VICTORIA — Victoria USD 432 has hired Kent Michel as its new superintendent.
Michel, who is the principal for grades three through five in Atchison, will take over July 1 for David Ottley, who is retiring. Michel will also be the principal at the elementary school.
Michel, 53, is a native of Russell and has been an educator for 25 years. He has a bachelor’s degree from Washburn University, his master’s degree from Fort Hays State University and will complete his district leadership license through FHSU this summer.
Michel’s teaching career has focused on elementary to middle school students.
He taught seventh- and eighth-grade science in Carbondale. He taught three years in California where he had fourth-grade classes with as many as 32 students. He returned to Kansas where he taught fifth grade for five years in Russell. He then taught seventh and eighth grade math in Russell and then worked as an elementary administrator.
He has spent the last four years as an administrator in Atchison, working in a building with about 900 students.
Although Michel said he has enjoyed his work in Atchison, he really missed western Kansas.
“I moved out here, and it has been a good experience,” he said. “I have learned a lot about curriculum and instruction. I missed western Kansas. When I lived in California, I would drive through Death Valley and people lived in Needles, Calif., and I would ask why anyone would want to live there. I grew up in western Kansas, and I really missed it. I missed the people, the land, the weather. I know a lot of people don’t like the weather, but it is just one of those things that gets in your blood.”
Michel has a goal to work on curriculum and instruction but said he has lots to learn about the district when he starts in July.
“I know I have some big shoes to fill in Dave Ottley. Dave is just a great guy and was a great superintendent,” Michel said. “I know I will have a lot to learn, and the learning curve will be steep, but I think I will be able to handle that.”
Michel’s wife, Charlotte, is also an educator and will be working in Effingham in the fall. He has two grown children. His youngest is a student a Washburn.
“I am looking forward to coming out that direction and spending my career. I don’t look at leaving western Kansas again,” he said. “I am excited to have the opportunity to work with Victoria and make it the best place we can make it.”
Ellis High School students Abby Burton and Haley Reiter talk to Sen. Jerry Moran, R-Kan., about the school’s 3-D printer during a school tour Friday. Moran will be back at EHS on May 12 to give the school’s commencement speech.
By CRISTINA JANNEY Hays Post
Sen. Jerry Moran, R-Kan., said a trade war with China would be harmful to Kansas agriculture and urged President Trump in meetings Thursday to reconsider his position.
Moran met with the president in an agriculture round table Thursday at the White House. He talked about trade issues during a tour of Ellis High School Friday. Moran was in town to tour EHS in advance of speaking at the school’s commencement on May 12.
Trump seemed to soften Thursday on trade, directing his advisers to revisit the Trans-Pacific Partnership, a trade agreement between 11 Pacific countries. Trump spoke against the trade agreement during has campaign and withdrew the U.S. from the agreement negotiations last year.
Trump has instituted tariffs on Chinese steel, with China retaliating with sanctions on U.S. ag products including pork. China has suggested it may expand those restrictions to soybeans, an important Kansas crop.
Moran emphasized Friday the importance of foreign trade to the Kansas ag economy.
“Trade is important. Exports matter to us. We make a living in Kansas based on what we sell around the world. It is particularly true in agriculture, and with the difficult circumstance of commodity prices, lack of rain, the drought that we are in, we need more markets not less. I have been very vocal with my colleagues in the Senate and to the administration about the importance of maintaining a trade agreement called NAFTA and not getting in a tariff war with other countries.”
Moran said pulling out of the TPP negotiations was a mistake. Moran also said the U.S. needs to deal with China’s misdeeds against the U.S. economy, but a trade war is not the way to accomplish that.
“I think there is a need to deal with China,” Moran said. “They do not play by the rules. They steal our secrets. They take our technology. They attack us in cyber security ways. In my view, those things need to be much more targeted than just tariffs.”
The U.S. can isolate China if it engages with other countries, and Moran said TPP is a perfect example of this.
Moran told the president farmers need reassurance.
“There is a lot of uncertainty out there generally in agriculture, but you add not knowing if world markets are going to be available. … Here is a way, Mr. President, that you can reassure farmers that markets are going to be available to them even as we engage with China,” Moran said.
The U.S. needs to continue to work with Canada and Mexico through NAFTA and the European Union, he said.
Moran said Trump seemed receptive to opening up a dialogue on TPP. However, Moran added, “We need to make sure the administration pursues what they indicated yesterday.”
Some Kansans may prefer to not engage globally, Moran said.
