Kansas’ top school district announces $17 million in cuts, including administrative positions, performing arts and middle school sports 

Kansas’ top-ranked school district, Blue Valley Schools, is slashing $17 million from its operating budget for 2027-28 amid declining enrollment and rising costs.

Superintendent Dr. Gillian Chapman also blamed the state for funding only 92% of special education excess costs, rather than the 100% required by state law. That shortfall cost the district nearly $19 million last year.

The district and three other large Johnson County districts – DeSoto, Olathe and Shawnee Mission – announced in May that they intended to sue the state over special education funding.

“Blue Valley remains a strong school district, but our financial reality is changing. Enrollment continues to decline with the national birthrate at its lowest level, resulting in less state funding,” Chapman wrote in a letter on the district’s website.

Blue Valley Schools, which includes Leawood and Overland Park, ranks in the top 1% of school districts nationally. The district has 22,000 students across 38 schools.

It cut $6 million from its budget last year by eliminating deputy superintendents, an assistant superintendent and other district leadership and support positions, which saved about $1.5 million. Administrators also received no salary increase for this school year, Chapman said.

The new cuts will reduce administrative positions, out-of-area travel, high school coaching positions and performing arts support. Its middle schools will suspend all seventh- and eighth-grade wrestling, cross country and drill/dance team programs.

The cuts will also mean less support for the district’s Parents as Teachers program and the Chinese Immersion program, as well as “staffing adjustments in high school gifted education and library media, along with transitions to high school attendance area feeder-based instructional support and social work models,” according to Chapman’s letter.

While most cuts are slated to take effect next year, some changes will begin this year, Chapman said, without specifying which ones.

The cuts come as districts nationwide adjust to enrollment declines. U.S. births have dropped dramatically over the last two decades, a trend affecting public school enrollment in most states.

New research from the Kansas Policy Institute found that enrollment declines are partly self-inflicted, especially in some larger urban and suburban districts.

The institute also found that Blue Valley’s hiring and pay raises outpaced those of other districts, suggesting that aligning them with those of similar school systems could cover the district’s budget shortfall.