By CRISTINA JANNEY
Hays Post

The director of Early Childhood Connections told the Hays USD 489 school board during a training Monday the program is in need of more space to meet future requirements for the program.

In the next five years, Early Childhood Connections will be required to have all its students that are in half-day programs going full day.

ECC serves children ages birth through 5 through a variety of program funded through a combination of federal, state and local match, depending on the program. ECC is sponsored by USD 489, but provides services to several other counties.

Donna Hudson-Hamilton, ECC director, said Monday she hoped the passage of a proposed $78.5 million bond issue would help ECC expand its programs.

There is not enough room at Washington school, where most of the ECC programs are based, to expand because early childhood programs can’t be conducted on the upper floor of a building.

ECC had considered expanding its program at Munjor, which now houses about 20 children in the birth through 3 age group, but Hudson-Hamilton said the district did not want to send more children out of town.

If the proposed bond passes, the school district would build two new elementary schools and remodel O’Loughlin Elementary School for use by ECC, the Westside program and the Learning Center. Under the bond plan, Munjor would be closed and go back to the Catholic Church.

Consolidation of all the ECC classes under one roof would result in efficiencies and better use of funds, Hudson-Hamilton said.

Right-size classrooms with appropriate facilities for young children would also be goal of the bond remodel. There are not bathrooms close to all the classrooms, and those classrooms that do have bathrooms are not large enough to effectively help small children who are potty training, she said.

The move to O’Loughlin would allow more space to add more student spots, but Superintendent John Thissen said it would not mean more funding for teachers and aides for those classes.

ECC currently has three full-day sessions for children ages 3 to 5 at Washington, seven half-day sessions that are split between Washington and Russell. The Ellis School District partners with ECC to offer another two half-day sessions in Ellis.

The state of Kansas has placed a requirement on all school districts in the state to increase kindergarten readiness, but Thissen said it is still unclear what the district’s role is expected to be in this and whether the state will offer any additional funding to reach this goal.

“I don’t believe a lot of people really fully understand the range of ability that exists for children entering as kindergarteners,” he said. “We still have children coming in for whatever reason who are still working on being potty trained.

“We can have children that have or are acting with skills that are much akin to a second grader, and they are just a kindergartener. There is such a range it really is very challenging for kindergarten teachers to work with that and start their process of 13 years in pubic schools.”

The ECC programs are full with the exception of a few slots in the birth through 3 home-based program.

By CRISTINA JANNEY
Hays Post

The Hays USD 489 school board made a decision Monday night on what insurance plan to offer teachers.

The district voted Sept. 15 to drop the state insurance plan that is administered by Blue Cross Blue Shield in favor of an Aetna plan.

The district decided to move away from the state plan after Blue Cross Blue Shield increased the district’s premiums by $1.4 million over two years.

The district was able to provide a plan with equal benefits to the Blue Cross Blue Shield plan  with less out-of-pocket expenses to plan participants. Retirees will pay much less next year.

“If they really do study it, they can save,” Superintendent John Thissen said. “There really can  be a year-to-year process where they can make some good decisions that can save them money.”

The district will offer four plans through Aetna — one, two, three and four, with plan one intended for people with those with greatest medical expenses and plan four for those who are healthier.

The board voted to offer the plan two-single as the one fully covered by the district.

The district and the teachers union have agreed on all other aspects of the teachers’ contract, but reopened the negotiations on health insurance when the decision was made to move to Aetna.

The teachers’ and custodians’ unions sent a letter to the district earlier in negotiations saying the district would be legally liable if it changed providers.

Superintendent John Thissen said negotiations lead to improvements in the plan offerings, including better drug benefits without additional costs, the ability to use Quest Diagnostics for lab tests and inclusion of High Plains Mental Health as a provider.

Thissen said Aetna made the adjustments without protest. If the district would have stayed with the state plan, they would not have had this flexibility.