“I respond to that by saying, ‘What 48 percent of Kansas do you not want to plant in wheat?'” Moran said. “We can produce more than Americans can consume, and the only way we can continue to be farming communities like Ellis and the surrounding area is when we have access to world markets. We need more markets not less.”
The president said at the roundtable Thursday if farmers are injured in a trade war, the federal government would find a program to compensate them for their loses.
“It was always communicated to the President, ‘Mr. President our farmers don’t want another check from the government. They want to earn their livings in the markets,'” Moran said. “My point would be don’t create a problem through lack of trade and try to figure out how to spend money to solve the problem. Just don’t create the problem in the first place.”
Moran also commented briefly on the House Farm Bill that was released Thursday. He said he continues to have concerns about maintaining crop insurance and getting payments to farmers in a timely manner, saying some farmers have waited as a long as a year for federal payments.
The earliest the Senate is likely to pass its version of the Farm Bill is May. The current Farm Bill expires in September.
Moran was invited to speak at graduation by senior Haley Reiter. Reiter and Abby Burton, fellow senior, with the EHS principal Corey Burton and Ellis superintendent Bob Young led Moran on school tour.
Moran talked to teachers and the students about the importance of technical education in Kansas’ ag economy. Moran toured the woodshop and machine shop as well as visited the tech room where students had used a 3-D printer to construct remote-controlled cars.
Ellis also offers college-credit courses through an agreement with NCKTech, and the students discussed the use of technology to take online courses, including Intro to Business and Spanish.
The Dane G. Hansen Foundation is pleased to bring the Lovewell Institute for the Creative Arts to northwest Kansas this summer. The Foundation is sponsoring four, week-long musical theatre workshops for high school students (incoming freshman through graduating seniors).
Students conceive, write, choreograph, compose, design, rehearse, produce and perform an original piece of musical theatre in collaboration with a staff of professionals and educators.
Space is still available at each of the four locations:
June 4-8, 2018 Phillipsburg
June 11-15, 2018 Concordia
June 18-22, 2018 Russell
June 25-29, 2018 Colby
Students from surrounding communities and counties are encouraged to participate in a workshop close to them.For more information or to register, visit lovewell.org, and click on Apply, and then Kansas.
ABOUT THE LOVEWELL WORKSHOPS
The week-long day camp/workshop brings students from all different creative backgrounds together to create an original work of musical theatre from scratch. The process needs writers, actors, poets, dancers, singers, dreamers, visual artists, musicians, composers, designers and creative students of all kinds.
The students will work with a team of professional artists to explore the arts while forging new friendships and making memories to last a lifetime.
PARTICIPTION COSTS
The Hansen Foundation is underwriting the cost of the workshops so the student participation fee is significantly discounted to $50.However, no student who is truly committed to participate will be denied the opportunity due to inability to pay. Scholarships are available.
ABOUT LOVEWELL
The Lovewell Institute for the Creative Arts is a not-for-profit organization that brings students together with professional artists to conceive, create, compose, write, choreograph, design and produce and original musical in each workshop. The Lovewell team are artist who make their living as musical directors, playwrites, choreographers, composers, lyricists, etc.
Lovewell is based in Florida, but its roots are in Kansas. After a pilot in New York in 1984, the process became the “Lovewell Experience” in 1987 in Salina. The director of the program is a Kansas native.
Today, Lovewell offers workshops all over the United States and internationally. Learn more about Lovewell at www.lovewell.org.
For more information on NW Kansas Arts opportunities sponsored by the Hansen Foundation, visit our website www.danehansenfoundation.org; click on Special Initiatives and NWKansas Arts.
A homework assignment turned in this week by a student at O’Loughlin Elementary School led to a parent notification and police investigation.
Superintendent John Thissen said a very young student turned in a homework assignment Wednesday that said he wanted to be a school shooter when he grew up. O’Loughlin parents were notified of the investigation Thursday afternoon.
The district notified the police to investigate and brought in counselors to work with the child.
Police determined there was no immediate danger to the students at the school.
Citing student privacy rights, Thissen did not elaborate on what disciplinary action was taken against the student or if the student would remain at O’Loughlin. The student was not identified.
The school released the following statement via email.
“I just wanted to let you know there was a concern with a homework assignment that was completed by a student at OES. Due to the seriousness of the completed assignment, it was reported to a law enforcement official, was fully investigated, and no credible threat was found. We appreciate staff working together to provide a safe environment for all our students.”
Thissen said the district wished to let parents know about the incident because of issues that arose over a threat at Hays High School earlier this year.
A student at the HHS made a verbal threat against the school. Parents were not notified of the threat until five days later. In the meantime, rumors swirled about a possible gun at the school and further threats. Parents were so concerned about the rumors that about 50 parents kept students home from school.
