By Lucky Kidd
HUTCHINSON, Kan. — Because of an expected action at this week’s Kansas State Board of Education meeting, there will not be a bond election for Hutchinson USD 308 in April. Superintendent Dawn Johnson reviewed for the Board of Education the situation that involves a state cap on bond issue issuance at their Monday night meeting.
USD 308 submitted its application for a $109.5 million dollar bond issue for consideration at the January State Board of Education meeting. However, the total applications for consideration exceeded the state board’s authority for approval. On December 20th, Hutchinson Public Schools and the other three districts involved took part in a hearing before a bond cap committee hearing.
The Kansas State Department of Education had a nearly $594 million dollar bond cap to work with for the 2024-25 school year. Over $330 million had been authorized for bond elections through December, with just over $263 million remaining to be allocated with requests for just over $326 million dollars pending.
Under state law, there are four criteria that are required to be used in evaluating bond requests in this case. The first criteria deal with safety of existing buildings and disability access which none of the four districts met. The second criteria deal with enrollment growth over the past three years, which Goddard USD 265 met for their $175 million dollar request which was recommended for approval. The third and fourth criteria, which all four districts met, deal with impact on delivery of educational services and energy efficiency.
$89,909,311 of USD 308’s proposal would have counted under the cap, which exceeded the remaining funds remaining. The other two proposals, from Augusta USD 402 and Galena USD 499, combined were less than the cap.
The bond cap committee is recommending to the State Board during their January meeting today and Wednesday it tentatively approve the USD 308 bond election if it takes place on or after July 1st, when authority becomes available unless other bond issues were to fail, specifically that of the Goddard district.
In an email to staff immediately following the USD 308 Board of Education meeting, Dr. Johnson broke the news and remained optimistic, “Everyone I have talked to is not concerned by this date change. We still have a vision for progress in USD 308. We will move forward with planning and preparation. We have a LOT of people who are ready to be a part of this moment. I know that what we risk losing in current momentum, we make up for with enthusiasm on our future date.”
The USD 308 Board will set a new date at a future meeting. In doing so, there are several considerations to be taken into account, one of which is the cost of a special election. If it were to be voted on in November, when city, school and community college elections take place, there would be no cost to the district.
If it wanted to conduct a mail ballot election, that would cost around $40,000. An in-person ballot in August would cost in the area of $19,000 unless there were a primary election that would only be held if there were enough candidate filings to require one. An in-person vote in September would involve a change in voting location due to the Kansas State Fair, which is the city’s polling place, and an additional cost of $12,000 to send out notices of that change.