The teachers’ union had wanted plan one to be provided by the district.

Kathy Rome, representative of the teachers’ union, issued the following statement via email Tuesday morning, “The USD 489 Board of Education made the unilateral decision to offer these health insurance benefits without an agreement with the teachers. The teachers’ bargaining team had shared several concerns that had been discussed but were not addressed in a satisfactory manner. The board promoted this change stating several times that the coverage would be as good as or better than the previous insurance plan benefits. The plan the board is offering will raise the deductible from $1,000 to $3,500 resulting in a much higher up front cost for the employees.”

The new plan will also have revisions to the wellness plan. Instead of being points based, plan participants will have to submit proof of annual doctor’s visit or biometrics exam and a form indicating their smoking status. Spouses will not have to participate in the wellness program.

The district hopes to combine the teachers’ and students’ wellness committees.

An insurance committee to look at future benefits plans will also be created per the teachers’ and custodians’ contract agreements.

Thissen said the district needs to move quickly to complete insurance enrollment. Education sessions and enrollment will likely be completed before the end of the month.

In other business: the board:

• Heard a report on vehicle purchases. The board will vote on the purchases at its next meeting.

• Heard a report and received training from Donna Hudson-Hamilton, director of Early Childhood Connection, on the ECC program.

• Heard an update on board goals.

• Heard an update on presentations Thissen and other staff have been giving on the proposed $78.5 million bond issue. The deadline to register to vote is Oct. 17. The general election is Nov. 7.

Story updated 9:22 a.m. Oct. 10 with comments from Hays NEA.

By Cristina Janney

Hays Post

The Hays USD 489 transportation director will discuss the purchase of vehicles for the 2017-2018 school year at the school board meeting at 6:30 p.m. Monday.

The purchase of vehicles is in accordance to a five-year transportation plan. The request this year is for the purchase of three suburbans at a cost of $38,952 each and two route buses at a cost of $90,831 each for a total cost of $298,518 from its capital outlay budget.

The district came in almost $5,500 under budget.

The low bid on the buses was from Midwest Transit.

In other business

Superintendent John Thissen will discuss the Fort Hays State University assistance program for Ellis County teachers for earning master’s degrees.

Donna Hudson-Hamilton, director of Early Childhood Connections, will take the board through required federal training.

Thissen also will provide the board with updates on board goals, negotiations and the upcoming bond issue vote.

By CRISTINA JANNEY
Hays Post

The 45th annual Oktoberfest will kick off at 8:30 a.m. Friday at Municipal Park, Fourth and Main streets, with friends, food and beer.

The Volga German Association Centennial Association of Ellis and Rush Counties has organized 44 vendors, even more than last year.

Most of the vendors will be serving food for the annual event that honors the community’s Volga-German heritage. There is no admission cost.

Between 8,000 and 15,000 people are anticipated at the event.

Some of this year’s foods will include many of the community’s German favorites along with such oddities as chocolate-dipped bacon and bacon-wrapped potato tots.

Other cultural groups will participate including the FHSU Chinese Student Group; African student group, which will serve a twist on bierocks; Hispanic students, who will be serving walking tacos; and the Black Student Union, which will be serving fried chicken and cornbread.

NCK Tech will have its drive-through for food again this year. Customers can call 785-625-2437 or 785-301-2309 to place orders. Also connect with Oktoberfest Hays on Facebook.

The beer bands will cost $2 again this year and will be available between 10 a.m. and 6 p.m., when beer sales close.

Both American beers and Defiance Brewing Co. craft beers will be available.

This year, the woman of the community have requested a non-beer option, which will be Mike’s Hard Blood Orange.

There will be history re-enactors offered by the Hays Community Theatre. This will include such characters as Catherine the Great and a Volga-German farmer. The Hays Community Theatre will also present Wild West shootouts.

German educational opportunities will occur throughout the day coupled with German music and polka dancing.

