The kids are heading back to school…and soon residents of the Shawnee Mission School District will have something important in our mailboxes!
Around January 7 all registered voters in the Shawnee Mission School District will receive a ballot in their mailbox. This ballot must be received at the Johnson County Election office (returned in the postage-paid envelope) by noon on January 27, 2015 (so, then, you have to return it before that day). Voters will be deciding two critical questions for the future of our district:
- Whether to maintain the current local option budget (LOB) level of 33%.
- Whether to support a $223 million bond issue for capital (physical property) improvements to schools in the district.
Significantly, neither of these proposals would trigger a tax increase for district residents. The LOB is locally-raised funding that can be used for operating expenses. In 2014, the Kansas Legislature passed a bill allowing districts to raise the LOB to a maximum of 33%. Districts were allowed to do this by school board vote for the 2014-2015 school year (which SMSD did), but districts are required to hold a mail-in election to gain approval for the increase for the 2015-2016 school year and beyond. The question on the ballot maintains this current level of local funding.
The $223 million bond issue would be allocated among projects at all levels of the school system, including significant improvements related to security, as well as technology and accessibility improvements and maintenance to aging facilities. The district’s breakdown of the allocation of this capital spending is:
These are difficult financial times for all public education institutions in Kansas, with forecasted budget deficits raising the specter of state cuts in 2015 and beyond. To provide high-quality education to all children in the Shawnee Mission School District, we need to ensure adequate operating resources and make smart investments in our infrastructure. This mail-in ballot will succeed if parents and supportive patrons register their priorities for our future. Please watch your mailboxes in January and return your ballots quickly! More information is on the district’s website at http://www.smsd.org/LOB-Bond-Election-2015/Pages/default.aspx.
