Facts about the closing of Marquette Elementary School

1. In 2010 Mr. Suppes held meetings in Marquette telling the taxpayers that the Junior High had to
be closed to save $187,000. One of the reasons being that the state withheld from the district
$240,000 in state equalization money. The USD 400 audit report from Swindle, Jantz, and Lloyd for
2010 shows that the whole story was not told. Federal stimulus money called ARRA (American
Recovery and Rehabilitation Act), in the amount of $320,752 was deposited in the districts General
Fund. A portion of this money was supposed to replace the loss of State Equalization money. The
purpose of Federal Stimulus money was 3 fold. It was meant to:
1. Save and create jobs immediately
2. Temporary relief programs for those most impacted by the recession
3. Invest in infrastructure. (Keep the doors open on public schools.)
The audit report then reveals that this money was not left in the General Fund and used to help
any deficit in operating expenses. $310,345 was transferred to the Contingency Reserve fund.
When the district office was asked if stimulus money was used to build the Contingency Reserve,
we were told “No”. Later we were told, “not really.” It was stated “USD #400 had a few years higher
enrollment so we transferred money to the Contingency Reserve to save for future years.” However,
that is not what Mr. Suppes was telling the patrons of Marquette! At approximately the same time
that this money was transferred to Contingency Reserve, Mr. Suppes was telling the patrons of
Marquette that $187,000 was needed to keep the Junior High in Marquette open. The people of
Marquette then raised $140,000 in time for their deadline in order to keep the Junior High open in
Marquette. The rest would have probably followed if we had been given a little more time. The
Superintendent and the school board declined the money with no discussion or minutes to explain
why the money was declined. Obviously the reasons that the district office gave for closure was not
the reasons for closing Marquette Junior High.
During the next 3 years the district office told us that the Contingency Reserve was being used
for some operating expenses. The Superintendent remarked on many occasions that we have to “stop
the bleeding of the Contingency Reserve.” However, if you look at the budget books and audit reports,
not one dime of Contingency Reserve was spent until 2012. The states rule was that up to 10% of the
General Fund could be held in Contingency Reserve unless you had a declining enrollment.
This is how the stimulus money that could have helped Marquette School was hidden. The
addition of this money put the Contingency Reserve extremely over the 10% of the General Fund
allowed. The Contingency Reserve was held at this level for the next 3 years. In 2012 when the state
said, “No reason will be allowed for the Contingency Reserve to be over 6% of the General Fund.”
Stimulus money could no longer be hidden in the Contingency Reserve fund. It had to be spent down
to comply with state regulations. At this time, Mr. Suppes was telling everyone “the bleeding of the
Contingency Reserve had to stop and we can no longer use it for operating expenses.” This was not
true!
With a declining enrollment in USD 400 and the need to close a building, this money had to be
spent down wisely by the district office. It would make a difference as to which building would be
closed. The stimulus money that was spent down out of the Contingency Reserve was used for 2
capital outlay expenses at the High School in Lindsborg. At the time that this was done, there was 1.4
million dollars in the capital outlay fund and it was only taxed at that time at 1.78 mills, (the
maximum was 8 mills), Smoky Valley is usually at 3.5 to 5 mills. As you can see, this was unusually
low.
The Contingency Reserve can be used for any purpose. Capital Outlay cannot be used for
operating expenses. Mr. Suppes told the patrons at many meetings for many years that “USD 400 has
to stop the reduction and bleeding of the Contingency Reserve. “
The patrons of Marquette made several attempts to ask questions to a quorum of school board
members during and after the closing of Marquette Junior High. No answers were given! No
explanations offered! After the school was closed in the spring of 2010, at the first school board

