“The district’s 4-year-old, at-risk program, which used to prepare children for kindergarten with basic English and math skills, has been shuttered for the 2015-16 school year because the district could not find anyone to teach it.
“Earlier this year, USD 452 also shut down its alternative education program because of the way state funding is calculated under the new block grant funding formula…
“USD 452’s learning center was one of four run with help from the SPRSC that closed in March, when the Kansas Legislature scrapped the state’s school finance formula and replaced it with block grants, according to Chief Financial Officer Mike Ronen.
“The other three centers in western Kansas that closed were in Syracuse, Hill City and Cimarron, Ronen said.
“’The state legislature sets our funding formula, and we get what we get,’ Ronen said. ‘We’re forced to have a solutions-based answer to what was dealt us, and unfortunately, the cause was to close some of our centers.’
“’It’s a vicious circle,’ Taylor said. ‘Many of the parents that I had, had a sixth-grade education. They’re not ones that can sit down and read to their children and provide them with educational opportunities.’”