The district is set to consider changes to its parental notification policy in the administrative handbook at its next meeting on April 30.
UPDATE: At 12:25 p.m. Thursday, Anne N. Haver, 38, of Ellis was traveling east on Interstate 70 five miles west of Ellis when she fell asleep, veering over and sideswiped a semi, according to the Kansas Highway Patrol.
Haver’s Dodge Nitro rolled coming to rest on its top on the shoulder of the eastbound lane.
Haver was taken to Trego County-Lemke Memorial in WaKeeney for treatment.
The driver of the semi, Crystal D. Arasteh, 37, of Goodyear, Arizona, was not injured.
Traffic stayed open on both lanes of the highway while officials worked the wreck.
Both drivers were wearing their seat belts.
By CRISTINA JANNEY Hays Post
The Kansas Highway Patrol is on the scene of a rollover accident at about mile marker 140 eastbound on Interstate 70 in Trego County.
What appeared to be a maroon SUV rolled on its top.
Traffic is still open in both directions on Interstate 70 as officials work the accident.
The accident was originally called out about 12:30 p.m. as an injury accident, but it is not known if anyone was hurt in the accident or their condition. The name of the driver has not been released.
Watch Hays Post for more information as it becomes available.
USD 489 received a $48,440 grant from the Dane G. Hansen Foundation to cover all of the costs for a pilot summer reading program for at-risk students and students who are performing below grade level in reading and writing.
Overall, 120 students will be selected by the district to participate in the pilot summer reading program in June 2018.
Each of the four elementary schools at Lincoln, O’Loughlin, Roosevelt and Wilson will have 30 students who have completed kindergarten, first or second grade during the 2017-2018 school year participate.
USD 489 will work with parents to identify students who will most benefit from additional reading, comprehension, and verbal sharing with other students.
USD 489 believes the summer reading program will positively impact these students who are below grade level by maintaining reading skills that have been learned throughout the school year, and in some cases, increase the reading skill sets of some students.
All of the 120 participating students will be able to take four books to read at home during the summer, which will help bridge the gap of access to books at home.
The schedule for the summer would include three days a week during the month of June from 9 to 11 a.m.
Parents will be given the opportunity to evaluate the summer reading program and provide feedback to the teachers regarding the students’ experiences through a survey.Parents will be allowed to rank and comment on their child’s experiences. The information collected from the parents will be used to re-evaluate the summer school reading program for the next school year.
The grant was written by Shanna Dinkel, Laura Gaughan, Kay Shippy, Mary Straub, Sarah Wasinger and Amy Woydziak.
The NCK Tech nursing program will sponsor a community health fair from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday at the National Guard Armory, 200 Main St.
The American Red Cross will host a blood drive in conjunction with the health fair.
Educational topics that will be addressed include ABO blood groups, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, vaccinations, opioid addiction and evidence-based practices. Pharmacy technicians will also have presentations.
Free blood pressure checks and finger stick blood sugars will be offered.
USD 489 was selected by Midwest Energy to receive a grant in the amount of $980 to purchase workbooks to train area school officials and emergency responders in the PREPaRE curriculum.
This grant will allow for the purchase of 28 workbooks for the first workshop within the training series that focuses on crisis prevention and preparedness and comprehensive school safety planning.
Julie Zollinger, Hays Middle School psychologist, Theresa Clark, TMP and Holy Family counselor, and Josh Tanguay, FHSU virtual college instructor, became certified to teach the PREPaRE curriculum this year.
Prepare stands for: P—Prevent and PREPaRE for psychological trauma R—Reaffirm physical health and perceptions of security and safety E—Evaluate psychological trauma risk P—Provide interventions a—and R—Respond to psychological needs E—Examine the effectiveness of crisis prevention and intervention.
The team of three will work together over the course of the next year to provide training for school administrators, counselors, teachers, other school district personnel, police, fire, EMS, highway patrol and Homeland Security personnel within Ellis and Rooks counties.
The first of these trainings will be on May 30. The Hays Schools Crisis Committee will continue to seek other grant opportunities to fund these trainings.
“Thank you to Midwest Energy for supporting this very worthwhile cause in the community and for their continued investment in Hays schools,” USD 489 said in a news release.
The Hays school district has named two new principals who will take over schools in the fall.
Tom Albers, assistant principal at Hays High School, will become the new principal at Hays Middle School. He is taking over for Craig Pallister, who is retiring.
Kerri Lacy, a fifth-grade teacher at Lincoln Elementary School, will take the position as principal at Lincoln. She is replacing Elaine Rohleder, who is also retiring.
