Eggs and Issues Speaker
Clarifies legislative impact on schools
With education so closely tied to economic development, school funding in Kansas should be a major concern for all communities, state and local economic leaders said recently. As part of the Ottawa Area Chamber of Commerce’s annual Eggs and Issues breakfast, Dale Dennis, Kansas Department of Education deputy commissioner, detailed the plight of Kansas schools April 22 at Ransom Memorial Hospital, 1301 S. Main St., Ottawa. With Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback’s signature on a new school -funding bill freshly on the minds of those gathered, Dennis explained to the crowd how Kansas schools are awarded state funding. The new law raises base state aid per pupil from -$3,838 to $3,852. But that isn’t nearly enough, Dennis said, because the state’s base aid was set at $3,600 in 1992. Calculating for inflation, the -state’s $3,600 in 1992 equals about $6,000 in 2013, and the $3,838 offered today would have equaled $2,302.37 in 1992. For every $100 added to the base aid, Dennis said, the total amount is raised by $68 million. “Notice the progress we’re making, or lack there of,” Dennis said. Another change in the new school funding law deals with the Local Option Budget (LOB), which, along with Capital Outlay, was ordered to be increased by the Kansas Supreme Court earlier this spring. Local Option Budget funds equalize the amount of funding for poor school districts, Dennis explained. Every school district in Kansas levies 20 mills in property tax to pay for its budget, Dennis said, with the rest made up by state funding. The 20-mill levy does not ask for payment on the first $20,000 of assessed value,
Dale Dennis
Kansas Department of Education deputy commissioner Dennis said, which causes problems in poor communities where appraised values are less than $20,000. Dennis said the state is currently funding about 78 percent of the Local Option Budget, resulting in a grand total $339,212,000. Because the state doesn’t fund the full amount, Ottawa raised its mill levy by 5 mills, Jeanne Stroh, Ottawa school superintendent, said April 23. But poorer communities have a more difficult time raising needed funds, Dennis said. One such community is Galena in southeast Kansas, where the mill levy increased by 19 mills. “This will get to your heart,” Dennis said. “That means you had to levy about [5] mills to make that up. You levy [5] mills higher than you would have needed to if we had funded our part.” The Kansas Supreme Court’s recent ruling said the state had to fund the Local Option Budget up to 100 percent, funds for which were increased by more than $100 million by House Bill 2506 to satisfy the ruling. The funding will become effective on July 1.
REAL ESTATE UPDATES
New home brings health; happiness
Nearly two years ago when Linda Duke moved into her apartment at Ottawa Retirement Village she was fighting cancer and grieving the loss of her husband of 38 years. “I was very sick when I came here,” said Duke. “I didn’t even choose this place; my son and daughter-in-law chose it for me because it was close to their home and I needed their help and care.” The move from Oregon to Kansas proved to be the thing that allowed Duke to once again see the beauty and joy in the world around her. “When I first came here I had only about 15 percent range of motion. I was able to get physical therapy at ORV and it has really turned my health around. I went to my physical therapist three days a week and work out now in my apartment. I’m up to about 40 percent (range of motion) now.” she said. “It’s all helped me so much.” Duke said she has also improved her overall health by swimming after apartment manager Laura Dryden told her about Swim For Life. “Laura knew I was desperately looking for a place to swim because I knew it would help me,” Duke said. “One day Laura told me she had read that Swim For Life had reopened. Now I go six days a week; it’s made a remarkable difference in my health and sense of well-being.” Duke is learning how to live alone for the first time in her life and while that still presents some challenges from time to time she said it helps that she is able to have her two cats with her. “They came here with me from Oregon,” Duke said. “Sagan is 16 years old; Itsey is only six.” A retired nurse, Duke keeps up with research and medicine, communicates through Facebook and her computer, is a veracious reader and a selfdescribed sports nut. “I love the Royals and the Seattle Seahawks,” she said. “I’ve traveled all over and realized every place has it’s beauty — all you have to do is see it. Ottawa is my favorite place in Kansas. I think I can truly say one of the reasons I love Kansas is my place here. I like the ORV and I have friends here,” Duke said. “We’re all very independent here but Laura checks in on us every morning and my family likes that. I like it too. “This is my home — I’m not just staying here. I don’t yearn for Oregon. I go to visit, yes, but this is home. This is like another great gift in my life.”
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“This is my home I’m not just staying here. I don’t yearn for Pennsylvania or Oregon - I go there to visit, yes but this is home. This is like another great gift in my life” - Linda
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Courtesy of Tammy Ellis, Century 21 Lantis & Associates
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