Lee's Summit R-VII School District work session, Sep 3, 2026
1 h 56 min · 0 public speakers
This board doesn’t post agenda times. Click a board member to jump to where they first speak; we list only members whose voice our check named. Video length 1 h 56 min.
- Who spoke · first speaks at
- Stacie MyersPresident
What happened
What happened at this meeting
School board reviews 2026 operating tax ceiling of 4.7532 at budget work session 0:15
- The board adopted the agenda and held a work session on the budget, where a district staff member said the 2026 maximum operating tax ceiling is 4.7532. 0:00
- Dr. Kamile Johnson asked what the budget picture would look like at the lower rate, and a district staff member said the information would be sent the next day. 27:57
- Rodrick Sparks, Dr. Kamile Johnson and Stacie Myers asked district staff for information on possible budget reductions before the board sets the tax rate on September 29th. 50:35
- A district staff member said the administration's recommendation would be neither zero nor all 65.24 cents of the voluntary rollback, but somewhere in between. 1:19:11
Until Nov 4, lines where a board member takes a side don't name the member. Why →
Item by item (10)
- Opening and agenda 0:00
- Operating tax rate ceiling calculation 0:27
- A district staff member said existing property in the district decreased by a little over $78 million and that the CPI growth factor used was 2.7%. 2:21
- The staff member said the 2026 max operating tax ceiling is 4.7532, an increase of 0.1043 from the prior year ceiling. 5:19
- Michelle Dawson asked whether roughly 23 cents was additional room available to the board, and a district staff member said it was not. 9:35
- Debt service levy calculation 9:55
- A district staff member said the district sets its debt service levy at 87 cents and will continue to do so, and expects a debt service fund balance of just over $28 million. 9:55
- Michelle Dawson asked when a lower ceiling could affect future borrowing, and a district staff member said bonding capacity depends on assessed valuation and that 2030 might be the next time the district looks to bond. 13:05
- Tax rate hearing notice 15:29
- A district staff member said the maximum new revenue would be just over $3.6 million from new construction and just over $27,800,000 from reassessment and related changes. 15:29
- The staff member said the notice is required by statute and is published in the Kansas City Star, and another staff member said legal advisers recommended against changing its wording after one board member called the proposed rate language misleading. 17:37
- One board member recommended the notice also be posted on the district website, and a district staff member said that could be done. 21:27
- Budget scenarios and state funding 22:54
- A district staff member presented 7 updated scenarios, and staff said the scenarios included $6,900 for the SAT in the formula, while $6,748 is what it is right now. 22:54
- Dr. Kamile Johnson asked to see the projections at the lower rate, and a district staff member said they would be sent the next day. 30:09
- One board member said the scenario recouping all of the voluntary rollback felt misleading, and a district staff member suggested removing the top and bottom scenarios from a follow-up slide. 32:22
- Collection rate and tax credit communication 37:54
- A district staff member said Jackson County tax credits are fixed while Senate Bill 3 and Senate Bill 190 credits change with the levy, making the collection rate hard to predict. 37:54
- Bill Haley asked whether staff could create a generic scenario showing how much of a credit a person would get and how much of a tax bill would remain. 41:32
- Stacie Myers asked about having student TV crews record short interviews explaining the scenarios for the website, and a district staff member said they could try. 45:46
- Projected fund balances 47:04
- Prior budget reductions and other options 50:33
- Rodrick Sparks asked to see the prior budget reductions broken out by buildings and departments. 50:35
- Michelle Dawson asked about the $6.4 million reduction, and a district staff member said it was from last year to this year. 58:25
- One board member said letting go of staff would not get their vote and asked what other options were available. 1:00:15
- Town hall format 1:20:32
- One board member asked that the next town hall be recorded, that questions be read verbatim and that handwriting not be the only way to submit a question. 1:20:59
- One board member said they were okay with moderating questions to a point and thought there should be a verbal option, and another board member said they echoed the desire to have the session live streamed. 1:23:35
- A district staff member said the town hall could be livestreamed if it is held in the same room. 1:26:27
- Rollback revenue and further reductions 1:31:49
- A district staff member said recouping half the voluntary rollback would bring roughly $10.4 million and the full rollback roughly $20.8 million, based on collection rate projections. 1:33:36
- Stacie Myers asked staff what items would need to be considered if the board took a partial rollback, and a district staff member said such decisions come from a site-based process with every business manager rather than from a list made by administrators. 1:35:39
- A district staff member said the district has cut over $8 million from last year to this year and that a step raise would average a 2.35% increase for an employee. 1:48:00
Written by software from the meeting's transcript and checked sentence by sentence against it.
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Video: posted by the district as “LSR7 Board of Education Work Session - 9/3/26”