The Piper School District was not part of the effort the last time "Schools for Fair Funding" sued the state in an effort to increase funding for public education.

However, if a lawsuit is introduced this time, the Piper Board of Education may be a part of it this go around.

Board members discussed the possibility of joining the non-profit organization, which sued the state back in 1999. However, there is a catch in a budget crunch school year – it costs the district $2 a student to join.

That part of the equation divided some board members on whether or not Piper should be apart of a potential lawsuit, which Superintendent Steve Adams said is likely.

"It's a message we need to send to Topeka and our own legislators," said Ron Kaminski, board president. "We just have to send a message to Topeka."

Meanwhile, board member Neal Palmer questions the investment of the district during a tough economic time, along with the fact that it might be an on-going situation for a few years.

"Nobody will change what's going on in Topeka," he said. "We have a lame duck governor who has no insensitive to do much right now."

Board member Abe Glaser said the district should join the effort out of principal.

With more expected budget cuts coming, the issue of school funding has unified larger and smaller districts, Adams said.

"This year (a potential lawsuit) is going to be inadequacy across the board," Adams said.

The item was an action item on Monday's agenda, but was tabled by board members until at least next month.

Facing a tough budget situation that's likely to get worse, the Piper Board of Education is considering outsourcing the district's custodian services.

Members of the board heard a report from representatives of PCI Building Services, a locally based company that hires their own custodians to work at schools and other locations within the Greater Kansas City metro area.

Brenda Wood, the owner of the business, presented information to the board and said the business would save the district $251,000, based on informal studies.

Some current employees would be lost, as the total number of employed custodians would dip if the board goes that route. In terms of current employees for the district, Wood said they would have an opportunity to keep their job.

"Existing employees could be kept," she said. "We would do our best to keep them. But some will probably go."

PCI currently serves the Bonner Springs School District and the Lansing School District.

No official decision was made by the board Monday night.

"This is just a learning session for the board," said Steve Adams, superintendent of schools in Piper. "It's a first step."

The Piper Pirates were defeated 37-21 last night by the Holton Wildcats.

Holton, entering the game undefeated, improved their record to 10-0. Piper finishes the season at 6-4.

A longer recap will be available later in the day.

I received the following email from a reader in Piper this morning concerning an uptick in crime.

One of the downsides of a Legends, large shopping centers and a new Wal-Mart is the increased possibility of crime. This situation appears to be an effect of that theory:

My mothers car was broken into on Sunday night, the neighbor two 
houses away on Sat night, and the neighbor two house from that on Friday night.

A vehicle was stolen from Danny's last week also. This seems to be hush hush and needs to be addressed. 

When I called the police station last night after finding out about all of the others I was informed extra patrol could be added.

Three Wyandotte County teams will be playing this Friday in the opening round of the Kansas 5A State playoffs, while Piper begins its 4A state journey tomorrow.

The Turner Golden Bears, finishing the regular season at 8-1, will host the 3-6 Shawnee Heights team in the first round in a 2-7 seed matchup. If they win, the Bears will take on the winner of the Mill Valley-St. Thomas Aquinas game on Friday, Nov. 13.

Meanwhile, two teams from the Kansas City, Kan., League have advanced to the 5A state playoffs.

The league-winning Sumner Academy Sabres (6-3) will take on Topeka Seaman this Friday. The Sabres are the #5 seed in the bracket, with Topeka Seaman the #4 seed.

Perhaps the greatest challenge any local team will face involve the Schlagle Stallions.

Finishing at 6-3 and second in district play, Schlagle will take on perennial power Gardner-Edgerton, who finished the regular season undefeated.

If Sumner and Schlagle both win, they'll renew their KCK rivalry next week.

Piper, 6-3, will take on the 9-0 Holton team tomorrow at 7 p.m. in 4A play.

The 4A bracket half with Piper:

The 5A bracket portion with the three KCK schools:

While the whole game was great, I invite you to watch the last 20 seconds over and over again.

