Shawnee Mission board adopts $618.2 million budget, votes to exceed revenue-neutral tax rate

The Shawnee Mission Board of Education voted to exceed the state-calculated revenue-neutral tax rate and adopted the district’s 2025–26 budget at its Aug. 25 meeting.

The board opened a public hearing under K.S.A. 79-2988 on the revenue-neutral rate (RNR) and allowed members of the public five minutes each to speak; no patrons presented comments on the tax rate. "I do recommend adopting the resolution to exceed the revenue neutral tax rate for financing the annual budget for the 2025–26 school year," Dr. Schumacher said before the board took its roll-call vote. The district’s RNR was stated as a mill rate of 48.525; the district proposed a mill rate of 50.835.

The board then opened the statutorily required budget hearing under K.S.A. 79-2929 and later approved the total published budget in the amount of $618,209,561. Heather read the budget motion verbatim during the meeting, noting that the district had prepared state budget forms and the district profiles and needs assessments required by K.S.A. 72-1163 were available on the district website and on…