Elk Konnected Hand out at County Commissioners meeting on 4/25

[Ross]

Red, of course Ross is not against his stand in Tyranny, he is the biggest tyrant on the Forum. Try disagreeing with him and he goes bonkers.

Did you even read the School Board's Resolution?

What do you know about the West Elk USD-282 School District School Board and their taxation habits?

I would really like to know Joesue?

What is the maximum mills they can tax us? Just a simple number will do!

Who collects those taxes?

And once collected where do they go?

Where do they go from there?

Tell us Joesue?

Do you think the school needs to tax the elderly into homelessness?

The school board last night accepted defeat by the opposition petition with a whimper!
Does that sound like they really needed the Resolution that was not to exceed 8 mill and not to exceed 5 years?

Do you feel the people have the right to have a say in their school Government?

If the Resolution would not have been opposed how much of the 8 mills do you think the School Board have taken?

The Board voted to accept one mill of the 8 mill, what would have kept them from coming back after the other 7 mill?

These are all very simple questions!
How many of them can you answer correctly?

You should know something before calling people names and making threats!

I have done something with the backing of the people and for the people of Elk County!

It falls under the area of "Quality of Life" that Elk Kon  nected claimed to be doing and can't even define it.

I understand yoou have said you don't know what Elk Kon  nected is, but that is because you don't live here and have sero knowledge of any of the facts. And that is alright.

But to be abusive with know knowledge is just completely wrong of you.

[proelkco]

Why are you asking JoeSue, don't you have all the answers?

[Ross]

Why are you asking JoeSue, don't you have all the answers?

No, I don't have all the answers, but I have the answers to these questions. Do you?

Can't Joesue answer simple questions after attacking me? Just what does she know about West Elk USD-282?

How about you, you attack me as hateful without justification. can you help Joesue answer some simple questions?

Surely you to can call someone to give you the answers?

How about this simple question! How much extra money has/will West Elk recieved from the state for this three year block grant period?

Hint: It is posted in this thread and is suppose to be printed in the Prairie Star tomorrow.

[Ross]

Now tell me how hateful that last post really is?

Who is proelkco, are you afraid to come out into the open?

What business does School Board Member Black have with calling the people that signed the petition other than possibly intimidation?

He has never mentioned calling any voters before this?

So tell us Proelkco. what business does he have calling them?

[proelkco]

Hateful again

[Ross]

Hateful again

So this must be the extent of you intellect and ability to have a conversation.

So sorry to hear that?

You accuse me of being a know it all and I respond I don't?

I ask a few questions to learn what you know about the financing of West Elk USD-282 which I do happen to know the answers to.

I ask who you are and why you hide behind a fictious name .

I ask you why a board member thinks he has to call people on the petition, if it's not for intimidiation, what then? Especially since he has never mentioned calling voters before!

And you call it hateful to try to have a conversation and to learn something.

That is just terrible communication skills in my opinion.

I hope the attitude corrects itself.

I'm anxious to get the paper today, are you?

It is a chance for everyone to read the truth. If the editor sticks to her word that is.

[Joesue23]

Everyone should read the letter in the Prairie Star written by USD Superintendent Bert Moore, it shows how big a blowhard some people are. I think most of you know what I am talking about. It is a sad thing that someone is always trying to damage the West Elk School and the Hardworking dedicated people that serve on the School board in most case with little or no compensation.

[Ross]

Everyone should read the letter in the Prairie Star written by USD Superintendent Bert Moore, it shows how big a blowhard some people are. I think most of you know what I am talking about. It is a sad thing that someone is always trying to damage the West Elk School and the Hardworking dedicated people that serve on the School board in most case with little or no compensation.

That letter was purely political to attempt to dissuade the voters from signing the opposition petition and it failed. Even with total saturationof the West Elk USD-282 School District.

However, the opposition petition did not fail.

So moving on to the truth, okay.

Joesue everyone should read this weeks paper and learn the truth.
Read the response from the Governor's office.

The response is inside the front page and an e-mail address is included so you can verify the information for themselves.

Yes Joesue I'm a blowhard.

A blowhard that believes in the truth.

Lots of extra dollars for West Elk.

If you know so much about West Elk Fianances how come you failed to answer a few simple questions.

Thanks go out to Jenny the editor of the Prarie Star.

[Ross]

Also read Mr. moores letter right below the one printed under mine.

So who's lying?

Why did Superintendent Moore take on 27 kids from another school district that recieves state aid for them and West Elk Does not?

Is the Superintendent creating a financial problem for West Elk and the taxpayers?

He said it will cost $8000.00 per student, that would be $216,000,00 total!

