The document provides statistics about a school district including the number of students, ethnicity breakdown, free/reduced lunch percentages, district size, school buildings, salary and expenditure information, long range facility plans, new programs, challenges, and revenue sources. It shows that the district has over 4,700 students, is 132 square miles, and has 13 school buildings. 83.3% of students are Caucasian and over 40% qualify for free/reduced lunch. Over 60% of the budget goes to salaries.

2. Number of students: 4777
Ethnicity statistics:
Pacific
Asian Black Caucasian Hispanic Indian
Islander
1% 6.4% 83.3% 6.3% 1% 2%
Free and Reduced lunch percentage:
2003- 2004- 2005- 2006- 2007- 2008-
04 05 06 07 08 09
34.5% 38.9% 40.6% 42.8% 43.6% 46%

3. District size in square miles: 132 square miles
Early Childhood Center
Blue Hills Elementary
Buckner Elementary
Cler-Mont Elementary
Elm Grove Elementary
Indian Trails Elementary
Fire Prairie Middle School
Osage Trail Middle School
Fort Osage High School
Lewis and Clark Learning Center
McCune School
Career Technology Center
Entrepreneurial Studies program at the Independence Center

4. FEDERAL – 6.66%
COUNTY – 1.32%
LOCAL – 41.20%
STATE – 50.90%

5. CAPITAL PROJECTS – .67%
MATERIALS & SUPPLIES – 7.28%
PURCHASED SERVICES– 10.31%
BENEFITS – 15.93%
SALARIES – 60.97%

6. Starting Salary Rank Starting Salary Rank
SCHOOL DISTRICT with a with a Top End
Baccalaureate Master’s Salary Rank
BLUE SPRINGS $34,000 $37,957 $68,026
FORT OSAGE $35,500 $40,300 $74,740
GRAIN VALLEY $34,000 $37,100 $68,025
INDEPENDENCE $34,700 $37,605 $68,196
LIBERTY $33,668 $38,291 $76,280

7. Long-Range Facilities Master Plan
VISION Additional
Completed Projects
Baseball Field Improvement
Buckner Site Improvements
Asphalt Elementary Playgrounds
100 ton of Roof Top Units
Elm Grove Window Replacements
Building Our Future
CTC Ag Building and Green House
Improved Softball & Baseball fields
Additional Card Access Door Controls
Phase 1
Fire Prairie MS Playground Equipment
Voice Over IP Phone System

8. Long-Range Facilities Master Plan
VISION
Year 2011
Build a new Early Childhood/PAT facility
Construct additional classrooms at Fire Prairie
Middle School
Building Our Future
Construct additional classrooms at Osage Trail
Middle School
Construct additional classrooms at the Career and
Phase 2
Technology Center
Upgrade facilities at Fort Osage High School

9. Long-Range Facilities Master Plan
VISION
Year 2015
Construct a new support services building
Construct an auxiliary gym and weight room at
Osage Trail Middle School
Building Our Future
Construct a new 2,000-seat field house
Upgrade and expand the Fort Osage High School
athletic facilities
Phase 3
Construct a new district office facility

10. New Programs
Offered 2009-10
•Trailblazer Collegiate Academy
•Tribal Building Our Future
Community

11. Challenges and Issues
facing our school district
Dealing with ever-increasing operating costs (insurance,
fuel, utilities, etc.) during a time of economic decline;
An inadequately funded state foundation formula and
an inequitable distribution of those Future
Building Our state funds;
Retooling and redesigning the teaching and learning
processes for an ever-changing culture, economy, and
world;
Meeting the proficiency standards prescribed for our
students under the current No Child Left Behind act.

12. No Child Left Behind
A State-Wide Challenge
Every district in the Greater Kansas City Area failed to meet
the standard.
410 of 523 districts in the state failed to meet Adequate
Yearly Progress (AYP) for 2008-09. Future
Building Our
Standards increase next year
Communication Arts
Increases from 59.2% to 67%
Math
Increases from 54.1% to 63%

13. No Child Left Behind
A State-Wide Challenge
Standards continue to increase until 2014
By then 100% of students are to be proficient
Guarantees Failure
Building Our Future
Consequences
Level 1 School Choice
Level 2 Supplemental Educational Services
Level 3 Replace Staff Relevant to Failure
Level 4 Turn Operation Over to DESE

15. School District Revenue
12
%

17. School District Revenue
Including salaries, benefits, and
local purchases, more than 80
percent of total budget spent in
Independence

18. School District Revenue
• Construction $943,000
• Food Vendors $183,000
• General Supply $468,000
• Local Services $767,000 (including
school resource officers)
• Utilities $2,437,000

19. Fuel: Food: 3.2 million
$881,000
Phone: $532,000
Summer School: Textbooks:
5.2 million 1.1 million

20. • Concern that the state could reduce the foundation formula
• Prop C sales receipts continue to come in below projections
• Reduction in local valuation means loss of millions

21. Effect of Local Property Valuation Decrease in
2009-2010
In the
Independence
School
district,
decreased
valuation caused
a drop in revenue
of 2.2
million dollars,
just this year.

