SALINA — Soul Bloom, a Salina nonprofit directed by Joan Jerkovich, has hired Brady Stephenson as an intern through Kansas State’s Research and Extension, funded by the Dane G. Hansen Foundation SummerInternship Initiative.
Stephenson will assist with the development of a new nonprofit program called Soul Bloom Lending. This lending program will help individuals and families that are caught in the trap of predatory lending. The program will focus on loan consolidation and financial education.
Stephenson recently graduated from the Kansas Academy of Mathematics and Science. He will begin his junior year in the Fort Hays State University’s Honors College next fall, majoring in finance in economics.
For more information on Soul Bloom Lending, go to soulbloom.org.
Scroll to the bottom for a map of garage sale locations. Hays Post offers FREE garage sale listings weekly. Having a garage sale next weekend? Click HERE to submit your information.
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700 E. 6th, Hays — (yellow house across from Gordon’s Carpet)
Thursday 4:30pm to 8:30pm and Friday 9am to 4pm
Indoor Sale Thursday and Friday only! EVERYTHING IS $3 OR LESS! Total liquidation! You cannot miss this one! Moving out of Hays and needing to downsize, so my loss is your gain, I’m practically giving stuff away! No joke, items include purses, leather and name brand shoes, name brand clothing not limited to Nike, Adidas, Victoria’s Secret Pink, Gap, LuLaRoe, American Eagle, Buckle brands, Banana republic, Ann Taylor, Michael Kors and many more!!! I even have winter coats and everything is $3 or less!!!!! I am also selling craft supplies, vinyl records, disc golf discs and clothing, lots of different genres of books, Christmas decor, home decor, pet supplies, and miscellaneous items. I have hundreds of items for sale which must go!!!! Do not miss this sale!
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306 West 32nd St., Hays
Saturday 6-15-19
Bike, fabrics, laces, patterns, home décor, holiday décor, curtains, HP printer never used, dining set, futon, misc.
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2908 Hillcrest, Hays
Thursday and Friday 9a.m. to 7p.m.
Longaberger Baskets, junior girl’s clothes, women’s clothes, baby girl clothes and items, disposable diapers, toys, books, kitchen items, decorative items, king size comforter, digital camera, beautiful red stoneware dish set, household items
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1921, 1922, 1923 Whittier Rd., Hays
Friday June 14th 10am-6pm
Multi- family sale: boys/girls clothing, shoes, toys, games, puzzles, bedding, kitchen, home decor and much more! Also lemonade & cookies!!
cd/dvd cabinets, antiques, candles, kid Little Tykes car, household goods, big tall coffee pot, pewter, clothes, knick knacks, lots of miscellaneous, shot gun reloader and supplies
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1107 Noose Rd, Hays
June 14-Friday 3:00-8:00 June 15, Saturday 8:00-noon
Friday, June 14 3:00-8:00 pm (No early shoppers), Saturday, June 15, 8:00 am-noon
Kids are raised- time to clean out 15 years worth of electronics, office equipment, go-cart, furniture, BBQ grill, kids clothes, teen clothes, women’s clothes, kitchen gadgets and cookware, home decor, toys, books, purses, luggage, cabinets, shelves, bedding, cameras, crafting material, fabric, picture frames, light fixtures, curtain fixtures.
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1905 MacArthur Rd, Hays
Saturday, June 15th 8 am to 2 pm.
Baby Boy Clothes size 3 months to 12 months. Some men and women’s clothes. Baby items, bottles, swing, play mat. Home decor, bedding, picture frames, candles, plus much more!
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420 W. 27th St., Hays
Friday, June 14 11:30 am – 6:00 pm and Saturday, June 15 7:30 am – 12:00 pm
Multi Family Yard Sale – Clothing – children and adults, housewares, craft supplies, toys, camping gear, and much more!
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110 W. 34th St., Hays
Saturday-June 15th from 8:00 am to 1:00pm
Double Family Garage Sale/Moving Sale—Sectional from The Look, Howard Miller Grandfather Clock, IKEA Chair with foot-stool, Toys, Maternity clothing, Household items, Room Decor, Lamp Sets, TV- Stand, Lots more…Something for everyone. Come check it out! Cash only—U-Load—U-Haul!
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1211 East 32nd, Hays
Friday 3pm to 8pm, Sat 8am to Noon
Decor, Household, Jewelry, Books, Luggage, iPhone cases, Tools, Vintage items, Puzzles, knick knacks, and lots Name Brand Clothes for Lil Girls, Teens to Adult including Plus Sizes up to 3X. Victoria Secret, Buckle brands, Van’s, Chacos, Converse, asics Nike, Justice for girls, and many more!
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120 South 10th street, WaKeeney
June 15 8:00 – 5:00
Shutters, new steel siding, bikes, Hawaiian party supplies, bathroom sink, lawn furniture and MORE
Three Kansas lakes with warnings, four with watches
TOPEKA – The Kansas Department of Health and Environment (KDHE), in conjunction with the Kansas Department of Wildlife, Parks and Tourism (KDWPT), has issued public health advisories for seven Kansas lakes.
Warnings:
Big Eleven Lake, Wyandotte County
Jerry Ivey Pond, Saline County
Overbrook City Lake, Osage County
When a warning is issued, KDHE recommends the following precautions be taken:
Lake water is not safe to drink for pets or livestock.
Lake water, regardless of blue-green algae status, should never be consumed by humans.
Water contact should be avoided.
Fish may be eaten if they are rinsed with clean water and only the fillet portion is consumed, while all other parts are discarded.
Do not allow pets to eat dried algae.
If lake water contacts skin, wash with clean water as soon as possible.
Avoid areas of visible algae accumulation.
Watches:
Atchison County State Fishing Lake, Atchison County
Marion County Lake, Marion County
Marion Reservoir, Marion County
Keith Sebelius Reservoir, Norton County
A watch means that blue-green algae have been detected and a harmful algal bloom is present or likely to develop. People are encouraged to avoid areas of algae accumulation and keep pets and livestock away from the water.
During the watch status, KDHE recommends the following precautions be taken:
Signage will be posted at all public access locations
Water may be unsafe for humans/animals
Avoid areas of algae accumulation and do not let people/pets eat dried algae or drink contaminated water.
Swimming, wading, skiing, and jet skiing are discouraged near visible blooms
Boating and fishing are safe. However, inhalation of the spray may affect some individuals. Avoid direct contact with water, and wash with clean water after any contact.
Clean fish well with potable water and eat fillet portion only.
KDHE samples publicly-accessible bodies of water for blue-green algae when the agency receives reports of potential algae blooms in Kansas lakes. Based on sampling results, KDHE reports on potentially harmful conditions.
Kansans should be aware that blooms are unpredictable. They can develop rapidly and may float around the lake, requiring visitors to exercise their best judgment. If there is scum, a paint-like surface or the water is bright green, avoid contact and keep pets away. These are indications that a harmful bloom may be present. Pet owners should be aware that animals that swim in or drink water affected by a harmful algal bloom or eat dried algae along the shore may become seriously ill or die.
Randy ClinkscalesOne of my early memories as a child was visiting with my grandparents in Hillsboro, Texas. Snow in the Hill Country of Texas is very rare. So, it was one of those rare mornings when we woke up to discover that it had snowed. It was my first snow, and I remember running outside so excited.
My grandfather had a small ranch. He needed to go check the cattle, and I bundled up and headed out with him. For whatever reason, Pop decided to cook breakfast on the ground. We were surrounded by a few inches of snow. Pop piled some stones together, put in some twigs and sticks, and started the fire. He then chopped up some bacon, fried it in an iron skillet and then mixed in eggs. The steam and smell wafted into the air. It was delicious. Forever, that is what I have always called “Pop’s breakfast”.
My grandfather was quite the man. A giant for his time (6 ft. 2 in.), he played center for the town basketball team. Games were played outside on the earth. He was married to my grandmother but died 15 years before she passed. They were married for over 50 years. In the course of 50 years, they spent one night not together. When he passed, my grandmother’s heart was broken.
I often wonder what would have happened if my grandmother would have passed away first. I just do not know that my grandfather would have been able to carry on.
My grandfather was madly in love with my grandmother. They had breakfast together each morning. They would have coffee. There would usually be biscuits and gravy.
My grandfather was never in a hurry. He always had time for a conversation. While big, he was always gentle.
Through his years, he had a variety of jobs. Pop and Mammaw married just at the beginning of the depression. Pop liked to say that they were better off than most, having a farm where they could raise their own food. Pop got a job hauling rock for the county roads. Again, he felt so fortunate.
Over time, Pop continued with working at whatever he could, and for whatever purpose. He had one goal: provide for his family.
Through the years, he was County Clerk, he sold freezers of meat (some of you are going to remember that), he was the Sheriff of Hill County, Texas, and later in life was a policeman in River Oaks, Texas (a suburb of Fort Worth).