Why?

Why ask the taxoayers to pay for the state aid being recieved by another school?

Why are you taking on 27 students from out of district?

How many will be playing sports?
Is that the main purpose for creating such a financial problem for West Elk?
What other reason could there be?

Is this why he raised our taxes by 4 mill?

To pay extra for kids from another school?

Please tell us Superintendent Moore.

You mentioned in the newspaper that the message from the Governors office was on this thread.

Therefore I think it is safe to assume you read it here.

[Ross]

Superintendent Moore can write letters, so can I, so can you.
I felt Superintendent Moore wanted to ramp up this situation, so why just stop at two Deputy Commissioners.
Why not go whole hog or stay at home?

I included the Education Commissioner of KSDE and both of his deputies and the Governors office as well as Ian Fury, Policy Analyst, Kansas Office of the Governor.

And I am happy to share my letter with all of you:


http://www.governor.ks.gov/serving-kansans/constituent-services/legislation-and-policy-issues

Commissioner
Randy Watson
785-296-3202
rwatson@ksde.org

Deputy Commissioner
Craig Neuenswander
785-296-3872
craign@ksde.org

Deputy Commissioner
Dale M. Dennis
785-296-3871
ddennis@ksde.org

Ian Fury
Policy Analyst
Kansas Office of the Governor
Ian.Fury@ks.gov
Desk: 785-368-8211
Cell: 785-250-5254


Sirs,

I am looking for information and trying to understand as much as I possibly can about USD-282 funding.

I really never tried to understand until now and it is because of a number of events with West Elk USD 282.

First they shut down the two grade schools in the district even though most people were against it.

Then they wanted to build a brand new grade school and they spent a considerable amount of money on architects and contractors, even though once again the people were against the idea, due to a shrinking population.

They ran a bond issue and were told "NO".

Then they come back and spend lots of money on architects and contractors again to design a wing on the present building and yes, they sensed the people would vote against the idea because they spent money on a mail-in survey. They did not set the survey up to allow for a vote of no. It was set up to ask what should be built first the gymnasium or 4 classrooms and so on. Many of their surveys that came back were marked "reopen the Moline Grade School and /or the Severy Grade School or marked NO. I know a few people that threw their survey in the trash.

They did the bond issue and were told "NO" again.

It is my opinion they ran the present Resolution to avoid asking the voters for another mill levy tax increase because they would most likely be told "NO".

They put a Resolution in the Prairie Star, our local paper to raise our taxes not to exceed 8 mill and not to exceed 5 years, on July 22 and 29, 2015. The people of this district are pretty much fed up with the continual property tax increases. But personally I was thinking more of the elderly, people in their 80's that are having a hard time. One 83 year old couple in particular comes to mind, they caught the flu last winter and could not afford to pay for a prescription of tamiflu to help them overcome the flu.  And yes, sirs I am a senior citizen as well, I am 69 years old and on a fixed income and I find the taxation unreasonable.

I took it on myself to write an Opposition petition. I had to study the law and learn what was needed to accomplish the job. Our County Clerk informed me that I needed 122 registered voters' signatures from USD 282 region. I ended up with 139 signatures and turned in the petition on Sept, 2, 2015. The County Clerk Certified 130 signatures and took it to the school. She called me the next morning on Sept 3, 2015and said, Ross you are going to be mad at me. I said no, I doubt it. She said she made a mistake in the numbers and had forgot to count the number of voters in Chautauqua and Greenwood Counties that are registered to vote in USD 282. She said I would be required to get 40 more signatures to have the 10% required. She said since it was her error I would be permitted to retain the signatures already acquired. I said fine and got to work.

September 4, 2015 I noticed the following letter posted on our local forum from the school superintendent and felt it was an attempt to dissuade voters from signing the opposition petition after he had read the petition  The letter did fail to work. The letter was posted on the internet at: http://www.cascity.com/howard/forum/index.php/topic,17105.0.html and it was printed and delivered to various retail business in the school district and a copy sent home with every student, and printed in the Prairie Star.  I do believe total saturation of the school district was accomplished.

I had never heard of the rumor that Superintendent Moore says is happening and neither has anyone I have asked, the rumor that the School Board was having clandestine or secret board meetings.
I think if Superintendent would have said there is considerable distrust for the board, he would have been more truthful.

