“School officials across Kansas say they are cutting programs, raising fees and tightening budgets in other ways in response to an overhaul of the state’s education finance system.

“In Valley Center, the grass outside school buildings will grow a little higher this year as summer maintenance positions are eliminated.

“In Andover, families may write bigger checks at enrollment time.

“In Wichita, Maize, Goddard and elsewhere, unfilled teaching positions could mean more crowded classrooms or fewer options for upper-level classes.

“A handful of districts, including Haven, have cut their school years short by a week or more, citing budget shortfalls and an increasingly bleak outlook for state revenues.

“’As a superintendent over the last several years, I have lost sleep at times because of the decisions we’re having to make,’ [Valley Center Superintendent Cory] Gibson said.

“’But it wasn’t until this year that I lost sleep consecutive days…We want to make the best experience for kids that we can, and I don’t know that the resources align to that right now.'”

Read more here: http://www.kansas.com/news/local/education/article20587557.html#storylink=cpy