Piper quarterback Jasper Sanders made one of the best individual efforts you'll ever see trying to make something happen on the final play.

He and the Pirates came very close to winning on a hail mary play.

With a district championship and home playoff game on the line, the Basehor-Linwood Bobcats scored in the final 30 seconds to send Piper to a heartbreaking loss entering state.

Both teams having clinched a state playoff game, the Bobcats earned a home game after their 15-12 victory at Piper Thursday night.

As expected, quarterbacks Jasper Sanders (Piper) and Brandon Leppke (pictured center) provided most of the game's highlights, even if the scoreboard didn't light up as much as many suspected.

Leppke carried the ball 38 times for 214 yards, while Sanders rushed for 192 yards on just 24 carries. However, the three biggest plays of the game came from their arms.

After Sanders (pictured left) scored the game's opening touchdown from 60 yards out on the ground, Leppke connected with Cole Bittel from 21 yards out to give Basehor its first lead at 7-6.

The score remained 7-6 during the remainder of the first half and most of the second half. Key defensive stands were made by both sides.

"The defenses did a good job containing the powerful offenses in this game," said Tom Radke, head coach at Piper. "It was a hard fought effort on both sides."

Fireworks ignited mid-way through the fourth, as Sanders connected with Dylan Hays from 25 yards out to give Piper a 12-7 lead.

With about two minutes left, Leppke led Basehor on a lengthy drive through his arms and legs, connecting on three key passes on the drive.

On third and goal from the six, Leppke hit Colin Murphy for the game winning touchdown with 21 seconds left.

Piper will now have to go on the road to begin their run for a state title. Radke believes his team can make a run.

"Penalties and minus plays killed us tonight," he said. "If we fix those and clean it up, we'll be OK."

Basehor concludes the regular season at 8-1, while Piper finishes 6-3.

Despite some key losses, things remained unchanged in this week's power rankings.

1. Turner: The Golden Bears, if they win Thursday night against Harmon, will claim the wire-to-wire top position in the power rankings. At 7-1, Turner is coming off a 62-0 win against Wyandotte.

2. Piper: The Pirates have a very important Kaw Valley League game at home this Thursday against Basehor-Linwood.

3. Bishop Ward: A great effort on the road at Basehor-Linwood last week for the Cyclones.

4. Sumner Academy: All of Sumner's three losses came against the three teams listed above them. The Sabres won the Kansas City, Kan., League last week against Harmon.

5. Schlagle: The Stallions defeated Lansing last week and look to finish the KCK League with a 3-1 record.

6. Bonner Springs: The Braves have been up and down this season.

7. Harmon: The Hawks finished 2-2 in the KCK League last week.

8. Wyandotte: The Bulldogs have a shot at finishing 2-2 in the KCK League as they face Sumner Academy at Wyandotte on Thursday.

9. Washington: The Wildcats are looking for their first victory against KCK competition when they take on the rival Stallions of Schlagle.

The Piper Pirates defeated Bishop Ward on the road 27-19, holding off a late rally from their county rival.

Jasper Sanders carried the ball 29 times for 160 yards, scoring three touchdowns on the ground from one yard out, 41 yards out and six yards out. Sanders also connected with Jamal Jarret on a 29-yard touchdown pass in the air.

Bishop Ward's Michael Golubski punched one in from four yards, giving Ward the first lead of the game at 6-0.

However, Piper scored the next 21 points through Sanders' touchdown pass and his first two touchdown runs.

Ward charged back in the third quarter behind a Peter McKiernan touchdown pass to Jacob Kolenda from 29 yards out. Cole Muder, who carried the ball 25 times for 196 yards, scored from 66 yards out. However, a failed two point conversion left Piper with the lead.

Sanders scored his final touchdown in the fourth quarter. A missed extra point kept the game within one possession, but Piper's defense held the lead late.

Both teams are now 5-2 on the season.

Even with new renovations to its high school and a new elementary school opened for class this year, the Piper School District is feeling an enrollment crunch again.