I did meet a few people that thought the USD 282 wanted to raise our taxes to build a new school and I told them no and that I very seriously doubted that was the goal. But any way here is the Superintendents letter:


September 4, 2015

TO:              Parents, Patrons, and Tax Payers of West Elk USD#282

FROM:        Bert Moore, Superintendent of Schools

I am an employee of West Elk USD#282 and I am also a concerned citizen and tax payer who thinks it is time to set the record straight on the business affairs of the West Elk USD#282 School District.  I have heard rumors of secret meetings, plotting to hide things from the public, and a suspicious Board action to raise the Capital Outlay mill levy by an additional 8 mills.  These are all false statements that are being touted by someone who does not have the correct information.

West Elk is a "public" school district and its' Board of Education is tied to rules of order which include abiding by the Open Meetings Act.  This Act enforces a code of conduct that does not allow for "secret meetings" or "plotting to deceive" the public. All Board meetings are open to the public; unfortunately, some patrons only come for parts of meetings and then leave before business has been acted on which leads to interesting twists in the action taken by the West Elk Board of Education when this person shares information with others.  I invite any patron of West Elk to attend a Board of Education meeting.   If you would like information on the Open Meetings Act, contact Paula McAlister, the West Elk Board Clerk/Business Manager or you can contact the Kansas Association of School Boards in Topeka at 1-800-432-2471. 

There is a misperception being shared that the Board is raising 8 "additional" Capital Outlay mills to support "building an elementary school".  Since the last bond election failed in 2014 the Board has not considered or discussed holding another bond election.  The mill, and it is 1 (one) mill, that is being petitioned against was voted on by the West Elk Board of Education to secure the annual payment for the lease between the district and the Neodesha Bank that permitted the Board to re-roof ALL of the main facility and replace the heating and air units which were 30 years old.  Yes, the Board gave themselves authority to go up to an additional 4 mills in Capital Outlay by capping Capital Outlay at 8 mills.  The Board already has authority to go as high as 4 mills.  When the 2015-2016 budget was voted on, a motion was made to raise 1 (one) additional mill (approximately $19,977) across all tax payers of the district in order to not spend down the $186,000 in reserve Capital Outlay funds.  This mill was necessary because the state reduced their state aid to school districts for Capital Outlay.  Please keep in mind that Capital Outlay is the only fund that is available in the West Elk budget at this time to support the purchasing of a vehicle or bus (if needed) or repairs to another area of the campus (if needed).  There are strict rules on how Capital Outlay funds may be applied.  The lease agreement is a 10 year lease.  The last time West Elk purchased a bus, the cost was $82,000 for ONE bus!  Without the extra mill, the district will have to spend down the Capital Outlay reserve fund.

The state of Kanas changed the funding for school districts this school year to a "block grant" which basically froze school district budgets at the same level as the 2014-2015 budget.  When you hear that we received more money that is not the fact.  The state began flowing the KPERS retirement fund to school districts to show that they had added dollars to school budgets; however the money is deposited and within 90 minutes is transferred out of the account.  This is where the extra money for school districts came from.  The state also reduced its funding for Capital Outlay equalization aid as well as Local Option Budget state aid.  This reduction in state aid is what will cause a raise in the mill levy, not 8 "additional Capital Outlay mills being used to save for a new building". 

The state of Kansas legislators plan to develop a new funding formula for schools that will be applied during the 2017-2018 school year.  There is currently no information on what that funding formula may look like or how it will impact a school district's ability to educate its students.  West Elk has an additional 26 students this school year and we will receive NO state aid for these additional students. 

It saddens me that so many people have been misled by information that lacked the facts.  I would ask any tax payer to contact his/her Board of Education representative or contact my office whenever you are presented with information that sounds suspicious.  Our budget is an open document available for public inspection.  Board meetings are open meetings so please exercise your right to attend a Board meeting or contact a Board member or me for the facts.  I work closely with the West Elk Board of Education to ensure that we provide adequate funding so that West Elk students receive the absolute best education in the state of Kansas at a reasonable cost to the taxpayers.

Bert Moore, Superintendent West Elk USD#282

I followed up his letter with an e-mail I sent to the Prairie Star newspaper from Ian Fury
Policy Analyst Kansas Office of the Governor:

Mr. Ross, I'm happy to respond to your inquiry. These are the state funding numbers for West Elk.
USD 282-West Elk received a $259,033 increase in the first year of the block grant (14-15) and a $351,570 increase over the life of the block grant (3 years.) Of this $351,570, only $64,052 is an increase to KPERS. That means that only 18.2% of the total increase is in KPERS. If the school board claims that the increase is only to KPERS, then they are ignoring 82% of the new money we are giving them.
Teacher pensions are a legitimate education expense, so we are creating greater transparency in school funding. However, in order to prevent schools from using teacher pension dollars for operating costs, the money is routed to a separate KPERS account shortly after it arrives in the USD's general fund. This way, we can show with greater transparency the total level of support that the state is giving to the district, but we also can make sure that KPERS dollars are used for KPERS.
-Ian Fury
Policy Analyst
Kansas Office of the Governor
Ian.Fury@ks.gov
Desk: 785-368-8211
Cell: 785-250-5254

And this letter to the editor was followed immediately by:


USD 282 administrator adds more information

Bert Moore, USD 282 superintendent, he sent a copy of Mr. Ross' letter (already printed on a local internet forum) along with Moore's articles printed in last week's Prairie Star to Dale Dennis and Craig Neuenswander at the Kansas State Department of Education who are in charge of school Finance.

