Kansas debt cap forces one school to postpone bond sale

Requests by public school districts in Kansas for bond authorization from the state department of education exceeded a state cap this month, leading at least one school system to postpone a spring bond election.

The cap applies if the aggregate amount of a district’s outstanding and proposed bonds exceeds 14% of its assessed valuation. After receiving Kansas State Board of Education authorization, districts seek voter approval for the debt.

With only $293.4 million available under a nearly $594 million cap for fiscal 2025, the board last week took up $469 million in bond requests from six districts and approved bond authorizations recommended by a department committee based on their ranking under certain criteria. Those were $196 million for Goddard Unified School District 265, $55 million for Augusta USD 402, and $7.5 million for Galena USD 499.

Hutchinson USD 308, which was seeking $109.5 million of bonds to be placed on the April 1 ballot and which ranked third in the education department’s prioritization metric, was given tentative approval. 

“We follow what we believe is the law, and … we didn’t want to be in this position,” Board Member Jim Porter said. “But there’s more requests than there is money available, and I strongly support the [committee’s] recommendation.”

The action left just $26 million of authorization left under the cap calculated for fiscal 2025, according to Frank Harwood, the education department’s deputy commissioner of fiscal and administrative services.

He told the board there could be room under cap for Hutchinson depending on the outcome of other school systems’ bond elections. Otherwise, the district could wait until Kansas’ fiscal 2026 begins on July 1, when a new cap will be in place, he added.

The district, located in central Kansas, said it will move forward with a bond vote in 2025 at a yet-to-be determined date. Its school board approved the bonds in November mainly to finance a middle school.

“Everyone I have talked to is not concerned by this date change,” Hutchinson USD Superintendent Dr. Dawn Johnson wrote in an email to staff. “We will move forward with planning and preparation.”  

A $100 million bond request from Gardner-Edgerton USD 231 did not achieve a high priority ranking and was not approved. A district spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment.