info, Author at Ranson Financial Group LLC

USD 246 OKs four-day week

info2024-02-14T12:53:51-06:00February 14th, 2024|

After months of deliberation and extensive input, the Northeast USD 246 Board of Education approved a four-day school schedule at Monday’s meeting, held at the high school. The Northeast School District joins a growing number of Kansas schools switching to a four-day week. According to a report from Natalie Wallington of the Kansas City Star, the Kansas State Department of Education listed 71 public schools with four-day weeks in 2023, increasing from 69 schools in 2022 and just 56 in 2021. The bulk of the districts adopting four-day weeks were in the western and southern regions of the state. The board unanimously accepted [...]

Winfield police preparing for body cameras next week

info2024-02-14T12:51:18-06:00February 14th, 2024|

The Winfield Police Department is equipping officers with body cameras starting next week. The department will have 27, which means one for each officer and a few spares. The hardware plus the first year of video storage costs about $30,000. The city will have to continue to pay for yearly secure video storage costs. "Really, when you start adding it, it's the storage piece that gets expensive. And so we're trying to plan long term. With the car side of it, the cars actually have three cameras, so the amount of data we're actually going to start collecting is going to just really [...]

Johnson County weighs options as landfill nears capacity — ‘Alarm bells are ringing’

info2024-02-14T12:46:21-06:00February 14th, 2024|

With visions of higher trash collection fees on the not-too-distant horizon, Johnson County commissioners will look at ways this year to squeeze as much use as possible out of the county landfill in Shawnee before it runs out of space. That could happen as early as 2037 — only 13 years off, according to projections from a January regional landfill study by the Mid-America Regional Council. “It’s a big hole in the ground and it will eventually fill up,” said Trent Thompson, the county’s solid waste program manager. Commissioners heard the sobering presentation on landfill capacity last week. Although the study estimated [...]

Education legislation to watch

info2024-02-14T12:14:37-06:00February 14th, 2024|

During Monday night’s board of education meeting, USD 250 Superintendent Rich Proffitt brought several current bills in the Kansas legislature to the attention of board members. Proffitt, always wary of legislative developments that affect education, briefed the board on a few potential bills that, if passed, will be felt by USD 250. The first matter of concern is the Kansas Supreme Court’s decision to relinquish oversight of the Gannon decision. In 2017, the court ruled that legislative changes to K-12 school funding, which reduced state-aid payments augmenting funds generated through property taxation in school districts with lower property values, violated the [...]

Sedgwick Library offers a STEM program for kids

info2024-02-14T12:13:32-06:00February 14th, 2024|

Last summer, the Harvey County Extension office ran a STEM program at Lillian Tear Library, and according to Librarian Chantel Rindt, everybody loved it. So she went out and got a grant and now runs a monthly STEM program for elementary-aged students. Last week, 13 kids (Rindt said they average 15 to 18 each month) gathered to build using sticks, marshmallows and gummy bears. Then they played a game of rolling dice that required adding to complete rows. Rindt said she doesn’t have a specific curriculum for the program but searches the Internet and uses a couple of books to come up with [...]

Pittsburg Community Schools’ superintendent named in announcement

info2024-02-13T11:06:41-06:00February 13th, 2024|

Pittsburg Community Schools has a new superintendent. This evening, J.B. Elliott was announced for the role at a board of education meeting. He currently serves as the superintendent of Perry-Lecompton public schools, a title he's had for the last 7 years. Elliott's been a biology teacher, an athletic director, and a principal. He's entering his 29th year in education, with the last 21 years spent serving as an administrator. Elliott tells us he is excited and looks forward to bringing a hard work ethic and more to the district. He will take over when the district's superintendent, Rich Proffitt, retires on June 30th. Source: KSNF/KODE

Appraiser’s Office launches new portal for property value appeals

info2024-02-13T11:05:18-06:00February 13th, 2024|

The Johnson County Appraiser’s Office has launched a new online portal for property owners in the county to appeal their property value. The Appraiser’s Office determines property values, sending out Notices of Appraised Value to property owners in the spring each year. Property owners can then submit a property value appeal using the portal. To use the portal, you must create an account, then you can select the type of appeal you want to submit. There are two types of property appeals at the county level. The first type of appeal is an informal appeal when Notices of Appraised Value are mailed to [...]

Here are the six Wichita schools proposed for permanent closure this year

info2024-02-13T11:03:59-06:00February 13th, 2024|

Four Wichita elementary schools and two middle schools would be closed under a proposal considered by the school board Monday evening. Clark, Park, Payne and Cleaveland Traditional Magnet elementary schools would be shuttered, along with Hadley and Jardine Magnet middle school. Students would be reassigned to different schools as boundaries are redrawn, and employees at affected buildings would be offered other positions across the district. By law, a public hearing must be held before the district can close buildings. USD 259 also plans to hold a series of community listening and informational sessions for parents next week. Officials say the closures would save [...]

Augusta airport runway renovation will strand tenants for 7 months

info2024-02-13T10:41:36-06:00February 13th, 2024|

"For me, it means I have to commute a lot more around the section doing my engineering contract work," said Keiter. Keiter has lived just east of the airport for 32 years. The problem is, in order to make room, the city permanently shut down 110th street, meaning Keiter now lives at a dead end instead of having a straight shot to Highway 54. "So four times a day, okay, times an eight-mile round trip extra. So that's 32 extra miles a day on some days that I have to commute," Keiter said. While the project will be a major challenge [...]

‘I loved how it was:’ Johnson County neighbors fight apartment plans on tree-covered land

info2024-02-13T10:35:55-06:00February 13th, 2024|

Bootsie Martin moved to Olathe’s Cedar Creek neighborhood for the nature. “I have deer that come in my backyard. In the spring they bring their babies. There are foxes running through my backyard. It’s the wildlife, the trees, the lake. I loved how it was,” said Martin, who has now lived in Cedar Creek, near the confluence of K-10 and K-7 highways, for about five years. But a fight is brewing in her quiet neighborhood over a proposed development, with many homeowners worried that the doorstep to their slice of paradise could forever change. The sprawling neighborhood is home to rolling [...]

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