By Jerry Hamm
01/20/04 -- It was a peaceful, sunny day on Oct. 5, 1892, when the Dalton Gang rode into Coffeyville, Kan., to simultaneously rob the town's two banks.
During that time, the local board of education was monitoring the construction of a new four-room school building and was meeting nearly every week. One such meeting had been scheduled for the evening of Oct. 5, 1892, to make certain that the cost of the new building would not exceed $6,000.
The original school board's record book shows an entry declaring that no quorum was present for that meeting due to "the terrible tragedy arising out of the Dalton Raid." Among the citizens who lost their lives during the raid was Charles T. Connelly, the part-time city marshal and school principal.
Next August, 112 years after the Dalton Raid, the citizens of Coffeyville will again be witness to a historic event -- the opening of a community elementary school to replace three elementary centers.
This event is historic because the construction of the new school will be accomplished without any increase to the local property taxes -- despite the fact that it will exceed the $6,000 limit set in 1892 by nearly $20 million.
The new school is designed to accommodate slightly more than 900 students in prekindergarten through grade 6. It will be the largest elementary school in the state. Although a school this size will require more than one building administrator, it is not likely that any of these administrators will also serve as the city marshal.
The road leading to the groundbreaking ceremony for this innovatively financed project was not without a few bumps along the way, including the rejection of four bond proposals in less than two years
Ultimately, it was the creation of a unique partnership between the school district and Coffeyville's city commission that paved the way for this project. This partnership resulted in the city promoting a successful sales tax initiative and committing financial support for the school bond payment from the city's surplus electricity fund.
These two significant gestures on the part of the city were instrumental in eventually convincing voters that this just might be one of those rare win/win situations -- getting a new school and renovating two older ones with no increase to the local property taxes.
Fifty years ago, the citizens of Coffeyville made another strong statement about the value of education. In the early 1950s, the community supported the construction of four new elementary schools, a junior college, and a vocational school.
Soon after the elementary facilities opened, student enrollment in Coffeyville area schools reached its highest point. In 1958, there were 5,174 students within the geographic area that now comprises Unified School District 445.
In subsequent years, enrollment declined, dropping to 1,908 by the 2002-03 school year. Obviously, this kind of loss can be devastating when one considers the resulting reduction in state aid. It also led to far-reaching implications for the management and business operations of the district.
The Kansas School Unification Act of 1966, as well as the declining enrollment, led to the closing of 13 schools in the Coffeyville area, including a few one-room schoolhouses.
Smaller enrollments meant smaller budgets, making it difficult to continue to support and maintain the school buildings still open.
Confounding matters even more has been the fact that Coffeyville has had 10 different superintendents since 1966. Two of them only served for one year each. This combination of short-tenured leadership and dramatically declining enrollment has made it difficult to create a meaningful long-range facilities plan.
Not surprisingly, efficiency became a major concern of the district -- but not just in an economic sense. Experience with Kansas' Quality Performance Accreditation program had led to concerns about the district's instructional program and the need to raise student achievement. There was a possibility one or more schools could lose their accreditation.
Enter superintendent number 10: When Rod Allen came on board July 1, 1999, he knew he had to hit the ground running.
Meanwhile, the city launched a major effort to revitalize the community in an attempt to get more businesses and residents to settle in Coffeyville. The cost for much of what the city had in mind would be covered by a local company's need for electricity from the municipal power plant.
Farmland Industries signed a contract with the city in 1999 for a new nitrogen fertilizer plant that was slated to add 100 jobs and bring in $18 million dollars in utility revenues over the next 20 years.
With the surplus electricity fund as a major source of revenue, the city proceeded to fund the construction of a new $6.7 million stadium serving Coffeyville Community College, as well as the public schools. Other new city projects included an aquatic center and nine more holes for the municipal golf course.
While the city was preoccupied with these rather dazzling changes, the school district was seriously deliberating how best to approach a major plan for revitalizing what was once a major attraction in Coffeyville -- the public schools. Both the city and the school district had the same overriding desire to improve the quality of life for local residents. Historically, this has been accomplished separately with little cooperation.
With Allen's guidance, the school board began an initiative that resulted in new studies, new community committees, the securing of architectural services, a long-range facility plan, and a proposed bond issue.
At the time, the district's 2,236 students were divided among seven buildings -- three serving K-5 schools, one for sixth graders, one for grades 7-8, and a four-year high school.
The proposed $47.6 million bond would finance a new K-5 building, a new school for grades 6-8, and extensive renovations of the middle school and high school. This bond issue failed resoundingly on May 16, 2000, by a margin of 2.5 to 1. Strike one!
The bond issue was scaled down considerably -- to $24.8 million -- but was again defeated, this time by only 230 votes on Jan. 23, 2001. Strike two!
At the same time, the district's worsening financial crunch made it necessary to close two more elementary schools, redraw some boundaries, and install a few more temporary classroom buildings.
After the second bond issue was shot down, the district formed a bond review committee, whose members included key business and community leaders.
With an election coming up in just a few months, the committee basically agreed to repeat the same proposal as bond issue two. It was rejected by just 180 votes on April 3, 2001. Strike three!
After that measure failed, a new kind of determination surfaced. The bond review committee came up with a proposal for a $19.9 million bond to finance a new preK-6 elementary school with scaled-back renovation plans for the middle and high school. It was scheduled for a vote on March 12, 2002.
During the planning process, there was time for meaningful dialogue and reflective thinking. As a result, the proverbial "light bulb" was energized within some key people, who realized that any serious effort to upgrade the community's image would not be complete without including the schools.
With a city commissioner and a city engineer on the bond review committee, along with a creative city manager who had spearheaded the use of the surplus utility fund, a new dimension was introduced.
The city government approached the school district about the possibility of an "inter-local agreement" that would permit the city to do two things on behalf of the school district:
• conduct an election for the purpose of giving the district access to a half-cent sales tax, thus funding about 48 percent of the payment for the proposed bond issue; and
• commit up to $7.7 million (25 percent) toward the bond payment from the surplus utility fund.
In October 2001, voters passed the sales tax, which allowed the new elementary school to be built without state aid. Incorporating this project into the March 12 bond issue permitted the patrons to access state aid and make all construction a district project.
With close to 75 percent of the bond payment covered by the city's intervention, the district would then add to the payment by shifting the capital outlay levy to the bond and interest fund. This would amount to about 3 percent of the bond payment. The remaining balance of the bond (24 percent) could be covered by state aid amounting to $5 million, if the bond issue passed.
The city manager and the superintendent made joint public presentations on this unusual financial arrangement. They explained how the new partnership would work to the advantage of taxpayers, the city, the school district, and, most important, to the students of USD 445.
With the prospect of a more palatable financial arrangement -- one that would not increase taxes -- the fourth bond issue passed easily.
This rather lengthy and yet enlightening process, involving persistence and creative thinking, resulted in a truly unique partnership between a city government and a school district.
The result is a home run for the citizens and students of Coffeyville. There is renewed hope that the proud tradition in USD 445 of placing a high value on education will be continued.
Jerry Hamm is a member of the school board of Coffeyville (Kan.) USD 445. He can be reached at hammj@cvilleschools.com.