Frustrations and finger-pointing persist as the Gardner Edgerton School District looks to cut nearly $2 million from its budget following a controversial school board vote last month.

At its meeting Monday, the Gardner Edgerton Board of Education heard an update regarding the district’s budget situation, including what cuts have already been made, which ones district officials decided against and which ones could still be made to reduce the overall budget by $1.9 million.

The cuts are necessary following last month’s revenue-neutral vote, which failed, meaning the district cannot collect more in taxes this fiscal year, which spans from July 1, 2026 to June 30, 2027, than it did last fiscal year, which ended on June 30. 

Kansas requires local taxing jurisdictions, including school districts, to formally vote to surpass their revenue-neutral rates each year, meaning they intend to raise more revenue than the previous year’s budget did.

The votes have become routine in Johnson County, with hardly any local taxing body ever voting not to exceed its revenue-neutral rate, which made the Gardern Edgerton vote so shocking and why recriminations were still being traded on Monday. 

In the 3-2 vote on Sept. 14, board members Lana Sutton and Jeff Miller cast the two nay votes, leaving the board one vote shy of the total needed to approve exceeding the revenue-neutral rate.

Both Sutton and Miller later put out statements that emphasized saving taxpayer dollars, and Sutton continued to defend her vote on Monday. 

“Thirty-nine percent of our students are on free and reduced lunch,” Sutton said. “It’s not something that gets advertised. Our families in this community need every break they can get. And our budget has continued to increase every year. We have more money this year in our budget than we’ve ever had. It may not be as much as we expected, but we have more than we have ever had — that while being down 400 students over the last four years.

“While you may not agree with my vote,” she added, “we all have our votes. We all have our reasons. Those (above) are two reasons for why I voted the way I did.”

Miller did not make any additional comments during Monday’s meeting but, in a previous statement on Facebook, cast his vote in similar terms as Sutton’s.

On Monday, board Member Katie Williams expressed her frustration with the situation. She said she still doesn’t have a clear answer as to why Miller and Sutton didn’t address their concerns earlier in the budget-making process, which started in January, instead of waiting until the revenue-neutral vote to express their views.

“Instead of putting the responsibility on the already underfunded school district to save taxpayers potentially $147 a year, we should instead be looking at our legislators who are the ones that provide those tax breaks to struggling families in our school district,” Williams said.

Members of the public frustrated

Three speakers also addressed the board during public comment, addressing their concerns with how last month’s vote went and the issues the district now faces as a result.

Parent Jesse Sloan, who’s also the spouse of a teacher in the district, told the board that the uncertainties the cuts create have become a stressor at home. 

Sloan said he wants more for his wife — who has earned her master’s degree but makes less than the overall cost of her education — and more for his children, who are students in Gardner Edgerton schools.

“My family, our income, are in limbo,” Sloan said.

Sloan also called out Board President Tom Reddin, who was absent from the Sept. 14 vote to attend a Chiefs game.

“There’s a lot of questions,” Sloan said. “Primarily, Tom, your Facebook post about why you were at a Chiefs game — inexplicable. As someone that’s in public service, you know that’s not an excuse to change the lives of other people.”

In addition to Reddin’s absence Sept. 14, the board is also operating short one member after the board could not agree earlier this year on a replacement for electee Keith Davenport, who won his seat last year but moved out of his board member area.

On Monday, Reddin again defended his absence.

“I spent 30 years in public service and missed a lot of time with my family,” Reddin responded. “I was a Chiefs season ticket member before I was on the school board. I hold this position very highly, and I take my responsibilities seriously, but my family comes first.”

Breaking down the cuts

Following last month’s vote, district officials began looking at where cuts could be made, and those were outlined to the board Monday. 

The total budget for this year is $78.2 million. However, district officials say they have the goal of not touching payroll, which makes up more than 80% of the budget.

That leaves $13.6 million in non-payroll costs from which to cut.

Within those non-payroll costs, certain funds are tied up in transportation and other costs that cannot be cut, said Executive Director of Business and Finance Amy Droegemeier on Monday.

The district’s plan is to cut from four main funds: the general fund, the local operating budget, capital outlay and the cost of living fund.

“The days of fluff are gone,” Droegemeier said. “There’s not really fluff in this that we can say, ‘Oh that one thing and boom, we’ve solved the issue.’ These are going to be things we really don’t want to do, but we have to put something up here to say, ‘What can we at least pause or stop doing so that we can realize the savings this year with the money that we need to save?’”

Cuts district officials have already made include postponing the adoption of new math curriculum and district vehicle replacements, along with the cancellation of a behavioral support program, pre-board meeting dinners, professional learning community visits and more.

Officials ultimately decided against the postponement of new turf on the high school football field and a Special Education van with wheelchair accessibility — concerns over safety for both items trumped the need to save money. 

The district also considered delaying the search for a second internet service provider, but after some internet outages earlier this school year, the need for more connectivity support became clear, officials said.

Cuts still up for consideration in the capital outlay fund include postponing the replacement of carpet at Moonlight Elementary, the gym refinishing schedule, planned asphalt maintenance at Pioneer Ridge and Trail Ridge middle schools. 

In the general fund, cuts up for consideration include eliminating the senior citizen luncheon, cutting spring field trips, reducing building and department budgets by 10% and more.

“None of these costs are going backwards,” said Board Vice President Heath Freeman, who voted for exceeding the revenue neutral rate, adding that it will cost the individual taxpayer more when it’s addressed down the road. “Yesterday’s dollar is never cheaper than it was yesterday.”