22. • Annual Increase to Honor Salary Schedule
• Annual Increase to Pay Health Insurance
• Annual Increase to Pay Retirement Benefits

23. Zero-interest bonds, available now as part of the
Economic Stimulus package, could save
taxpayers tens of millions of dollars.

24. Bond would build new elementary schools in
Eastern and Western Independence, and allow
for upgrades in schools throughout the
district.

25. Project would create between 1200-1500
construction jobs, and thousands of
supporting jobs (architects, suppliers,
manufacturers, etc.)

26. Would also allow district to pay off lease
purchases, putting approximately 2 million
dollars a year into operating budget.

27. Blue Springs
School
District

28. Expenditure Reductions
 Middle school restructuring
 Eliminated 36 positions
 Administrative reductions
 Program budget cutbacks
 Energy savings program
 Cooperative purchasing GKCCSD
 Textbook purchase deferral
Revenue Reductions
 Assessments decline
 State shell-game
 Transportation
 Parents As Teachers
 Special Education

29. Bond Issue 2009
 February 2009
◦ 89.4% voter approval
◦ $86.5 million
◦ 14 projects
 Classroom additions
 School renovations
 High school improvements
 Safety and security upgrades
 Transportation Center
◦ Ten projects were done by the first day of school
◦ Four projects remain and will be complete by fall of 2010
◦ Stimulates the local economy and trades

30. District Growth
Kindergarten 2009 enrollment 1,056
Historically classes get larger each year.

31. District Strengths
• 93.9% Graduation rate
• 82% Attend college
• Over 300 courses offered at the high school level
• $8 Million awarded in scholarships
• 63% Take AP or Dual Credit courses
• 8 Career Technical Programs
• 13 AP courses offered
• 20 Dual credit courses offered
• 50% of students apply for A+ in our district
• 69% of our college freshman return for a second year
• Safety and Security infrastructure in place
• 82% of staff hold advanced degrees
• State recognized professional development
• Comprehensive K-5 Arts Partners Program sponsored by PTA
• Reading Interventionists at all Elementary Buildings
• Youth Friends provides mentors for over 300 students

32. Public Education

33. Public Education Partnership
 We educate every child
 Over 90% of our students graduate
 Over 80% attend college
 Our schools are safe
 Our facilities are exemplary
 We offer students a comprehensive program of
Academics, Arts, Activities and Athletics
 Our students are awarded millions in scholarships
 Our communities are involved
 Our communities trust their schools
 We use money responsibly
 We are transparent

34. International testing comparison

35. Public/private school cost comparison
Schools / Districts Tuition/expenditure per pupil
Pembroke Hill (9-12) $18,335
Barstow (9-12) $16,480
St. Paul’s Episcopal Day School $10,842
Notre Dame de Sion $10,150
Rockhurst $9,950
St. Teresa’s Academy $9,900
Oxford Academy $8,600
Blue Springs School District $8,302
St. Mary’s (non-catholic) $6,650
O’Hara High School $6,500
St. Mary’s (catholic) $5,300

36. Services not provided in private schools
Blue Springs R-IV provides the following as a part of the per
pupil expenditure and if we take these out, our expenses
decline. $8,302
Summer School $8,216
Alternative School Programs $8,044
Specialized Staff and Programs $7,838
Transportation $6,975
Special Education $5,465

37. Public/private school cost comparison
Schools / Districts Tuition/expenditure per pupil
Pembroke Hill (9-12) $18,335
Barstow (9-12) $16,480
St. Paul’s Episcopal Day School $10,842
Notre Dame de Sion $10,150
Rockhurst $9,950
St. Teresa’s Academy $9,900
Oxford Academy $8,600
St. Mary’s (non-catholic) $6,650
O’Hara High School $6,500
Blue Springs School District $5,465
St. Mary’s (catholic) $5,300

38. ACT testing comparison
1965 – Top 17 % of the senior class took the ACT in Blue Springs
 Nationally 20% of all seniors were tested and the average ACT score 23.8
 Less than 1% of those tested were minorities
 Average ACT score for BSHS seniors was 22.9
2008 – 82% of all seniors took the ACT in Blue Springs
 Nationally 60% of all seniors were tested and the average ACT score 21.2
 40% of those tested were minorities
 Average ACT score for BSHS/BSSHS seniors was 22.3
 Top 17% of the senior class average ACT is 29.3
 72 seniors scored a 30 or better on the ACT
50% of questions on the 1965 SAT were taught at the 5 th grade level or
below in 1990

41. Public Education Statistics
 There are 55,394,000 students enrolled in public schools
across the nation
 Drop-out rate continues to decline
◦ 1980 – 14.1%
◦ 199 6 – 9.3%
◦ 1997 – 8.7%
 There are 3.7 million teachers in schools across America
 Nationally the teacher/student ratio is 15.3
 In 1995, 10% of students reported feeling threatened at school
◦ This has dropped to 5% in 2004
 Mobile or portable classrooms are used by 33% of schools
in the U.S.
 Average school building is 44 years old