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Wichita Public School District, Kansas

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Taxes Y
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Budget Y
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Meetings Y
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Elected Officials Y
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Administrative Officials Y
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Contracts Y
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Audits Y
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Public records P
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Academics Y
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Background checks Y
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Transparency grading process


Wichita Public Schools, U.S.D. 259 is a school district in Kansas. The district serves 49,779 students.[1]

Website evaluation

Main article: Evaluation of Kansas school district websites

This website was reviewed on November 24, 2012.

The good

  • Budget
    • The most current budget is listed.
    • Budgets are archived for 4 years.[2]
  • Administrative Officials
    • Department heads are listed for each department.[3]
    • Contact information for administrative officials is provided including a mailing address, phone number, and personalized email.
  • Elected Officials
    • Elected officials are listed with a mailing address, phone number and personalized email.[4]
  • Meetings
    • Meeting minutes are archived for 3 years.
    • Meeting agendas are archived for 3 years.
    • A meeting calendar is available and names the times and locations of public meetings.[5]
  • Audits
    • The most recent audit is posted.
    • Audits dating back to 2005 are available.[2]
  • Contracts
    • Teacher pay scales are provided on the site.[6]
    • Bids and RFPs are posted online.[7]
  • Public Records
    • The public information officer is identified and maintained by Clerk of the Board position. This person provides a mailing address.
    • A fee schedule for documents is provided.[8]
  • Taxes
    • Tax revenues are broken down by federal, state, and local funding in the budget.
    • Local taxes, like property taxes, are available online.[9]
  • Academics
    • Academic performance reports for the school are posted online.[10]
  • Background Checks
    • The criminal background check policy and teacher certification requirements are posted online.[11]

The bad

  • Public records
    • The public information officer position is identified, but the person's name is not provided. Sunshine Review requires a mailing address, phone number and personalized email be listed with this position. Only a mailing address is provided.
    • A public records form is not provided.

Leadership

School board

2011 Board of Education[4]
Name District Position Term Expires
Betty Arnold 1st President 2013
Connie Dietz 2nd Vice President 2013
Barbara Fuller 3rd Member 2015
Jeff Davis 4th Member 2015
Lanora Nolan 5th Member 2013
Lynn W. Rogers 6th Member 2013
Sheril Logan At-large Member 2015

Superintendent

Wichita's superintendent is John Allison. He has held the position since 2009.[12]

Budget

Wichita's 2011-12 budget is for $606 million.[13]

2011-12 Revenues by Source[13]
Source % of Total Revenue
State 62%
Federal 11%
Local 27%
2011-12 Expenditures by Category[13]
Category % of Total $606 Million Budget
Salaries and Benefits 72,1%
Purchased Services 5.4%
Utilities 1.8%
Transportation 3.9%
Supplies and Materials 6.0%
Property and Equipment 2.6%
Bond Payments 6.7%
Other Expenditures 1.5%

Cuts

The 2011-12 budget includes $27.8 million in cuts, including cutting 236 full-time equivalent employees.[13]

Taxes

The total mill levy proposed for 2011-12 is 56.9, the same as the previous year's.[13]

Public pensions

Main article: Kansas public pensions

For 2011-12, the district budgeted $36,412,013 for the Kansas State Employee Retirement System.[13]

The district's non-pension retirement benefits -- or Other Post-Employment Benefits (OPEBs) -- had an unfunded liability of f $41.8 million in 2010.[14]

Academic performance

Adequate yearly progress

Wichita did not meet AYP goals in 2010, with the student body failing to meet math assessment standards and several subgroups failing to meet reading and math standards.

Math and reading

2011 Math and Reading Assessments[1]
Grade Subject % Met or Exceeded Standard
3rd Reading 76.4%
5th Reading 79.5%
8th Reading 71.6%
11th Reading 77.4%
3rd Math 82.1%
5th Math 80.3%
8th Math 62.1%
11th Math 62.8%

Graduation/dropout rate

In 2010, the district's four-year graduation rate was 63.1%, and its dropout rate was 1.9%.[1]

College readiness

Wichita students' average ACT score in 2011 was 19.8, compared to a statewide average of 22.0 and a nationwide average of 21.0.[15]

Reforms

Wider school boundaries

In November 2011, Superintendent John Allison is weighing a proposal to widen school boundaries and close some small neighborhood schools. He says there are trade-offs between efficiency and maintaining neighborhood schools.[16]

Eminent domain

In November 2011, the school board voted to use eminent domain to force 10 homeowners out of their houses. The district says it needs the land for parking lot expansions and more athletic fields. The homeowners, who did not accept the "fair market value" the school district offered them, plan to fight the seizure of their property. The district won in court in its last eminent domain case, in 2005.[17]

External links

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Kansas State Department of Education "Report Card," Accessed November 18, 2011
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Wichita Public Schools Budget, Accessed November 24, 2012
  3. ↑ Wichita Public Schools Contact Us, Accessed November 24, 2012
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 Wichita Public Schools Board of Education, Accessed November 24, 2012
  5. ↑ Witchita Public Schools, Meetings, Accessed: November 24, 2012
  6. ↑ Witchita Public Schools, Teacher Pay, Accessed: November 24, 2012
  7. ↑ Wichita Public Schools "Purchasing," Accessed November 24, 2012
  8. ↑ Witchita Public Schools, KORA, Accessed: November 24, 2012
  9. ↑ [Wichita Public Schools 2011-12 Proposed Budget at a Glance, Accessed November 24, 2012
  10. ↑ Wichita Public Schools Innovation & Evaluation, Accessed November 24, 2012
  11. ↑ Wichita Public Schools Board Policy 4514, Accessed: November 24, 2012
  12. ↑ Wichita Public Schools "Superintendent," Accessed November 18, 2011
  13. ↑ Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named budg
  14. ↑ Wichita Public Schools "CAFR 2010," Accessed November 18, 2011
  15. ↑ Wichita Public Schools "Innovation and Evaluation ACT/SAT," Accessed November 18, 2011
  16. ↑ The Wichita Eagle "Wichita students could travel farther under boundary proposal," Accessed November 18, 2011
  17. ↑ KSN TV "Homeowners forced to sell for school expansion," Accessed November 18, 2011


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