With its own board in place for several months, the Southeastern Technical Academy for Rural Students (STARS) program is seeking ways to purchase its building from the Pleasanton school district. (Journal file photo)
By Charlene Sims, info@linncountyjournal.com
MOUND CITY – Jay Allen, director of the Southeastern Technical Academy for Rural Students (STARS) updated the Linn County Commissioners on Monday, July 8, while fielding questions about why the school districts did not put more funding in the program.
Allen gave the commissioners budget information and a five-year plan. He explained where funding came from for the program and how it was used. He also floated the idea of getting tax help to purchase the STARS building from the Pleasanton school district.
Allen said there were two reasons that he was there. The first was to check on the second disbursement check from the 2024 mill levy that commissioners put into place to help with remodeling the STARS building. The second was to discuss the ownership of the building and campus.
At the June 24 commission meeting Jim Johnson had agreed to approve the claims if the $112,000 for the STARS program was pulled out. Johnson had said that he wanted to see a financial report from the program before releasing the check.
Allen brought that information to the commission meeting on the July 8. He explained that the money was needed to pay off the debt to Pleasanton USD 344 for taking out a loan to remodel the building by adding classrooms and restroom before the beginning of the 2023-2024 school year.
Allen said that since the Pleasanton school district was the owner of the building, it was required that they take out the loan. Knowing that Linn County had approved a mill levy for this purpose, USD 344 officials had no concerns about doing that. But the remainder of the levy disbursement was necessary to clear this debt to the school district.
After much discussion about how much other entities were contributing to the STARS program, especially the school districts, and hearing reports on the successes of the program, Commissioners Jim Johnson and Danny McCullough approved releasing the final $112,000 disbursement to the program. Commissioner Jason Hightower was not at the meeting.
During Allen’s update on the program, he told the commissioners that the reason that STARS exists is to provide educational opportunities to county residents to advance their skills and training to increase their marketability. STARS classes are open to both high school students and adults in the community. He said that four adults took the emergency medical technician (EMT) training the past school year.
Allen told the commissioners that of the 91 students completing the program this year, there were only two that had not found full-time jobs.
Allen also told the commissioners that the STARS welding team that had won first place at the Garden City welding contest last year and won three of the top five spots in the contest this year competing against 19 different schools from three states. According to Allen, this year was the first year that there was a young woman in the regional contest and she was from the STARS program and took first place.
Johnson asked if the school districts paid anything for the trip charges for that contest.
Allen explained that Jayhawk and Pleasanton provided vans and drivers for the transportation. This year one Louisburg student and two Jayhawk students competed and two Pleasanton and one Louisburg juniors went to observe the contest.
Allen provided the commissioners with the budget and the five-year plan that he had provided the commission last year.
The second part of Allen’s presentation was about developing a plan for STARS or an entity other than Pleasanton school district to own the campus.
He told the commissioners that USD 344 owns the campus, so that school district bearing 100% of the weight of the campus.
“That’s not fair to ask them to continue to do this going forward,” said Allen.
Allen went on to say that the plan for changing ownership can go a lot of different directions. One is a multiyear plan that really is a pretty low risk of the county and another is it can be a one-time ask of close to a mill to purchase the building and be sustainable.
He told commissioners they had his end-of-the-year budget and the STARS five-year plan in front of them. The only information that was missing was the Fort Scott summary of tools and supplies that they have contributed to the program along with the salaries of the instructors. He said that information would not be available until the fiscal year report is done by Fort Scott in July.
Johnson and McCullough still expressed concerns about what the school districts and Fort Scott Community College (FSCC) were paying.
Allen explained that by Kansas statute school districts were only allowed to pay certain things. They could not pay for buildings out of their district area. But they did pay for transportation of students to the program. He explained that, while this was a nominal amount for Pleasanton and Jayhawk school districts, it was quite an investment for Prairie View to transport their students daily.
Shawn Thomas, Jayhawk USD 346 superintendent and member of the STARS board of directors, said that school districts could pay for fixed costs like utilities and the Jayhawk district has stepped up to those requests every time.
McCullough asked why the students did not just drive there. Allen explained that the school boards had different policies about that.
Thomas said that the policy at Jayhawk was if students went directly to STARS and then came back to the high school they could drive themselves. But if, they started out the day at the high school and then went to STARS a school district vehicle would have to take them and pick them up.
Thomas told the commissioners that Pleasanton had a student transfer to Pleasanton from Olathe because nothing comparable was offered in the Olathe school district. The student said that even the senior level welding at Olathe was not close to what was offered at STARS.
Allen had started out the presentation with the information that the FSCC investment in the program was close to $1 million dollars. This includes the $400,000 in heavy equipment simulators, instructional supplies, tools and payroll for the instructors.
Allen also told the commissioners that he had applied for a $500,000 Patterson Family Foundation grant that would be awarded in October. That grant would allow STARS to purchase the building and do some more remodeling including adding more bathrooms.
Allen stressed to the commissioners that he was asking them what they thought was fair for Linn County. He said he was not telling them what he thought. He wanted them and others to sit down at the table and discuss the issues.
Allen told the commissioner that the next STARS board meeting was on July 22 at 6 p.m. and they were welcome to attend. He said that the board would be discussing the sustainability of the program, how that was affected by the Pleasanton school district owning the building, and how that could be changed.
Allen said that Linn County Economic Development Director Jessica Hightower did an excellent job of representing the commission on the STARS board. However, he said he thought it might be good for a commissioner to hear the discussion at the STARS board meeting.
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