Tom Albers
Albers graduated from Fort Hays State University in 1988 with bachelor of science degree in mathematics. He taught math and coached football, basketball and track at Pratt High School for 13 years.
He was assistant principal for one year at Pittsburg High School before joining HHS as an assistant principal. He said he decided to move to Hays to be closer to family.
He has been an assistant principal at HHS for 16 years.
His wife, Tina, works as a USD 489 preschool teacher. Her program is also housed at Hays High.
His children include Mackenzie, Kord, Adyson (currently a junior at HHS), Brenlynn (currently a sixth grader at Hays Middle School), and Brogan (currently a third grader at O’Loughlin Elementary School).
“I am excited to be part of the Falcon family,” Albers said. “The middle school has a great tradition of excellence and outstanding teachers and staff. I am looking forward to being part of that great tradition.”
Kerri Lacy
Lacy began her teaching career straight out of college at Kennedy Middle School in Hays. Many of her students at Kennedy are now Lincoln parents.
She taught at Kennedy for 13 years before moving to Solomon in 2004. She and her husband moved their family to Solomon so she could become the principal at the elementary school there.
Her first two years there, she was the K-6 principal, and then the district moved the sixth-grade students to the middle school, so she was the K-5 principal.
After three years, she took over as the middle school principal also. When she completed her ninth year, her husband took a job back in Hays. She returned to the classroom, one year at Hays Middle School and then her last five years have been in the fifth-grade classroom at Lincoln.
“I am so blessed to able to continue being part of the Lincoln family as the principal,” she said.
Lacy and her husband, Brian, have two daughters.Kelsey attended Lincoln School until the family moved after her fourth-grade year.Kelsey just completed her bachelor’s and her master’s degrees at Northwest Missouri State University where she was also a member of the volleyball and track teams.She has recently taken a job in Kansas City.
Lacy’s youngest daughter, Bailey, is a senior at Thomas More Prep-Marian. She will be continuing her education and her softball career at Highland Community College next fall.
“After 24 years of having kids in our house, Brian and I are soon to be empty nesters!” she said.
“Although I will be the new principal at Lincoln, I will not be new to being a school leader,” Lacy said. “I am so excited for Mrs. Rohleder as she begins the next chapter of her life with retirement.I am sure she will be a huge support as I take over in July.I can only pray that I am half as successful at Lincoln as she has been.I am excited to continue as part of the Lincoln family.”
The Hays USD 489 superintendent said the capital outlay budget is not enough to keep up with the district’s building needs in a report to the school board Monday.
Superintendent John Thissen said the district has not neglected maintenance, saying the district simply does not have enough money to make all the needed repairs.
“The district this size with the number of buildings it has and the age of the buildings, you can’t conceivably tend to those needs with $2.5 million on a yearly basis. We disappoint our principals on a yearly basis because we can’t tend to what needs to be done because we are the ones trying to prioritize what is most important,” he said.
The last bond election for a new building was almost 40 years ago for Hays High School. Two bonds have failed in the last two years.
Thissen said there is a public misconception about the building needs in the district.
“When I first came in two years ago, people said there was a mistake that was made in this district of not fixing the needs every year as they came up. I would go so far as to say they have,” he said. “They have fixed things and made things work. It is actually very admirable you have people over time who have made the buildings work as they are and try to do it as effectively with the dollar amount as you possibly can.”
Thissen said a district of Hays’ size probably would have had another new building in that 40 years since the last major bond.
“We are at a spot that seems very dire. We are always talking about having a bond election to try to make some improvements, but I assure you it is not different from the districts I have come from. …
“The difficulty is there are some who think we can end up running our district on just the money that comes from the state. What is sad is that I don’t believe that is true. There is a push that (schools are funded) locally including the local option budget … and bond elections as well,” Thissen said.
The school district has estimated capital outlay revenue of $2.51 million in fiscal year 2018 and $2.85 million in 2019. With carry over, the available balance in the capital outlay fund would be about $5.66 million in 2018 and $4.48 million in 2019. Carry over numbers are estimates and may be reduced by unforeseen repair needs.
USD 489 capital outlay budget for FY2018 and FY2019
Thissen said he thought keeping a balance in the capital outlay fund is important in case of unforeseen expenses. A prime example is a recent water main break at the high school. The break closed school for a day last week.
The school is currently operating on one water source instead of two. The district plans to replace the broken main this summer. Thissen said he is unsure of the exact cost of the project, but was sure it would exceed the $20,000 mark the district has set to send projects out for bid. Insurance might pay part of the cost.
