I have never had a problem with any locals being upset that I own ground in W. Kansas. I do have a problem keeping them OFF my ground when they don't know I'm in town. My other problem is that having started buying it 10 years ago, it has caught on, and who can afford it if Johnson county guys are in the mix : )
I too have problems with locals ILLEGALLY hunting on my ground. The buying competition has more frequently come from Colorado, Texas, and "old money" not from Johnson County. I have been to nearly every auction between the rivers from hwy 283 to hwy 183 and I have seen the increase in values. However, the ground that is bringing the highest dollar is the "waste" ground which can sometimes be used for grazing. Groups of hunters are paying way too much, from an income standpoint, but the crop land brings about what it can return and it is usually someone local buying it. The high commodity prices and high oil prices pushed these values up and I am sure there are many 2008 land buyers who are having remorse!
You present Rooks County as an example for consolidation. Ok, pick the school that survives as "Rooks County Community High School". Plainville is probably the most central to Stockton and Palco but there is a long-standing rivalry and Stockton parents and kids will hate coming to P-ville. Build a new school out in the country, central to all? More tax dollars for construction not to mention a waste of the facilities already built. Finally, Rooks county may not be the best example because of the oil value revenue.
I'll also bet that Blue valley Supt, makes more than 75 to 100k. (maybe not 3 times that, but more and he has "assistants".)Maybe those studies have a cost of education per kiddo for the various districts but that would require study as opposed to merely popping off.
Your argument against consolidation in Rooks is "long-standing rivalry." That is not how you make a sound business or economic decision. That is an emotional decision. You send them all to Plainville and tell them to get along or drive to TMP! The schools in Palco and Stockton are becoming dated and I am sure the maintenance costs are quite high. There are other costs that are tripled by having three schools other than the superintendent I just used that as an example. With the total budget for the three schools it would take about 30 minutes to analyze it and figure out that there would be huge cost savings to combine. In addition, these students do not have near the education and extra curricular opportunities that kids in larger schools get. I know that Palco has six girls out for their varsity HS basketball team. I guess the coach doesn't have to worry about parents yelling for playing time!
Why do you point out the Rooks oil revenue? It brings in more property tax dollars but what else? Most of that revenue never sees Rooks county. The ownership of minerals is 1/8 to the land owner but much of this has been fragmented, sold off, and those dollars never get spent locally. The other 7/8th's goes to oil companies and investment groups. Again, most of this money is paid out to non residents. Oil recently became Rooks County's enemy. The high wages paid during the recent boom stripped the Schulte manufacturing company of its labor so they closed their doors. Now that oil is back down many of those employees will not have jobs so they will be driving to Hays or moving.
There are 213 321A schools with a total, top three class, enrollment of 22,186 and there are 17 Johnson County public high schools with a total, top three class, enrollment of 19,397. You don't have to conduct much of study to figure out that we have some serious spending problems unless you are trying to justify the waste that is going on in 321A.
