USD 453 board says district is "in the red zone," outlines staffing cuts and building decision timeline

LEAVENWORTH, Kan. — At its Feb. 10 meeting, the USD 453 Board of Education heard a budget update from Superintendent Dr. Kellen Adams laying out a multi‑million‑dollar shortfall and a list of proposed cost‑saving measures that include staffing reductions, program and subscription cuts, and potential sale or closure options for a district building.

The briefing matters because the board must decide whether to use one‑time cash reserves as a bridge and approve recurring reductions to balance the district’s budget. Dr. Adams told the board the district faces a roughly $5 million context for reductions and that leaders are “inside the red zone.”

Dr. Kellen Adams, superintendent of USD 453, said enrollment declines and the end of federal stimulus funding are the main drivers behind the gap. The district has experienced about a 10% decline in student enrollment, he said — describing current enrollment around 3,500 students and a loss of more than 300 students in the past two fiscal years. Adams said those enrollment changes are compounded by projected cost increases in utilities, insurance and employee compensation.

To close the gap, Adams reviewed a menu of options and preliminary figures: a planned reduction in administrative full‑time equivalents of about 13% (which he said represents “just under $400,000” in savings), a roughly 7.5% reduction in certified positions and about 5% in classified positions; targeted operational efficiencies; and shifting some current operating expenses to the capital outlay fund. He also identified several specific savings items discussed with the board: eliminating a Chamber Bucks program (about $35,000), switching from a large 53‑passenger bus to one or more district vans for Pioneer Career Center runs (an expected transportation reduction of roughly $43,000 without cutting student access), and an immediate $165,000 average annual savings tied to exiting an underused district building (about $120,000 in reduced repairs and roughly $45,000 in lower…