As of the official head-count, enrollment in the district is up 95 students. Since 2005, enrollment has increased by 366 students, or 27 percent. The skyrocketing of enrollment result in the district asking its patrons to support a bond issue to build a new school.

Still, even with the new school, the district is beginning to look for facility options for its elementary school numbers.

"We may be able to go one more year before doing something different with the elementary school students," said Steve Adams, Piper Superintendent. (pictured above)

Don't fret, Piper residents. That doesn't necessarily - or likely - mean another bond issue campaign anytime soon.

Adams suggested to members of the Piper Board of Education that the former Piper West Elementary School could be renovated for kindergarten and pre-kindergarten students.

"It's not suitable without attention to it," he said. "There is some available space and you could finance it without a bond issue."

The earliest projections show that it would cost roughly between $680,000-700,000 to renovate the school for a handful of classrooms to relief enrollment numbers. Renovations to the school could help hold off on a longer term and more expensive solution (such as a bond issue) for five or six years.

But the district's current growth is expected to continue for well over a decade, which concerns board members in some areas for the longer-term aspect of the situation.

"We need to look into acquiring land," said Rick Kaminski, board president. "Our options on land are running out."

The district's situation with its high school and especially its middle school capacities are much brighter for the district.

There was nothing approved by the board, as the issue was just discussed by board members.

After months of trimming budgets in light of a decrease in state revenues, it appears school districts in Wyandotte County could be swallowing another bitter pill come in November.

Piper School District Superintendent Steve Adams said that November budget cuts are likely based on information provided to him by the State of Kansas.

"The state could face an additional short term budget shortfall of $90 million," Adams said. "We saw a decrease of valuation across the State of Kansas."

All districts in Kansas have made required budget cuts, with some taking the cuts harder than others. According to Adam's information, the Piper School District itself could be out of an additional $200,000 in revenue.

"I believe it's safe to say we could be cut another $85-95 per student based on the current revenue situation in Kansas," he said.

Still, there was some good news revenue wise for the district shared tonight at the Piper Board of Education – an increase of students and free or reduced lunch students will provide the district an additional $210,000 in revenue.

This would neutralize the future cut, but even that increase doesn't mean it's completely good news for the district.

"It's good news revenue wise but it means more of our patrons are dealing with a tough economic situation," he said.

Ricco Thomas' three touchdown scores led the Piper Pirates to their fourth victory of the season against Perry-Lecompton, prevailing at home 34-14.

Thomas scored two second half touchdowns to help put the game away, which was a 21-14 game.

Jasper Sanders passed for one touchdown and rushed for another. He scrambled for 149 yards on 14 carries, as Piper improves to 4-2 on the season.

Thomas' three touchdowns came from five yards, four yards and seven yards out.

The upset of the night in Wyandotte County came in Bonner Springs, as the Braves defeated Piper 29-7.

Bonner jumped out to a 15-0 first quarter behind a Max Barren two-yard run and a five-yard touchdown reception from Jacob Slattery.

The Braves poured it on into the second half, as Barren scored from 29 yards out to extend Bonner's lead to 22-0. Piper's Jasper Sanders, after setting team records in rushing yards and touchdowns last week, only scored once tonight.

His 25-yard touchdown run in the third was Piper's only score of the game.

Meanwhile, Barren scored his third and final touchdown from 36 yards out to give Bonner the 29-7 win. Piper falls to 3-2 on the season, while Bonner improves to 2-3.

Bishop Ward's Alex Orel and Piper's Jasper Sanders are up for Metro Sports' Player of the Week.

Orel rushed for four touchdowns and 261 yards, while Sanders rushed for 397 yards and five touchdowns. Both Sanders' accomplishments shattered school records at Piper High School.

The poll can be found here. So far, it's neck and neck between the two stars from the county's rival schools.

While we at The Kansan try not to show any bias towards one particular high school, it would be great for one of the two Wyandotte Countians to win the award.