Editorial: Deal with threats to schools

The futures of Johnson County’s three largest, highly touted school districts are hot topics of discussion among students, parents, teachers and school administrators for a good reason.

No one at this point knows whether the Olathe, Shawnee Mission and Blue Valley districts will be allowed to open this fall.

The Kansas Supreme Court has scheduled oral arguments for May 10 on a new school funding measure recently signed by Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback.

If the bill is found to constitutionally fund schools, they will open as scheduled. But if the ruling is negative, the Legislature must pass a different formula — or the court says all K-12 schools can’t open.

Other factors are affecting the school districts, too.

Last week, the Olathe school board accepted the resignation of Superintendent Marlin Berry, who is leaving for a similar position in northwest Arkansas. Berry had held his position in Olathe since 2010.

School officials now must look for a highly qualified leader for the district of 30,000 students, making it the largest in the Kansas City area.

Berry’s resignation heightens the concern that Kansas could be losing some top education officials because of uncertainty over funding for the state’s K-12 schools. Brownback’s failed income tax cuts of 2012 have led to massive revenue reductions and imperiled school funding.

Blue Valley’s school board went through a similar exercise just months ago, when it hired Todd E. White as superintendent.

White had been a top assistant to the previous superintendent, Tom Trigg, who left for a Texas job in 2015.

The high quality of Johnson County’s schools has attracted tens of thousands of residents in previous decades. Adequately funding the districts is an excellent way to make sure they retain their top-tier status.

That’s a top priority for the Legislature and the Kansas Supreme Court.

This story was originally published April 12, 2016 at 6:27 PM with the headline "Editorial: Deal with threats to schools."