will be back in this position in the near future.
Board Member Alisa Murphy expressed concerns with the late notification to parents last Friday and how that situation was handled.
Gamboa caught up with superintendent during a recess and asked about comments he made earlier in the meeting about his fear the district might be put in this decision again in the future.
Adams explained the board's decision on Monday night balanced its budget shortfalls by extending the hiring freeze.
He went on to add that this doesn't fix any of the school district's long-term budget concerns.
