Dr. Adams, superintendent of Unified School District 453, told the Leavenworth City Commission during a study session that the district has experienced a sustained decline in student enrollment and will need about $2,500,000 in general-fund reductions this fiscal year.

The decline matters because Kansas funds school districts largely by student counts: "less kids equal less dollars," Adams said. He told commissioners the district’s full-time-equivalent and weighted counts have trended downward over the past decade and that those shifts — combined with the expiration of federal ESSER (Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief) dollars and rising costs such as insurance and utilities — are driving an urgent budget gap.

Adams summarized three primary drivers: an aging local housing stock with fewer young families moving into existing rooftops; the winding down of federal pandemic-era ESSER funds that had paid for some operations; and inflationary increases in property/casualty and health insurance costs. He said the district has been conservative with spending but cannot avoid making reductions if enrollment and revenue do not stabilize.

Adams outlined the district’s approach to narrowing the gap: identify any additional revenue (including pursuing Impact Aid documentation and the district’s previously adopted revenue-neutral capital levy option), pursue low-cost reductions (subscriptions, software, curriculum contracts), and then non-permanent staffing measures before more damaging cuts. "We did not spend our way into this problem," Adams said, and added the district will try to "minimize the impact on kids and minimize the impact on teachers," while acknowledging that some positions and services will be reassessed as vacancies occur.

He provided a few quantitative details: the district has identified roughly 300 students potentially eligible for federal Impact Aid (which Adams said would produce about $500 per qualifying student if documented properly), and said each student qualifying as at-risk (free/reduced-price lunch) affects the district’s weighted funding by about $2,500. Adams also said the district has lost nearly 10% of its weighted count in the most recent two fiscal years and that a portion of an anticipated $2.5 million savings is currently an estimate tied to upcoming insurance renewals.

Commissioners asked whether the city’s revenue-neutral mill decision affected this year’s shortfall; Adams said it did not change the current-year gap but could represent an opportunity next year. He also told commissioners that the district’s military-connected population has not meaningfully increased this year and that some students are leaving for neighboring districts, virtual programs or private schools.

Adams invited municipal partners to consider housing strategies to bring younger families into the district’s boundaries. Several commissioners and the mayor expressed willingness to discuss rezoning and reimagining commercially zoned parcels for residential uses to expand affordable housing options and support district enrollment.

Next steps Adams described to the commission included targeted outreach to families who left the district, pursuing Impact Aid documentation where eligible, examining subscriptions and nonessential contracts for savings, and using voluntary separations and duty reassignments as the first personnel measures rather than involuntary layoffs. He said the district will present more details as budget decisions solidify this winter.

The superintendent closed by reiterating that the district intends to preserve core services where possible and will continue to brief the city as the budget responses are finalized.