1965-1966 School year:◦ 1,303 Districts in KS◦ Spent $242.7 million◦ Spent $487.86 per student◦ Enrolled 497,628

2004-2005◦ 301 Districts in KS◦ Spent $3.06 Billion◦ Spent $6,966.85 per student◦ Enrolled 439,321

School Districts

Who governs a district?◦ Local School Board◦ State Board of Education

How are they elected?◦ Local elections, members serve staggered 4-year terms.

Elections are held the first Tuesday in April of each odd-numbered year. Primaries are held on the Tuesday that is five weeks preceding the general election.

What are the legal Qualifications of a Board member?◦ Must be registered voters in the school district.◦ Cannot be an employee of the board on which they are a

member◦ Unless elected as an at-large member they must live in the

area of the district from which they are seeking office.

School Districts

City Government

Mayor-Council Commission

◦ Each commissioner would serve as a department head.

Commission/Council-Manager◦ A city manager administers the affairs of the city.

The elected commissioners set the policy for the city but are not department heads.

Forms of City government

County Government

Under the State Constitution each county should have a minimum area of 432 sq miles◦ 4 counties are smaller, adopted prior to adoption

of the state constitution (Atchison, Doniphan, Geary, and Wyandotte)

Each county is divided into at least three districts. Each district should be as equal in population as possible.

Counties

County Clerk – chief accounting officer County Treasurer – handles the money received and

expenditures. Register of Deeds – keeps various kinds of records that

must be filed with the state. County Attorney – prosecutes or defends on behalf of the

people of the county. District Attorney – applies to the 6 largest counties. Full

time prosecutors of criminal cases. County Sheriff – chief law enforcement officer in all but 2

of the counties. County Commissioners – responsible for the operation of

most of the elections held in that county.

Elected County officials

Roads and Bridges – account for 35% of all county property taxes Refuse collection and Disposal – Waste planning and operation Traffic Controls – traffic lights/signs, markings, zones, load limits. Fire Protection Parks and Recreation Law Enforcement Public Works – may establish a department of public works,

which oversees all functions that are required by law for the division of highways and other public works services.

Emergency Management – the preparation for and carrying out of all emergency functions, other than functions for which military forces or other federal agencies are responsible.

Functions / Operations of Counties

Local School board◦ Peg McCarthy◦ Patrick Woods◦ Hal Gardner◦ Doug Glen◦ Janel Johnson◦ Nancy Kirk◦ Ned Nusbaum

City counsel◦ Karen Hiller◦ John Alcala◦ Sylvia Ortiz◦ Jack Woefel◦ Larry Wolgast◦ Deborah Swank◦ City Manager:

Nortan N. Bonaparte Jr. County Commissioners:

◦ Shelly Buhler◦ Vic Miller◦ Ted Ensley

Who are your officials?

The City of Awesome, Kansas has a population of 5,403 and is located in Hot County in central Kansas. The Citizens are also served by USD #987. Downtown merchants have been complaining recently about traffic and sidewalk problems caused by skateboards on Main Street. To address the merchants’ concerns, the City of Awesome passed an ordinance which prohibits skateboarding and roller blading on Main Street.

Since that time, teenagers in the community have not been able to find a suitable location for skateboarding and roller blading. A group of students came to last week’s City council meeting and asked the City to consider putting in a skateboard and roller blade park.

Council member Glad said that she thought the “students have a good point…they need a safe place to ride.” Council member Crab said that he sees their point, but teenagers can’t vote and they aren’t taxpayers, so why should we spend time and money working on this silly project?” Mayor Wheels thanked the students for their presentations, but said that they City’s budget was tight this year and he wasn’t sure how they would pay for such a project.

Case Study