September 10, 2025 at 5:30 PM - Board Retreat

Public Content: 

Mission Statement

District Mission/Vision Statements: The statement represents what the district stands for. All of our actions should be related to the parts within the statement. The statement was updated in 2023 during our Strategic Planning meetings.

Mission Statement:  Burlington Schools are committed to developing each student to become a responsible citizen and lifelong learner. 

Vision Statement:  Each graduate will be prepared for life and a passionate contributor to their career and community.  

Is the board still satisfied with the current mission statement?

Public Content:  Following this narrative is a copy of the annual calendar.  At the retreat, the board will be asked to review the calendar to set the direction for policy review and linkage meetings for the upcoming year.  No changes (other than corresponding dates) are recommended for 2025-2026.

Public Content:  The Strategic Plan that was approved in spring of 2023 is also attached and will be reviewed throughout the year at board meetings by the superintendent.  

Public Content:  Budget preparations have occurred for the 2025-2026 school year.  Our building needs assessments were factored into our budget preparation. Base Aid For Student Excellence is set at $5,615 for this school year.  For 2026-2027, BASE is not set as the Gannon School Funding Court Case has expired. Gov. Kelly has one more year left on her term, and she has been very supportive of school funding. The next 16 months could be very challenging for public schools with regard to legislative support.     

Public Content:  Open Enrollment didn't really change anything for us.  It just became a headache to create policy for something we were already doing.  We accepted almost all/all kids that applied, but it was done on July 1 instead of right after school in late May.   

Public Content:  Here is the wording of the 2024-25 position statement:

Current programs and personnel necessary to meet the instructional needs for our enrollment will be maintained as long as the district has the financial resources to do so. If reduction of staff/program is required due to financial considerations and/or enrollment decline, the following guidelines will be the basis for decision making:

• If possible within the limitations of our funding, attrition (resignation or retirement) will be the method used to reduce the number of staff. To that end, the following guidelines will be considered:
• No staff member who retires or resigns will be replaced without clear review and identification as to the impact caused by not replacing the staff member. Some programs may be curtailed or lost as a result. This may result in a loss of program offerings and/or class size increases. I would like to propose these questions when considering retirements/resignations:

1. Is the position needed?
2. If yes, can we fill it another way?
3. If no, look to fill the position.     

Support services (administration, custodial, transportation, food service, special education, maintenance, clerical) will be reviewed in the same fashion as instructional programs.

Other Revenue Sources will be considered and used as necessary. Examples include the following:

• Revenue generation in the form of fees, "pay to play" and providing services to other schools may be used as an alternative to reducing programs.
• Other sources of revenue (Capital Outlay, Interest, Grants, Cooperative Agreements) should be used to supplement state provided funding sources to maintain program offerings if necessary.
• If necessary, Contingency Reserve should be used to ‘bridge’ in the event of a midyear reduction of funds or if approved by the board, to bridge to a year where expected or announced retirements will occur.

If the above still reflects the board’s position, we do not need to spend time on this at the retreat. If the above statements no longer have support of a majority of the board, we need to determine what position the board wishes to take to guide decision-making in the future. Any position adopted necessarily needs to have the support of the majority of the board.

QUESTION:
Does the board continue to support the above position?

If not, the board will be asked to identify what components of the above position should be changed.

Public Content:  It has been the position of the BOE and administration to make sure our staff have the training necessary to be effective teachers. This is very important to the success of our students in the classroom. Part of staff development is the CLI (Curriculum Leadership Institute) process that
the district has been working on for the past 10 years. The BOE, administration, and staff feel that other staff development is needed as well. In 2019-20 and moving forward, we focused on district in-services not being CLI-dominated. This will continue in the future. The administration has worked well with the PDC (Professional Development Council) to gear in-services toward staff needs. In addition, we are working on having in-service time focused on building needs throughout the year.  We also want to continue to encourage individual staff development connected to job duties to help our staff improve. 

LETRS Training will be taking place in the 2023-24 and 2024-25 school years for most staff at BES, some staff at BMS and BHS, and special education staff in the Coffey County Special Education Cooperative.  We will continue with LETRS for the second and final year this school
year.  We are paying staff for time spent outside of the classroom.  

 A goal of ours should be to improve instruction to help improve student success. Eight years ago, our administrative team implemented a monthly walk-through tool with certified staff to give feedback for professional growth.

QUESTIONS:
Does the board have questions about professional development?

Public Content:  POSSIBLE PROJECTS - 
     BHS
Baseball/Softball press box/bleachers
Epoxy Flooring - Restrooms
FACS Room Renovation
Wildcat Stadium seal and tuck point project

 

     BMS
Weight room addition north of locker rooms


 

     BES
NOTE:  Items listed below may/may not occur depending on future plans.

Roof will be evaluated yearly to determine when it needs to be replaced in the next 3-5 years
Carpet/Flooring Replacement
Countertop and Cabinet Replacement in Classrooms 
LED lighting 
Playground improvements
Ceiling tile replacement
PK/Kdg. classroom restrooms
North pillar removal
Larger cafeteria/multipurpose room with food prep kitchen
New BES office  

 

     BUS BARN
Enclose the west side of bus barn and add office/meeting room north of current bus barn.  

Offices and meeting/break room.

 

It is my opinion that this year is going to be another year when we spend around $2 million in capital
outlay money.  We are generating about $2.3 million with our 4 mills this year. 


 

Public Content:  Below is a link to KASB's website with a list of all training options available this year.  If a board member is interested in attending any of the training, please contact Christy Hess for registration.  

https://kasb.org/events