Morris L. Reeves Ed.D. 511 Runyan Ave Dodge City, KS 67801 March 5, 2010 Members Education Budget Committee Capitol Building Topeka, KS 66606 Dear Members: 1am writing in support of HB 2728 which is before you. This measure is very similar to the proposal for reorganization of Kansas School Districts which was presented to the House Education Committee on February 6, 2003 by a group of concemed educators. The primary authors of our proposal were Dr. Sharol Little, superintendent of USD 383 (Manhattan) and Mr. Ken Kennedy, superintendent of USD 382 (Pratt). Associates were Dr. Gary Norris, superintendent USD 305 (Salina) and Dr. Morris Reeves retired business manager for USD 443 (Dodge City). J applaud the authors of HB 2728 for their efforts to address this problem in a scholarly and deliberate manner. The potential for cost savings is significant. I support the establishment of the reorganization commission as the only rational manner to deal with the emotional issues that are bound to arise. I believe that with some adjustment of the timelines in the bill a rational process can be developed to transition the school districts in Kansas to a more efficient and productive enterprise. To address the issue of costs in the schools we must come to the realization that the classroom is the “cost center” in education. If one would calculate the cost of operating a classroom in Kansas by dividing the total expenditures in the state by the number of certified teachers carrying a roster of students we will find that the state spends about $140,000 per classroom. ‘Then do the same calculation in each district and the result will be nearly the same in small districts as well as large districts. The difference between large and small districts is class size. Large districts will have 20 to 25 average class size and the small districts will have much smaller classes. The question becomes; how can Kansas afford to continue to fund small class sizes in those districts which are small by choice rather than by necessity? The solution is to identify those schools (not districts) that are small due to geographical or man made barriers and fund them adequately. The remainder of the schools in the state should be consolidated to achieve average class size. At the time we made the presentation to the committee we submitted evidence that, consolidation reduced costs to the state by forcing districts to operate more efficiently with larger class size. For example, in the 2001-02 school year the four districts in one county showed a composite expenditure of $8,907 per pupil with total FTE at 569.8. Ifthe four districts were consolidated the savings to the state would have been $810,757 for that year. In addition to the cost savings realized in bringing the small class sizes up to the average, the additional savings realized from consolidating direct and indirect support costs is significant and should be pursued vigorously by the commission. Support includes areas such as the board of education, central administration, site administration, technology, testing, accounting, payroll, risk management, maintenance, operations, transportation and procurement. Alll of these functions will lend themselves to cost savings in reorganized school districts. Thank you for allowing me to share my thoughts with you. Sincerely, Morris L. Reeves Ed.D