A search is underway for a new USD 489 superintendent.

Kansas Association of School Board (KASB) consultants Gary Sechrist and Max Heim have been hired by the school board to conduct the search.

The first of two focus sessions was held Monday night at Hays High School.

 

 

Click on documents to see the questions and answers from  participants.

The information is compiled by Elizabeth Jaeger, USD 489 assistant to the superintendent and public information coordinator.

 

At the Ellis County Commission Meeting last night commissioners heard an overview of plans for the renovation of the Ellis County Courthouse and Law Enforcement Center.  Architect Andrew Pitts presented a brief summary of the changes being considered.  Some of those changes include:

• Renovation of 2nd level of Law Enforcement Center (Jail)
• 2-story addition built onto Law Enforcement Center to act as garage and entry point into the jail
• New public entry into the building with new access points
• New holding cells and booking area
• Two new jury rooms
• Holding cells for inmates brought to court
• 3 courtrooms
• Upgrading mechanical and electrical systems in the building
• One secure entry point into the building with monitored exits that can’t be accessed from outside

As part of the discussion, Pitts presented the option of adding the building onto the National Historic Register.  The commissioners at first unanimously agreed that it may not be in the best interest of the county to involve the state in this project.  Commissioner Swede Holmgrem summarized his opinion on the matter.

“Unless you can give me 6 advantages that the state coming out here and monitoring this building is going to provide us, I have no intention in having the state come out here.  I love historic Fort Hays, and this town is all about history, but this courthouse has been out here a long, long time without being put on the state register.  And I will tell you: putting this building on the state register is just like the lesser prairie chicken. It’s more government involvement in our lives.”

Pitts responded that the oversight would be minimal and his company has a great deal of experience working with the state.  He said that adding the building to the state register now would allow the county to garner tax credits or grants from the state.  Pitts estimated that about half of the construction cost for the upcoming project may be eligible for these tax credits.

The commission asked for Pitts to come back to them with figures and dollar amounts so that they could better gauge the benefit of making this change.  Pitts had said that removing a building from the registry in the future is easy to do and the only downside is ineligibility for future tax credits.  Holmgrem voiced the skepticism the rest of the commission felt about the ease of taking the building off the register in the future.

“For everybody that is married, when you get married it’s a 20 minute, 30 minutes at most…  When you get a divorce, it’s a long, painful process.  To try to take this building off the historic register; where are we going to be?”

The official rainfall total over the past 24 hours at the K-State Ag Research Center South of Hays is .53 of an inch of moisture and 20.85 for the year.

As of 9 a.m. the rainfall total at the Eagle Media Center on Hall Street in Hays was  .57, Catherine reported .57, Northwest of Ellis .78, Yocemento .75,  and 2 and ½ miles west of Shoenchoen reported .78 of an inch of moisture.

Post Rock Family Services is currently seeking nominations for their Annual Family of the Year.

Selection of the individual family will be made from an evaluation conducted by the Board of Directors of Post Rock Family Services. Criteria for judging will include the following 16 characteristics of a healthy family:

1. Communicates and listens

2. Affirms & supports one another

3. Teaches respect for others

4. Develops a sense of mutual trust

5. Has a sense of play & humor

6. Exhibits a sense of shared responsibility

7. Teaches a sense of right and wrong

8. Has a strong sense of family, in which tradition and ritual abound

9 Has a balance of interaction among members

10. Has a shared religious core

11. Respects each member’s privacy

12. Values service to others

13. Fosters table time and conversation

14. Shares leisure time

15. Admits to and seeks help with problems

16. Volunteers their time in the community

Persons wanting to nominate a family should submit, in writing, the family’s name, address, phone number, and the various reasons for the nomination to Russell Family of the Year, PO Box 163, Russell, KS, 67665.

Deadline for nominations is November 11. Contact Sandy Boos for more information at 785-483-8243.

Post Rock Family Services was formed in 1983 with the mission of strengthening families as a primary means of preventing child abuse and neglect.

 

 

 

 

 

 

About a dozen community members attended the first of two focus sessions involving the search for a new USD 489 superintendent.

Those participating in Monday night’s session, organized by consultants from the Kansas Association of School Boards (KASB), gave their input to four questions about what a superintendent should know about the Hays school district:

The group also talked about the importance of maintaining neighborhood schools and need for a smaller student/teacher ratio at the elementary level.

A second session will be held tonight for school staff and site council members at 6p.m. in the Hays High School lecture hall.

(AP) — A new report says rain slowed fieldwork on farms in southern and eastern Kansas in the past week, while most of the western part of the state remains dry.

Monday’s weekly update from the National Agricultural Statistics Service pegs winter wheat seeding in Kansas at 96 percent complete. About 86 percent of the wheat has now emerged.

The agency rated wheat condition as 1 percent very poor, 3 percent poor, 36 percent fair, 55 percent good and 5 percent excellent.

Among other crops, the agency estimates Kansas farmers have cut 87 percent of the corn crop. Sorghum harvest had reached the 67 percent mark. About 81 percent of the state’s soybeans and 60 percent of sunflowers have also been harvested.