2. meeting in the fall, questions were officially asked during the open forum of the school board meeting.
No answers were given regarding the money offered to keep the school open. The second meeting in
the fall, Marquette patrons attended the school meeting to ask further questions. The agenda had an
official statement added that said, “Except to ask clarifying questions, Board members will not
interact with patrons at the open forum.” Obviously the superintendent and board did not want to
answer any questions from the taxpayers of the district. This statement and policy has been included
on all the agendas of all meetings and is still included on the agenda presently.
When reading board minutes, very little discussion of closing Marquette Junior High, or not
excepting money to keep it open, closing the 4th grade, or closing the entire building can be found.
This legally cannot be discussed in executive session, so obviously meetings with less than a quorum
were held. These discussions were done without patrons’ involvement, or unlawful meetings were
held with a quorum of school board members attending with no formal minutes.
Looking at Mr. Suppes’ website at the December board meeting in 2013, he stated that no
decision on how to save money had been made. This included no decision or discussion about closing
Marquette School. It said that there will be many options to discuss at the January meeting. Many
Marquette patrons attended the January meeting. It was very obvious that the closure of the
Marquette building was the purpose of that meeting. Where did the board discuss that between
December and January with no legal meeting or minutes? They heard a few statements from patrons
at the January meeting. You could not ask any questions! With no previous warning, they voted
unanimously to ask the state for permission to close the building at the February meeting.
In 2010 when Marquette Junior High was closed, 2 men from the Marquette area hired a long
time accountant and auditor to see if this closure was necessary. The auditor made a
recommendation after looking at the budgets and audit reports and also talking to Mr. Suppes. His
opinion was that USD 400 couldn’t run 2 grade schools, 10 miles apart with a declining enrollment.
He said that to be fair to both communities and save the most money for the district a junior high
should be created in Marquette. K-6 should be at the junior high in Lindsborg, and Soderstrom should
be eliminated, as it is the poorest building in the district. At the January meeting even one of the
board members made a very long comment about how he had spent a day at Soderstrom School and
was very ashamed of it. He still voted to close one of the best and most efficient buildings in the
district, Marquette. The accountant and auditor said that an independent and impartial study should
be made on which building should be closed in the district.
On his website, Mr. Suppes said that no decision had been made on how to save the district
money at the 2013 December meeting. However, due to all the comments about “bleeding the
Contingency Reserve fund” that he had made for the past several years, the patrons of Marquette
retained a law firm that works with school boards. They had previously helped create the Central
Plains district. (Holyrood, Bushton, Lorraine, Claflin, and Wilson). The Marquette patrons’ goal was to
have this representative work with the USD 400 board to create an independent and impartial study
on the best and fairest alternative to save this district money. Buildings, Capital Outlay, bond issues,
are all local issues and have very little to do with the state. These are the issues that USD 400 was
facing. There needed to be discussion on the need to close a building to save money because the state
had lowered base state aid and LOB State Equalization money. There were several options that should
have been discussed so that the entire burden was not handed to one community.
At the February meeting to close the Marquette Elementary School the board was made aware
that closing MES would scatter that enrollment to many other districts. Little River is just as close to
80 square miles of the old Marquette School district as Lindsborg is and in many cases closer. The old
Marquette district covers 158 square miles. Enrollment is what makes district money and for some
reason USD 400 is losing their enrollment. When area districts surrounding USD 400 were
researched, about 110 students with USD 400 zip codes attended school in those districts. The
numbers are not totally clear but it is believed that over 100 students are in a home school coop in the
Lindsborg area. There are enough that they even have a competitive basketball team and you can
read the results of their games in the paper. Why have that many patrons lost faith in USD 400 public

3. schools? The total income for each student in the district is approximately $12,000 so that means that
USD 400 is loosing over 2 million dollars per year on students that have just lost faith in the
leadership of USD 400 public schools and still live within the district. Governor Brownback’s cuts
have amounted to less than that. District enrollment is around 840. We have lost around $500 per
student on base state aid and $300,000 on State equalization money. That is only $750,000.
Something is very wrong with leadership in the Smoky Valley. One board member said on Facebook
that USD 400 would be fine without the Marquette District. Lindsborg would just join El-Saline or
Southeast of Saline. The chances of either one of these districts allowing a 4000 town to join their
district when USD 400 school board members have a history of closing smaller schools and moving
these students to Lindsborg would be very slim. The community of Lindsborg would be able to out
vote them on all issues. This leaves 2 places for Lindsborg to go, Salina or McPherson. The Round
House in McPherson could absorb Lindsborg very easily and Salina would have no problem either.
I have wanted for a very long time to ask many why questions to a district 400 board quorum
but after my first attempt to ask questions at a board meeting, and they added to the agenda that the
board will not interact with patrons at the open forum except to ask clarifying questions, I gave up if
they were not going to respond to my questions. It was a useless waste of my time! Here is a list of
my many questions:
1) Why in the 2009-2010 year were the people of Marquette told that USD 400 did not receive the
LOB equalization money or $240,000 by the state? Actually stimulus money from the federal
government was deposited in the General Fund of USD 400 to make up this difference.
2) Why did Mr. Suppes transfer $310,435 out of the $320,750 of the stimulus money that was
deposited in the General Fund to the Contingency Reserve? $243,744 of this money was
supposed to replace the LOB Equalization money and should have been left in the General Fund
to operate USD 400 schools including Marquette Junior High.
3) Federal Stimulus money or ARRA was given to school districts and other government and private
businesses for 3 reasons.
A. Save and create jobs immediately
B. Temporary relief programs for those most impacted by the recession
C. Invest in infrastructure. (Keep the doors open on public schools.)
Was this your understanding also?
4) Why in August of 2010 did 2 patrons of USD 400 from Marquette get information from Mr.
Suppes that USD 400 would be using some Contingency Reserve funds for operating expenses?
5) Why did Mr. Suppes reply “NO” when asked if ARRA money was used to build the Contingency
Reserve?
6) When Julie Martin was asked if ARRA money was used to build the Contingency Reserve (in an
email from a Marquette patron), why did she reply by email saying, “Not really, USD 400 had a
few good years higher enrollment and the board decided to put money in the Contingency
Reserve to save for future years?”
7) Why was Mr. Suppes having meetings in Marquette about closing Marquette Junior High at the
same time that stimulus money was added to the reserve? He was telling the patrons of
Marquette that since we did not receive the $240,000 in state equalization money that USD 400
would have to save $187,000 by closing Marquette Junior High.
8) Why can there be no minutes of the school board’s discussion about accepting the $140,000 the
community of Marquette tried to donate to the district to save Marquette Junior High.
9) Why if $187,000 was needed to keep Marquette Junior High open was the $140,000 not accepted
or the pledge to give the other $47,000 at a later date not even considered, nor discussed with the
people of Marquette, nor any patron of USD 400, by the school board and superintendent?
10) How was the transferred stimulus money originally held in Contingency Reserve when the state
had a rule that the Contingency Reserve will not exceed 10% of the general fund? At a later date,
a rule was added that said if a district was experiencing declining enrollment they could exceed
the 10% limit. That rule was not made for a year after this was done.

