The Kansas Board of Regents learned this morning that it has been sued by three rural community colleges claiming unequal funding for specified vocational and technical programs.
The lead attorneys for the colleges, David Rebein of Rebein Bangerter in Dodge City and Jay Fowler of the Wichita law firm Foulston Siefkin, filed suit in Shawnee District Court Tuesday, after a recent vote by the Dodge City Community College board to join Pratt and Cowley Community Colleges in a lawsuit seeking a temporary injunction against an allegedly unfair regents funding system.
The three colleges allege that the board reimburses its full-time enrollment figures in certain vocational and technical programs at a rate three times lower than that provided to other Kansas community colleges.
The suit also seeks a permanent injunction forcing the Board of Regents to implement equitable funding formulas for all vocational/technical programs, as well as past and future compensatory damages.
Glenn Kerbs, attorney for the DCCC board of trustees, told the Globe by phone Tuesday night that the funding inequities for the college originated when it merged with the Southwest Kansas Area Vocational Technical School in 1993.
For the complete story go to http://dodgecitydailyglobe.ks.newsmemory.com/
Reach Claire O’Brien at
(620) 408-9931 or claire.obrien@dodgeglobe..com.
