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| More budget cuts hit home |
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| Opinion | |||
| Written by Aaron Cedeño | |||
| Wednesday, 02 December 2009 08:00 | |||
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The administration at Louisburg USD 416 has been expecting further cuts to the district’s 2009-2010 school budgets for months, but it still hurts to see them made a reality. To be sure, the schools weren’t the only area affected when Kansas Gov. Mark Parkinson announced more than $250 million in spending cuts at the state level Nov. 23. The Kansas Department of Transportation, for example, saw $50 million chopped from its maintenance budget, meaning that the state’s roads aren’t going to receive the constant attention they need. But any issue that affects the schools tends to hit closer to home, particularly in a small community like Louisburg. The $36 million reduction in state funding that Kansas schools will see in coming months translates to a cut of more than $200 in aid per student. Unfortunately, school district budgets are to the point at which such significant reductions in funding cannot continue without having a significant impact on the way schools operate. Last year, changes in the Louisburg busing system helped alleviate some of the pressure by charging families living less than 2.5 miles from school a fee to ride. This year, such creative funding options will continue to be explored, but Superintendent Sharon Zoellner explained that everything — every expenditure the district makes — is going to be subject to further scrutiny. Services once taken for granted or seen as essential will be gone through with a fine-toothed comb, and that’s as it should be. Hard times bring with them hard decisions. Now, more than ever, Louisburg’s schools need the community’s input and support.
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