4. 11) When closing Marquette Junior High and then the 4th grade of Marquette, were patrons told
repeated times that we have to “stop the bleeding of the Contingency Reserve? “ Not one dime
had been used out of the Contingency Reserve in 8 years for operating expenses according to the
budget reports and also the audit report.
12) Why was the stimulus money that was transferred to Contingency Reserve held in that fund for 3
years during which time we, in USD 400, were being told that the Contingency Reserve was being
“bled” and used for operating money for USD 400 and it had to stop?
13) Why was the Contingency Reserve spent down only when the state made a rule that at no time
will the Contingency Reserve of any district be held at more than 6% of the General Fund?
14) Why was the Contingency Reserve used for 2 capital outlay expenses? $101,456 and $239,000 on
the air conditioners in Lindsborg High School? There was 1.4 million dollars in capital outlay at
the time that this happened. It was only being taxed at 1.78 mills out of a maximum possible of 8
mills.
15) Why was the Marquette Elementary School closed at approximately the same time that stimulus
money in the Contingency Reserve was spent down purposely to comply with state regulations
on the Contingency Reserve when there was 1.4 million dollars in capital outlay? The
contingency money that was spent down was actually stimulus money that should have been
used for operating expenses and would have kept the doors open in Marquette Junior High or
Marquette Elementary School at a later date.
16) Why did Mr. Suppes’s website say that there had been no decision on how to save money at the
December 2013 school board meeting and that closing Marquette Elementary School had not
been decided on yet? He also said that there would be much to discuss at the January 2014
meeting.
17) Why at the January 2014 meeting were only 2 options given for saving money? Both options
would save about the same amount of money that was spent out of the Contingency Reserve for 2
capital expenses. Why was Capital outlay not used for the air conditioner repairs and the
Contingency money not used for operating expenses such as keeping Marquette Elementary
School open? We were again told that we have to stop the “bleeding” of the Contingency Reserve
and clearly that was not true.
18) How was the school board so sure that closing Marquette Elementary School was the right move
when they had not officially met since December, or had they? There are no minutes of any
meeting with discussion of closing Marquette Elementary School.
19) Why at the February meeting to close the building in Marquette was the lawyer representing
Marquette not given any consideration. He was clearly asking for time to work with the school
board and the people of Marquette to see if closure was the best decision for everybody involved.
The Marquette patrons were clearly reaching out to the board and offering professional help at
no cost to them. They wanted to get an impartial and fair look at what needed to be done. The
patrons of Marquette were told that we waited until the 11th hour but clearly there was plenty of
time to make such an important decision that affected so many lives. Was there some hidden
agenda to rush?
20) Why when there are so many children that live in USD 400 that do not attend Smoky Valley
Schools was Mr. Suppes underhandedly working in Topeka trying to get the buses from USD 444
stopped from picking up the Marquette Area Students. Mr. Suppes and the school board were
clearly warned that closing Marquette Elementary School would scatter students to other
districts.
21) Why are there 43 students attending other districts around the Lindsborg area plus 73 students
attending USD #444 from the Marquette area and also over 100 students that attend a home
school coop in Lindsborg? Why have all of these students and parents lost faith in USD 400 and
left the schools when they and their families still pay taxes and live within the district?
22) Why has Mr. Suppes told the McPherson paper that if the Marquette area transferred land taxes
to USD 444 it would cost the district 100’s of 1000’s of dollars? This money is actually the tax

5. dollars of the Marquette people. When this reality was suggested to the school board, they were
not concerned. They said that the students would receive a good education in USD 444.