The event will have a sauerkraut-making demonstration as well as actresses demonstrating early female settlers’ work.

Nick Werth, whose family helped create the festival, said the event serves as a means for many nonprofits to raise money and a place for people to visit and come together.

“A lot of people only come back for Oktoberfest and homecoming,” Werth said.

There is no designated parking for the event, expect for the parking lot next to the shelterhouse, which is for handicap only.

The Volga German Association provides a scholarship for students of Volga-German decent. The group is working to develop a similar scholarship for NCK Tech.

Any additional money raised through Oktoberfest is dedicated to help Volga German communities and churches in case of disaster.

Oktoberfest 2017 Schedule

• 8:30 – Oktoberfest grounds open to public
• 8:30-noon – Face painting
• 9 a.m. – Vendor booths open
• 9-9:30 a.m. Hays Community Theatre performance
• 10-1 p.m. Joe Dolezal and Galen Schmidtberger
• 10 a.m. – Beer banding booths open
• 11 a.m. – Opening Ceremonies
  • MC Mike Cooper
  • National Anthem by Jackie Maxwell
  • Invocation by Father Josh Werth
  • Welcome by Nick Werth
  • Volga German Welcome Tom Haas
  • FHSU Welcome Interim President Dr. Andy Tompkins
  • FHSU Alma Mater Dr. Terry Crull
  • FHSU German students
  • NCK Tech President on stage and possibly welcome speech
  • Ellis County Historical Society Welcome Lee Dobratz
  • Sunflower Chapter of AHSGR Welcome Kevin Rupp/Janel Moore
  • Catherine the Great Welcome – Cheryl Glassman
  • Award presented by Nick Werth
    • Northwest Printers
    • Midwest Energy
  • City of Hays Welcome by Mayor Shaun Musil and tapping of the keg
  • Beer Song by Joe Dolezal Band
  • Ringing of the Bell by Nick Werth
  • Oktoberfest is officially open
• 1-1:30 p.m. – HCT reenactors
• 1:30-4 p.m. – Ron Werth Band
• 4 pm – Hays Community Theatre performance
• 4:30-6:30 p.m. – Ron Werth
• 6 p.m. – Beer Banding booths close
• 6 p.m. – Beer sales end
• 7 p.m. – Oktoberfest officially closed until Sept. 28, 2018

NCK Tech is the signature sponsor for this year’s event. The beer tavern is sponsored by EnerSys. Other sponsors include the Hays Convention & Visitors Bureau, Golden Belt Bank, Uber, Cedar Lodge Dental, JD’s Country Style Chicken and Jeff Pinkney, CPA. In-kind sponsors include John’s Fencing Services, Nate’s Liquor, BOS Motorsports, Carrico Implement, Copper’s Carts, Northwest Printers, Hays Professional Fire Equipment, Budweiser, Coors, RD Graphics, Defiance Brewing Co., Nex-Tech, Emily Knowles Designs, Orscheln, Hadley Center, Western Extralite and Ralph’s Electric. Cash and in-kind donors are B & B Taxi and Taco Shop.

By CRISTINA JANNEY
Hays Post

Fort Hays State University will host the 2017 Michael Tilford Conference, which will address diversity on Kansas college campuses.

The annual conference on diversity is open for any administrator, faculty or staff member and some grad students at Kansas Board Regents institutions. The conference rotates every other year to a Regents’ institution, and this is the first year FHSU will host the conference. FHSU will also host in 2018.

This year’s title for the conference is “Intentional Diversity: What is Your Part in Moving Kansas Forward?”

As many as 200 individuals will be in Hays Oct. 23 and 24 for the conference, which will be staged both on the main campus and at the Sternberg Museum of Natural History.

Michael Tilford was the Wichita State University representative on the Regents Diversity and Multiculturalism Committee from its onset in 1994 until his death. In the 1970s, he served on a committee that successfully developed a proposal for a minorities study program.

