Community speakers urged the Kansas City, Kansas Board of Public Education to vote to exceed the state’s revenue-neutral rate to avoid cuts that would reduce student services and staff jobs.

Dom DeRosa, a community member, told the board the upcoming vote will “have direct consequences for our classrooms, our students, and our staff” and urged the board to exceed the revenue-neutral rate. A written public comment from Courtney E. Irish made the same request, saying exceeding gives the district flexibility to avoid immediate cuts and preserve matching state funds.

Why it matters: District staff explained three scenarios: (1) hold the mill so the district is revenue-neutral, which would require about $7.74 million in reductions; (2) exceed and then reduce the mill by 1 mill, a net reduction near $4.2 million; or (3) exceed revenue neutrality with the mill left flat, which staff said would avoid further budget cuts. The board must decide a path before state deadlines for finalizing the tax rate.

What the board asked: Members requested itemized impacts tied to each scenario. Superintendent Anna Stubblefield and budget staff said they will provide detailed bucketed options showing which programs, positions and services would be affected under each scenario. Board members also asked staff to produce a list of current vacancies and the fiscal impact of not filling them. Staff reported 257 current open positions; after excluding positions covered by contracts or required by federal programs, district staff estimated an initial figure of roughly $9.2 million tied to a subset of vacancies (145 positions), although staff said further verification is needed.

Timing and next steps: Board Member Rachel Russell suggested collecting additional member questions and presenting follow-up information by Friday, with a possible detailed presentation to the full board at the Aug. 26 meeting. Staff confirmed department budget documents will be updated to reflect recent board-approved salary increases and that the board’s budget meetings resume in September.

Discussion vs. decision: No final tax-rate decision was taken at the meeting. Board members debated priorities and sought more detailed, traceable options staff can use to model cuts or maintain services.

Clarifying details: Staff said the $7.74 million figure reflects the estimated shortfall under a revenue-neutral vote; a one-mill change was estimated at about $4.2 million. Staff reported that some previously implemented reductions were administrative and not board-directed, and that certain budget lines (for contractual obligations) leave little room for further reductions without operational or service impacts. The district said benchmarks, vacancy reports and the effect of unfilled positions will be provided to the board in a follow-up packet.

Ending: The board asked staff for precise, itemized consequences for each scenario, requested vacancy-by-category reporting (with school-level crosswalks where possible), and set a schedule for receiving and discussing the requested data before members take a vote on the mill levy.