Fifty-five years ago, then-Deputy Commissioner Dale Dennis started a tradition of hosting summer workshops to help school district personnel with school budgets. The tradition has been kept alive. 

This month, Deputy Commissioner Dr. Craig Neuenswander and Dale Brungardt, director of Kansas State Department of Education (KSDE) School Finance, have discussed budgets with more than 700 people, including superintendents, clerks, business managers, board members, special education directors, county clerks, principals and teachers. 

The 2023 KSDE Budget Workshop tours began June 14 in Sublette. Other stops included Oakley on June 15; Girard on June 19; Valley Center on June 21; Topeka on June 22; Hutchinson on Monday, June 26; and Salina on Tuesday, June 27. 

The budget workshops concluded today, June 29, with the New Superintendents Budget 101 Workshop at the Salina District Office. 

Dennis, who served as Deputy Commissioner from 1976 until his retirement in 2020, started the budget workshops in 1968. 

“At a lot of school districts (in 1968), there was not training available,” said Dennis, who currently serves as a consultant for KSDE.  

The first year, there was only one, and it took place in Topeka. However, after that, Dennis decided to travel to different communities around the state. 

“We tried to make it easier for school districts, so they didn’t have to travel very far,” he said. 

School personnel appreciated the learning opportunity, so Dennis continued the budget workshops up until his retirement in 2020. It is a tradition that his predecessor, Dr. Neuenswander, has kept alive.