The district is also facing significant problems with plumbing at Roosevelt Elementary School and issues with windows at Wilson that have not been budgeted.
Among some of the larger line items in the capital outlay budget, $910,000 is budgeted in 2018 and 2019 for building repairs, parking lots, roofs, HVAC repairs and lighting. The budget has dedicated $520,000 in 2018 for repairs to the Hays High School HVAC system. Transportation will account for $317,000 in both 2018 and 2019.
If the district receives more funding under the state’s new funding plan, it could move $284,000 in salaries and benefits for maintenance staff from the capital outlay budget to the general fund budget. This would free up that money to be used on more deferred maintenance projects.
Board member Greg Schwartz asked Rusty Lindsay, buildings and grounds director, to give a broad estimate of the district’s deferred maintenance. Lindsay said he thought it was about $20 million.
Schwartz said, “Right now, it seems like we are trying to plug a few holes here and there and we are constantly behind, and I understand that we have tried to sell two bonds that have failed. If they continue to fail, we continue to be in that same boat. It just doesn’t seem like we make any progress.”
The board discussed technology spending Monday night as well, including a $335,750 expenditure on new computers for Hays High students. The district technology committee has recommended buying Dell two-in-one laptops. However, Schwartz and board president Lance Bickle have advocated purchasing Chromebooks, which would be cheaper than the Dells. The administration and the tech committee have argued the Chromebooks don’t meet the educational needs of he students.
“We have always been on the cutting edge, and some would argue the bleeding edge, of technology expenditures for the last 13 years,” Schwartz said. “I think one of the new areas that is coming in technology is bring-your-own device, but we don’t want to be on that. We don’t look at spending on a Google Chromebooks instead of a Dell.”
Schwartz said either plan could result in substantial savings, which could go to building projects or transportation.
The board is set to vote on the computer purchase at its next meeting on April 30.
The board approved a $42,541 bid from American Electric Co. to replace lighting at Roosevelt Elementary School. The district hopes to save on electricity costs and replacement bulbs by going to longer-lasting LED fixtures. Lindsay said he also hopes to purchase and install light controls, which will allow the district to use the networking capability of the lights. This will allow the school to use timers to dim the lights and use sunlight as much as possible for a further savings.
Lindsay bid specific lights that matched the lights that have been replaced at the high school and other buildings. He said he has attempted to standardize as many fixtures in the district as possible because it requires the district to keep fewer parts on hand and provides for more speedy repairs.
Bickle voted against the purchase, saying the district bidding specific parts and brand names has led to the district paying more for equipment. He favored the district using one of the other vendors who bid for the project, but who were disqualified because they did not meet specifications. Bickle argued some companies can’t meet bid specs because brand name parts are being requested.
The lights are set to replaced at Roosevelt this summer.
The district also heard a report on a bid for roof repairs at Hays Middle School. Staff is recommending the low bid with alternates of $189,204 from High Plains Roofing of Hays. Roosevelt and HMS are the oldest roofs in the district and where the district is experiencing the most roof leaks, Lindsay said. This repair would fix the roof over the classroom areas.
The board is set to vote on the bid at its next meeting.
UPDATE 7:18 a.m. – Fire crews remain on scene Wednesday morning monitoring flare ups after a large grass fire in northwest Ellis County.
According to Ellis County Director of Fire and Emergency Management Darin Myers, the fire started near construction equipment crews working near 150th Avenue and Severin Road.
The quickly became out of control and traveled about 4.5 miles to the east where fire crews finally got it stopped at Yocemento Avenue. Crews battled rough terrain and limited roads in the area as well as high winds and very dry grass.
Crews from Ness, Trego, Graham, Rooks and Russell counties, along with the Hays Fire Department, provided mutual aid. The Red Cross, Ellis County Sheriff’s Office, Public Works and EMS also assisted.
They also received local support from farm implements and businesses hauling water.
Myers said one firefighter was injured and taken to Hays Medical Center for evaluation. He has since been released.
The majority of the fire crews were released around 3 a.m.
Myers said Ellis County crews will most likely return throughout the next several days to clean up hot spots.
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By CRISTINA JANNEY Hays Post
Area fire crews are on the scene of a large grass fire in the northwest section of Ellis County as of about 3:45 p.m., the fire was in the area of St. John/St. Andrew Road and 170th Road.
It is unknown at this time if any structures have been affected.
Area residents are asked to stay clear of the area at this time.
The fire was being fanned by wind gusts of 24 miles per hour. Dry conditions persist in the area. Hays has received only 1.41 inches of moisture since January.