The featured speaker for the conference will be Bakari Sellers, CNN political analyst, lawyer and activist.

Sellers made history in 2006 when, at just 22 years old, he defeated a 26-year incumbent state representative to become the youngest member of the South Carolina state legislature and the youngest African-American elected official in the nation, according to the conference website.

He has championed policies on subjects ranging from education and poverty to preventing domestic violence and childhood obesity. Sellers practices law with the Strom Law Firm in Columbia, S.C., and is a political commentator at CNN.

The plenary speaker will be Teresa Clounch. She serves as the assistant vice president of student affairs for student life/Title IX coordinator at FHSU.

She provides leadership for the Student Life Cluster within the Division of Student Affairs, which includes the functional areas of inclusion and diversity, student union, bookstore, dining services, student involvement, performing arts series, fraternity/sorority life, residential life, new student orientation and transition programs, parent and family programs, student conduct, and Title IX.

Both days will also include a slate of workshops presented by FHSU and other Regents schools staff.

“I think it is important to see the college and western Kansas as a diverse culture,” FHSU Provost Jeff Briggs said of the importance of having the conference at FHSU.

The communities in this region that are growing are growing in diverse ways, he said.

Briggs said educating students to live and work in a diverse society is very important.

“Our students are going to go out and, in most instances, they are going to live in communities that are more diverse than they have come from,” he said. “Our mission is to educate students for a global society. Our graduates are expected to function with individuals from very diverse backgrounds and cultures, and I think our campus is continuing to make strides in that area.”

The demographics of all Regents institutions as of 2016 were 68.6 percent white; 6.6 percent Hispanic; 4.1 percent African American; 3 percent Asian; 0.7 percent Native American, Alaskan, Hawaiian; 11.9 percent international student; and 5.1 percent other.

The demographics of FHSU are 60 percent white; 7 percent Hispanic; 4 percent African American; 1 percent Asian; and 25 percent international students. The remaining 3 percent represent Native American, Alaskan, Hawaiian and other.

In 2016, African Americans made up 6.2 percent of the Kansas population, and Hispanics made up 11.6 percent of the Kansas population. Nationally, African Americans make up 13.3 percent of the population, and Hispanics make up 17.8 percent of the population.

Briggs said the school has seen growth in its Hispanic student population based on its service area. Many of these students are first-generation college students, who have some unique needs compared to their counterparts.

Regardless of race, first-generation college students might find it difficult to make the transition from home to school. Because of FHSU’s locations, some students might have a greater difficulty getting home because of the distance to their hometowns.

As attention is brought to race relations by nationally publicized protests, Briggs said campuses should be places where conversations happen about diversity.

“Those conversations are built on fact finding, valid information, open discourse about issues and that there is understanding of each side of the issue,” Briggs said. “That is part of the diversity conversation. It has to run the full gamut of what diversity means, which means understanding each side of the argument and making sure there is an appreciation for conflicting viewpoints.

“Part of the educational process takes into account all these points of information and is coming to an educated position you hold yourself as a citizen. Our role is not to tell you what to think, but it is that you do think about the positions you do take.”

Briggs has been back on the FHSU campus as part of the staff for 20 years, and said he thinks American society is making progress on diversity.

“I think we see more diversity in all walks of life,” he said. “I think we see these conversations on a more mature platform. They are more prevalent, mature and more engaging. Even though some recent activities raise cause for concern and make you wonder if we are making progress, I think we are making progress and there is more progress that can be made.”

Briggs said both domestic and international travel offered through FHSU has helped prepare students to function in a diverse society.

When asked about the state of race relations on the FHSU campus he said, “We will always continue to have challenges. I think as we provide students with more diverse experiences, there is greater appreciation for diversity, and that translates into their behaviors and society as a whole.”

By CRISTINA JANNEY
Hays Post

Local educators said they are in a holding pattern after a decision from the Kansas Supreme Court was made earlier this week that the state’s school funding formula is inequitable and inadequate.

