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Got a Question? Let us know ...
The Gardner Edgerton School District has created this page to provide our community members correct information on topics discussed related to USD 231. If a question arises regarding school district policy and/or procedures, we welcome community members to contact us personally, at any time. We will do our best to provide you with the information requested in a timely manner.
KPERS Provisions - Working After Retirement Authorized in 2009 for an initial three-year period and then re-authorized for an additional three-year period through 2015, Kansas Statute (K.S.A. 74-4937(3) has allowed public employees who have ... met the KPERS requirements to retire and be rehired by the same district after 60 days of their retirement date. No compensation can be made by the district to the employee during the 60-day time period.
At the start of the rehired date, returning retired employees will be contracted at a 23.12 percent salary reduction to meet KPERS contribution requirement under this statute.
This allowance by the State of Kansas allows districts to keep highly-qualified personnel within the district to retain and benefit from experienced personnel who might otherwise have sought employment in other districts. This provision has been utilized by several school districts in our area to retain their highly-qualified personnel.
With enrollment growth, curriculum transitions, and reduced funding concerns county- and state-wide, it is imperative school districts maintain strong leadership to conserve continuity in policy, administrative and instructional practices. The statute also provides districts to rehire highly-qualified teachers to effectively work with parents and to mentor newly-hired teachers.
For more information on K.S.A. 74-4937(3), Working after Retirement, review the following link:
http://us2.campaign-archive1.com/?u=8a5ba7bb3b4e7431f41d12820&id=ea89a3fdd2&e=5930b256c9
Question: Can outside clubs, organizations and athletic groups use school district facilities when school is not in session?
Yes, unless the school district is performing repairs or maintenance in the school building. Please refer to Hours of Operation and School Closings; Sections 7 and 22 of the Facility Usage Policies and Procedures.
What percentage of funding does USD 231 direct toward instructional and/or student or staff support?
USD 231 directs 72% of funding toward classroom instruction. Visit the School Finance Information on-line at KDSE (http://www.ksde.org/Default.aspx?tabid=5358), and review Budget at a Glance “Summary of General and Supplemental General Fund Expenditures by Function” page 3. USD 231's Total General and Supplemental Expenditures for 2011-2012 was $26,676,320. USD 231 spent $17,053,664 (64%) on Instruction and $2,042,717 (8%) on Student and Instructional Supplies which equates to total classroom expenditures of $19,096,381 (72%).
Another point of interest is that Gardner Edgerton School District was identified as an “Efficient Frontier” district. Standard and Poor’s conducted an “Educational Efficiency Study of the school districts in the state of Kansas. The objective of this evaluation was to help Kansas better understand which districts are utilizing their resources most efficiently and how less efficient districts may benchmark themselves against these districts to identify improvement opportunities. Specifically, this study provides relative efficiency scores for individual districts and identifies those districts that are particularly effective in using their financial resources to optimize student learning (i.e., highly efficient districts). The relative efficiency of each school district was scored on a scale from 0% - 100%. Of the state’s 257 school districts meeting the criteria for this study, 21 received relative efficiency scores of 100 percent and were identified as “Efficient Frontier Districts”. The Gardner Edgerton School District was one of those twenty one school districts.
In addition, K.S.A. 72-64c01 does not require that 65% of the funds provided by the state are spent in the classroom or for instruction. Rather, the law says that “It is the public policy goal of the state of Kansas that 65% of the monies appropriated, distributed or otherwise provided by the state to school districts shall be expended in the classroom or for instruction.”
The law also defines “instruction” as “the activities dealing directly with the interaction between teachers and students and may be provided in a school classroom, in another location such as a home or hospital, and in other learning situations such as those involving co-curricular activities. Instruction also may be provided through the internet, television, radio, computer, multimedia telephone, correspondence that is delivered inside or outside the classroom and other teacher-student settings or through other approved media. Instruction also includes the activities of aides or classroom assistants of any type including, but not limited to, clerks, graders and teaching machines which assist in the instructional process."
It is important to note this law was adopted as part of the legislative package intended to resolve the Montoy school finance legislation; that package included a covenant by the state to make meaningful and long-term increases in BSAPP. A court is now deciding whether the state has fulfilled that obligation, as well as providing suitable funding for K-12 education in Kansas.
Are youth sports/activity groups allowed to use the District Activity Complex for team photos?Absolutely! The District Activity Complex is owned by the taxpayers of the communities we serve. Of course, as with any facility it is closed when not in use. If you would like to make arrangements to use the facility for the purpose of team photography, please contact Kent Glaser, GEHS High School Athletic Director, for available times.
Are the USD 231 Board Policies available to review by the public at no charge?
Yes. Business hours are 8 to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday, excluding school holidays.
What is a Kansas Open Records Act request?
A Kansas Open Records Act request is made to obtain a “public record” which is created, maintained, kept by or in the possession of the organization and subject to disclosure under Kansas Open Records Act.
What is the cost, if any, to obtain a public record from USD 231?
KORA allows schools and/or district offices to charge a fee for providing access to or furnishing copies of public records.
The expense of copying open records shall be by the individual requesting the copies at the following rate: If a requester desires copies of open records, each copy shall be provided at a charge of 0.25 per page, for copies up to 8.5 x 14 inches. Oversized documents may be sent to a commercial copying service, and the requester shall pay the actual charges levied to the District for the copy. In addition, the requester shall pay all other actual costs incurred by the District for furnishing copies, including the cost of staff time (fully-loaded hourly rate of employee(s) or contractors involved in the production of the requested documents required to make the information available, which shall include the time required to research requests for information.
If records must be redacted prior to being made available for inspection, the actual cost of staff time required to effect the redactions shall also be charged the requester. For the purposes of this policy, “staff time” shall mean the fully-loaded hourly rate of the employees or contractors involved in the production of the requested documents, provided that the district shall, to the greatest extent feasible, use the employee so contractors whose rate of pay will result in the lowest charges for the work, consistent with the skill and judgment required to honor the request, and determine the scope of appropriate redactions.
How many KORA request have been made to the school district in the past year?
A total of 22 actual KORA requests (18- Gardner News; 4-Partrons) have been made to USD 231 School District this past year. Due to the increased amount of staff time to research, copy and complete the requests, billing was initiated in May, 2012. All prior KORA requests were completed free of charge. Out of the 22 KORA requests made, only six requests have been billed. One request was completed, but not picked up by the requester.
05/11/12 – Gardner News, $49.75
05/29/12 – Gardner news, $42.00
07/19/12 – Gardner News, $192.00
09/04/12 – Walter Hermreck, $122.47 (Request completed, not picked up/not paid)
09/10/12 – Gardner News, $217.24
09/11/12 – Walter Hermreck, $36.58
Total: $568.29
Why did it take 7.5 hours to compile a salary report for Gardner News?
A complete list of employees, titles and base salaries warrant time and attention. Many variables are included in school district employee’s compensation. District employees are classified as hourly, classified or certified employees. Some employees have supplemental pay for extra duty which is above their base salary. These pay documents are generated by category and include all personal information such as social security numbers, garnished wages, retirement information, hours per year worked, etc. It took several staff members and several hours each to provide a comprehensive list of just names, salaries, positions.
Are Director Reports made available to the public prior to the Board Meeting?
Yes. Beginning September 24, Director Reports will be uploaded to the USD 231 Website for public review on Monday morning of the scheduled Board Meeting.
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