Municipal News & Jobs

The Wichita City Council has come under intense scrutiny for eliminating free parking downtown after the city shared the news on its Facebook page on Saturday: “Beginning January 1, 2025, all public parking in the downtown area will convert to paid parking.” Wichitans flooded the city’s Facebook post with more than a thousand angry comments. The anger continued at a series of heated in-person meetings hosted by the city. A downtown small-business owner started a petition that had more than 5,200 signatures by Tuesday calling on the city to halt the plan and offer free parking areas. It was a strong rebuke of a plan that received overwhelming support from the city’s elected officials over several years and as recently as June, when they voted 6-1 to hire a private contractor to implement the paid-parking plan. Council members had approved the changes earlier this year, as part of a plan adopted in 2023. On Jan. 9, they unanimously voted to designate all public parking downtown as metered parking, increase parking fines for any violations and deputize a fleet of private parking enforcers to issue parking tickets using automated license-plate readers. But some of them appeared to be blindsided by the changes in response to the backlash. The City Council voted unanimously on Tuesday to halt the purchasing of any equipment for the parking plan and to discuss it again in September along with options to change directions. Earlier in Tuesday’s meeting, Mayor Lily Wu called for a full briefing on the history of the parking plan during a public hearing on the city budget. Wu then attempted to invalidate the Jan. 9 vote. She said that she and other council members didn’t understand what they were voting on because the printed agenda packet she received from city staff did not include a charter ordinance change that allowed private parking officers to issue citations. The parking changes approved Jan. 9 were outlined in two ordinances — Ordinance No. 52-326, which designated all public parking downtown as regulated parking areas where meters would be installed and patrolled by private parking enforcers, and Charter Ordinance No. 239, which authorized independent contractors to be “parking control officers” and issue citations for violations of the new ordinance.
Source: Local News | Wichita Eagle

The Wichita school district is launching an experimental microschool in hopes of luring back some families that have left public schools. The new Creative Minds program features a one-room schoolhouse approach, with about 20 students from kindergarten through sixth grade learning from one teacher. It is housed at the for-profit Learning Lab space inside Union Station downtown — an education collaborative with ties to Wichita-based Koch Inc. District officials revealed the program during a special school board meeting recently, after quietly developing it behind the scenes. Its inaugural class includes about 15 children who were recruited from area families that had already left public schools or were considering it. “This classroom is kind of invite-only, or word-of-mouth,” said Superintendent Kelly Bielefeld. “We didn’t want to go super public and then have everyone say, ‘What about this? What about this?’ “Really, we’re just trying it. … This is like educational research and development.” The district will pay Learning Lab $6,000 a year to rent space. It will not provide transportation or meals for students attending the school. District spokeswoman Susan Arensman said there were still a few spaces available in the program, and the school’s website points families to an “interest in enrollment” form. But it’s unclear whether or how district officials would select more students for this academic year. Classes began at the K-6 school on Wednesday. Rob Dickson, Wichita’s chief information officer, said Education Imagine Academy — the district’s online school — became hugely popular during and after the COVID pandemic. He said the virtual-school program — as well as a recent exodus of students from public schools — illustrates that families are looking for something different for their children. Kansas public schools have lost about 16,000 students over the past four years. Many went to private schools or homeschools. Others went to so-called microschools or co-ops — a hybrid model of learning that’s catching on across the nation. “We targeted those families to find out, ‘All right, what was it? What was the reason you exited Wichita public schools?’” Dickson said. “‘Could we … entice you to come back, and what would that look like?’” District leaders are calling Creative Minds a “vertical classroom,” which means children won’t be divided into traditional grade levels. But they still will be tested on district and state standards, the superintendent said, and will take all the required Kansas assessments. The microschool will have a home-base classroom inside the Learning Lab. Students also will have access to the Learning Lab’s common areas, including a kitchen, STEM lab, podcast studio and outdoor patio. Learning Lab opened last fall on the second floor of Union Station. Stand Together, a philanthropic organization founded by Koch Inc. CEO Charles Koch, partnered with California-based Khan Lab School to develop the collaborative. The Wichita site houses Khan Lab School Wichita, the first expansion of Sal Khan’s project outside of California, as well as Guiding Light Academy, a K-8 virtual school and microschool hybrid that partners with the Buhler school district. Learning Lab also offers memberships and day passes for home schools and microschools to use its spaces and equipment. Wichita Independent Secular Educators, a local homeschool community, meets several times a week at the downtown Wichita space. Learning Lab director Lydia Hampton says the company wants educators to rethink how students learn. “The goal … is to help education overall move from a one-size-fits-all to more personalized options,” Hampton said. “Our hope here is that we can shine a light and provide opportunities that let people try things at a more low-risk situation, and then people can see what’s possible.” Wichita district leaders say they plan to watch the pilot project closely and collect feedback from parents and others. If it’s successful, they could consider expanding it or creating new and different microschools. Hampton, the Learning Lab director, approached Wichita school officials more than a year ago to talk about possibilities at the new space. She said she admires educators who are willing to explore new ways to reach children and families. “It’s a little bit of creative destruction in action,” she said “They recognize that our society is changing, that parents and families want something different. They could have either stepped out and said, ‘Nope,’ or they could lean into the discomfort and do something about it.” For the Wichita district, anything that brings families back to public schools will mean an enrollment bump and more state funding. But Bielefeld, the superintendent, said the new partnership is about more than money. “My hope would be that we’re always looking to the future to see: What do kids and families want and desire?” he said. “And making sure we are that opportunity for those families.”

Source: Local News | Wichita Eagle

All Wichita dog and cat owners will now be required to microchip their furry friends due to a City Council vote during a 10-hour-long meeting Tuesday. Now, owners are required to microchip their dogs and cats 5 months and older. A microchip is about the size of a grain of rice and is implanted between the pet’s shoulder blades. The microchip includes a code with the owner’s information, but does not have tracking capabilities. The Animal Services Advisory board formed a committee last year to improve animal control ordinances in Wichita. The recommendations were first presented to the council in a workshop earlier this year. “We think it would help get animals back into their homes when animals are found running the streets,” assistant city attorney Jan Jarman said at the April 23 workshop. “If every animal was required to have a microchip, it would help us keep them out of the shelter, which is our goal, and we think we could implement that.” The new changes to the city’s animal ordinance also increases dog bite fines and increases the number of dogs and cats allowed in a home without an animal maintenance permit. Additionally, dog licenses are now $50 for dogs who are not spayed or neutered, an increase of $15. Cat licenses are still not required in Wichita. “Licensing isn’t ready for that, we’re not very good right now at licensing dogs, we need to get a lot better,” Jarman said at Tuesday’s council meeting. “We are not ready for cats. Hopefully someday in the future if the council wants to see us do cats, we can do that, but for now we’re only ready for dogs.” Now, three dogs and three cats are allowed in a home without an animal maintenance permit. Pit bull owners are still limited to two pit bulls per household. Dog bite penalties have increased from $250 to $500 for first offense, $500 to $1,000 for second offense and from $1,000 to $2,500 for third offense. The fine is per defendant, not per dog. Here’s a list of other changes approved on Tuesday: Dogs can now be licensed for three years, depending on required vaccines. Removes the mandatory pen requirement for dogs deemed dangerous and leaves that decision up to animal services. Allows animal professionals to care for dangerous dogs. Allowing dogs to run at large is now considered a misdemeanor The pet ordinance changes passed unanimously.
Source: Local News | Wichita Eagle