A deadline set for June 2018 has school districts across the state in limbo as to what might happen next with state education funding.

“The difficulty here is that there are 284 school districts in the state, and five should not have the power to dictate to everyone else,” Hays USD 489 Superintendent John Thissen said. “Just because something works for them, doesn’t necessarily mean it work for the rest of the other 279.”

Thissen specifically pointed at districts in the Kansas City and Wichita areas.

The Supreme Court looked at the state’s local option budget funding. The LOB allows school districts to levy taxes locally to supplement their budgets. Hays, Ellis and Victoria all have LOBs of 30 percent, which is the maximum available without a vote of the people.

Residents can vote to increase their local option budgets to 33 percent of their state funding.

LOBs were intended to provide extra funding for district-specific projects approved by local school boards. However, in lieu of significant funding cuts, districts had to rely on the LOB funding as a source of revenue for basic school functions.

USD 489 went through a difficult round of staff layoffs during the recession, which Thissen said would have been much worse if it had not been for the LOB.

The problem with the LOB system is that less populated, poorer districts have to levy higher mill levies to raise the same taxes as more populous, more affluent school districts.

Although Victoria’s assessment was up a bit this year, Victoria Superintendent David Ottley said rural western Kansas districts have been hit hard as the valuation of ag and oil land has declined.

Thissen said, “It should not matter if you live in the Blue Valley (district) or Dodge City area, you should still have a fair and equitable amount of finance to educate the kids. There needs to be a formula. There needs to be a plan that is fair for public education. …

“They have do something because it is still not good enough.”

The Legislature approved a two-year school budget during its last session. The late decision on school funding put the state’s schools behind in finishing their budgeting for the 2017-18 school year.

Thissen said because the Supreme Court said the funding level was inadequate, he said he thought the funding levels for 2018-19 would not go down. The district could budget assuming they would have at least as much in 2018-19 as they have this year.

“They said (the formula) needs altered. It is not just a matter of saying there is not enough money. They hinted at that, but they probably put more emphasis on that it is not equitable,” Thissen said. “There are two issue to this — that it is equitable from one district to the next and the other issue is basically having enough money.

“Let’s say that Kansas has a real problem that continues with revenue. We understand that, and that could be a good excuse for not more money, but it is not an excuse for inequities from district to district.”

Ottley said the increase in funding from the Legislature for this school year has made a difference at Victoria schools.

The district was able to open an ag program and FFA chapter, which it has been wanting to do for some time. Teachers were also given raises that had been neglected for several years.

Ottley also said his district has an issue with funding adequacy. Despite raises, the district’s pay for certified and classified staff is still far below their peers. He said the district will take years to fully recover financially from the recession and resulting funding cuts.

“We are a long way from where we need to be for the amount of funding for Victoria or Hays or Ellis to the do things that we need to do to redesign schools to best prepare students for colleges and careers,” he said.

Problems also continue to exist with equity in the funding formula, he said. Victoria has struggled with class size and funding for at-risk programs. The district has goals to increase technical education and college preparation.

Victoria has updated its science labs, but are still being outpaced by some of the larger eastern schools that now have bio-med labs.

There are accommodations in the formula for districts with low and declining enrollment, but more can be done. Ottley said he just hopes the Legislature does not wait until June to work on school funding.

“If they don’t start working on it until June like they did last year, that would be terrible,” he said. “Nothing good happens after midnight — at the last hour of the day. I think they need to think it through. They need to listen to outside sources.”

Ellis Superintendent Bob Young said Ellis also dedicated money from the school funding increase this year to staff salary increases, but said their school district is still behind others in state.

The district has tried to enhance its course offerings by working with Fort Hays State University and offering high school students online courses during the school day.

Young said he would like the Legislature to convene a special committee to start now on reworking the school funding formula.