USD320 Wamego

September 4, 2025

The start of a new school year always brings fresh energy to our schools. Students and staff are settling into routines, and the cooler mornings remind us that fall is just around the corner.

As we started this school year, we have refocused on our ONE Wamego motto. To focus those efforts we use the word ONE for our theme for this school year: ONE Wamego: Ownership. Next. Elevate. Ownership means taking responsibility for our roles and impact. Next reminds us to keep moving forward, learning and adapting as we go. It’s about “next play” mentality and developing resilience. Elevate challenges us to raise the bar for ourselves, our students, and each other. One district. One team. One purpose. That’s what ONE Wamego is all about.

At their scheduled meeting on September 8th, the Board of Education will hold hearings and approve the budget for the 2025-26 fiscal year. Developing the budget and managing school finances is one of the most critical duties of the school board. Creating a budget is a difficult balance of meeting community expectations for the education of students while ensuring efficient use of taxpayer dollars.
The proposed budget shows a 0.81 mill increase: going from 56.14 to 56.95 mills. While the mill levy is what many people look at regarding tax increases, it is important to note the overall taxes levied in the district. The proposed budget increases the taxes levied by about 5%.

Some may have noticed that the notice from the county regarding the revenue neutral rate (RNR) shows an increase of nearly 17%.  This is not accurate.  On the form, the prooposed tax amounts are correct and include revenue from the three counties where USD 320 has territory.  The probem is that the prior year amount only included the taxes from Pottawatomie County.  Since it does not include the other two counties, the 2024 amount is lower than it should be and that inflates the percentage increase.  The district’s proposed budget with correct tax information can be found here (see Code 99).

The largest expense in our school district is personnel. Like many school districts, it has been a challenge to keep our pay and benefits competitive with private sector jobs. This year, USD 320 staff members saw a salary increase of about 4.5%. The starting pay for special education paraprofessionals was of particular concern as it has been very difficult to fill those positions. The starting wage for paraprofessionals was increased by $2 per hour this year.

The additional cost of salary and benefits is approximately $600,000. This is more than the anticipated increase in state aid for the general fund and additional property taxes. It is important to note that every dollar of increased budget authority and taxes will go toward personnel costs.

At the same time, we’re facing reductions in state aid for bond payments, local option budget funds, and capital outlay. That means more of the cost shifts to local taxpayers. Rising food costs have also put extra strain on our food service program. While these challenges are real, every dollar of new funding will go directly to supporting our staff and students.

The notices of hearings and the specifics of the budget can be found on our website under the “required docs” section. The other files on that page will be updated after the budget has been formally approved. The revenue neutral rate hearing is scheduled for 6:45pm on September 8th with the budget hearing and regular meeting to follow.

State law requires students to be up to date on immunizations. Families missing records will be contacted by our nursing staff, and the deadline for compliance is November 1.

In many cases, students already have the vaccinations, but families simply need to submit the paperwork. If not, it’s important to get them scheduled. Families who choose not to vaccinate must provide either a medical exemption or a signed statement of religious or philosophical objection. We want every student in school, and we’ll do our best to help families meet the requirements as required by state law.

I’m proud to serve the ONE Wamego community and grateful for the teamwork that makes our schools strong. Let’s own this year, keep moving forward, and elevate everything we do—together.

Josh Meyer – USD 320 Superintendent

August 2025