BasehorInfo.com

With the Basehor-Linwood School District 2009-2010 budget affected to the tune of about $1 million by Gov. Mark Parkinson's public education cuts, Superintendent David Howard is urging community members to speak out.

At Monday night's USD 458 Board of Education meeting, Howard told the board and audience the state might be cutting an additional $300 from base state aid, which would bring the aid per pupil to a little more than $3,700. Such an amount had not been seen in the last 20 years, Howard said.

From his discussions with a few Kansas senators and representatives, Howard said he had gathered legislators were receiving little feedback from constituents regarding budget cuts, particularly those affecting public education.

"They’re saying their issue is ‘We’re not hearing from people, so evidently it’s not painful enough,'" Howard said.

Howard told the board members and audience members to write local legislators to start positive discussions about combating or reversing damage done by the cuts made thus far.

For more on this story and other action taken at Monday's school board meeting, see Thursday's issue of the Sentinel.