Moore said the "aid " which the Governors office referenced above is the result of the lawsuit that required th state to equalize the full budget authority for Local Option Budget and Capital Outlay that the state owed West Elk with a 30% LOB and 4 mills of Capital Outlay.

"Our aid in 2014 –15 was based on student head count and weightings which went up last year," said Mr. Moore. "The governor's office is taking credit office is taking credit for us having more students and getting more aid last year. We have NO new pot money. Districts were flat funded for 2015-16 and 2016-17based on their 2014-15 budget."

Moore said the state does not allude to their reduction in state aid under the block grant for Capital Outlay state aid or LOB state aid. "The Governors office did NOT provide West Elk district with any additional aid. In fact the 26 new students with weighting averaging $8,000 you can see the aid we will not receive this year or next year," the superintendent said.

"Smoke and mirrors are at play," said Moore. "The Governors office has publicly stated that the school finance budgets are too confusing for legislators to understand and thus the need for a new funding formula; however they rolled KPERS into the General Fund this year it did inflate our General Fund.."

Moore said he would keep local taxpayers informed about the KSDE's response to his letter, and allegations that the Governor Office had provided additional funding, which he said ... it simply has not.


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A friend sent me this information by e-mail:
After you left this morning I was talking to a school board member in another district. He says you are wrong about something. He said on a certain day in Sept the school does a head count. That count is how much state aid you get for the amount of kids no matter what district they come from. There is something about doing a 3 year "estimate" for your head count but it's a loop hole his friend thinks will be closed before long. Also, for example, your son comes to Longton although he is in west Elk district, he has to sit out one semester of sports before he can participate in Longton sports---unless---west elk gives their permission which most schools won't do. Who is right--I don't know--just telling you what the school board member said.

Can anyone verify and or clarify this information?

Do students coming from a different district bring state aid with them to the accepting school district?

Are students coming from a different district allowed to play sports for the receiving districts?
Why would 26 students this year and 32 students last year leave their district to go to school in another district? What district are they coming from?

I can understand one or two and even seven or eight, but not 26 and 32!

Why is the school Superintendent recruiting students for some reason at the expense of property owners? Per his letter it is 26 students without State aid at $8,000 per student or $208,000.

We are a county with a small population and we are considered a poor county and we may still be the highest taxed county in Kansas. We need tax relief which would require sensible use of tax dollars in my opinion.

The school board determined they needed a professional football. So they hired a local man and his business to crown the field for a mere $7000. The man and his business has been a school booster for many years and I'm sure he was going to do an excellent job. But the school board without discussing with the man told him to remove his tons of dirt from their football field. Then they hired another company to do the job, for something in the area of $25 to $30,000, I do not know the exact amount at the moment. Plain wasteful of the peoples tax dollars in my opinion.

If the school district is having financial problems such as Mr. Moore indicates why would they take 26 students from another school district without state aid?

I would like to know the total amounts of state aid for West Elk USD-282  for the following years, please. 2011-2012, 2012-2013, 2013-2014, 2014-2015, 2015-2016, 2016-2017.

I would also like the total number of students enrolled at West Elk USD-282 for 2011-2012, 2012-2013, 2013-2014, 2014-2015, 2015-2016.

Others and I have asked that the school board video school board meetings and post them on the West Elk school web sight. The Superintendent informed me they would have to hire someone to do it and then have to send them out to be edited and that it would cost too much. The school board has done the exact same thing for a non-board meeting, they only allowed 3 board members in the video at a time. This form of 21st century is readily available and we have a technician has done the job before, this type of transparency is what is needed for the voters and taxpayers (aged or employed) unable to attend school board meetings.

I am looking for clarity and transparency.
Please see the attached letter.

In fact, I would appreciate an article in our local paper, the Prairie Star and a digital copy for me to post on our local forum if at all possible.

What is the truth? Simple layman language would be terrific.

Any answers will be greatly appreciated?

Sincerely,
L. W. Ross