District overview
St. Francis USD 297
Funding structure, how it compares to peers, and where major projects stand.
A small district reshaping its school week
St. Francis USD 297 runs a grade school and a junior-senior high school in St. Francis, in Cheyenne County in far northwest Kansas. A seven-member Board of Education meets on the second Thursday of each month at 7:00 a.m. After community forums and several rounds of debate, the board adopted a four-day school week for 2026-27 on a 5-2 vote, with Mondays off. Raises kept hourly staff from losing pay. Enrollment is about 265 students, and the district competes in KSHSAA class 1A.
Four-day week adopted 5-2
There is no school on Mondays in 2026-27, and the district has declared a 1,116-hour school year.
Pay protected for hourly staff
Classified, substitute and paraprofessional wages were raised to keep annual pay steady.
Staff turnover
The district lost a counselor, several teachers, a special education director and two district clerks during the year.
Two appointed board members
Two members resigned, and their replacements were appointed rather than elected.
The minutes record votes but little of the board's reasoning, and many decisions are made after executive sessions on personnel.
Where the district stands
Major projects
Four-day school week
in effect for 2026-27Discussed from November 2025, with a public forum on February 2 and a failed vote on a shorter five-day alternative. Adopted with Mondays off on February 23, 2026. The board said it would monitor the schedule and revise it if needed.
- First discussed
- Public forum
- Shorter five-day option fails 3-4
- Four-day week adopted 5-2
- Staff pay adjusted
Funding
Operating budget
Grounds and locker room improvements
in progressFront-lawn irrigation was repaired by Egbert Sprinkling in summer 2026. The district is collecting quotes to renovate the locker rooms this school year.
- Irrigation contract approved
- Locker room quotes being gathered
Funding
Capital outlay (not stated)
Recent news
Board of Education agendas and minutes (scanned PDFs and Word files, read with OCR) posted as articles on usd297.org, from November 13, 2025 through October 8, 2026.
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