I was always impressed by his attitude. He would “get” to go to work. It was never he “had” to go to work. He always felt fortunate that he was able to provide for his family.
His two sons (my two uncles) were hemophiliacs. One of them died while quite young. Pop never would talk about it. It was too painful.
When I was in college, my grandfather’s other son (my uncle) lost a child. The baby was stillborn. Because I was going to college near Fort Worth, I stepped up to make the funeral arrangements. It was the first time that I had ever seen my grandfather cry. I remember he and my grandmother looking at that little casket, standing arm in arm. The child was named after my grandfather.
As a police officer, I always had to laugh at Pop’s approach. We often joked that Pop would have been killed in a car but for the fact that he was in a police car and everyone moved out of the way. He really was not a good driver. He enjoyed taking his time and looking around.
He carried that approach into his duties. If he stopped someone for a minor infraction, he had the philosophy that if they would truly listen to his lecture, he would let them go. But those lectures could be long. I experienced some of them myself.
Pop was a good man. He was always honest but never critical. He was never hurtful. He never judged me, though I would go through various stages of life.
Upon my arrival to visit with Pop and Mammaw, it would not take long before the dominoes came out. The dominoes were an excuse to have a meaningful conversation at the table. When someone scored a big score, Pop had this wonderful laugh, slow and deep; proud either for himself for scoring the points, or for the person scoring the points. It did not matter to him.
Pop was eventually forced to retire. I believe he was about 67 when he reached the mandatory retirement age with the police department. They had quite a celebration recognizing Pop for all his years of service, his role as a police officer, what he meant to so many of the junior officers, and all the lives he touched in the community.
He had a stroke. We really did not think he would make it, and certainly not make it at home, but he and my grandmother were determined that he would.
Eventually, he fully recovered. The last years of my grandfather’s life were spent as a full-time companion with my grandmother. They gardened; they worked in the yard; and they fished. They would put on these funky hats, and drive to Lake Worth, just a few minutes away. I do not think it was very important to them whether they caught fish. They just enjoyed being together and relaxing.
Probably the greatest lesson that I learned from my grandfather was how to love your wife. Through the many years, their marriage was a partnership. He and Mammaw did things together. Though most of the time my grandmother was a stay-at-home mom, her role was great in the marriage. Poppa leaned on her; she leaned on him.
I never heard Poppa say one harsh word to my grandmother. I never heard him at any time diminish her capabilities or her role. In fact, there was a certain amount of awe he had for my grandmother.
I was fortunate in my life to have my father and stepfather who meant so much to me, but I was just as fortunate to have a grandfather who helped me learn what it meant to be a father, a husband, and a man.
Remember your fathers and grandfathers this year on Father’s Day. And grandfathers, remember the influence you will have on your grandchildren, even when they are 65 years old and you are long gone. You are special.
Randy Clinkscales of Clinkscales Elder Law Practice, PA, Hays, Kansas, is an elder care attorney, practicing in western Kansas. To contact him, please send an email to [email protected]. Disclaimer: The information in the column is for general information purposes and does not constitute legal advice. Each case is different and outcomes depend on the fact of each case and the then applicable law. For specific questions, you should contact a qualified attorney.
Mostly sunny, with a high near 87. West northwest wind 8 to 10 mph becoming north in the afternoon.
Tonight
A 30 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms, mainly before 1am. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 61. North northeast wind 7 to 9 mph.
Sunday
A 30 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms after 1pm. Partly sunny, with a high near 82. North wind 7 to 10 mph becoming east northeast in the afternoon.
Sunday Night
A 20 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Partly cloudy, with a low around 59. East wind 5 to 10 mph becoming light in the evening.
Monday
A 30 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms, mainly after 1pm. Partly sunny, with a high near 79. East wind 3 to 8 mph.
Monday Night
A 50 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 60.
Tuesday
A 50 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 78.
Tuesday Night
Showers and thunderstorms likely, mainly before 1am. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 60. Chance of precipitation is 60%. New rainfall amounts between a quarter and half of an inch possible.
The Hays Striders Track Club were in action on June 1 at the AAU District Qualifying meet in El Dorado. The Striders sent 26 athletes to the competition and all 26 qualified for the next round. The Top 16 finishers at the El Dorado meet qualify for the Regional AAU National Qualifier in Tulsa, Okla., on June 27 to 30. If the Striders finish in the Top 6 at Tulsa, they qualify to compete in the AAU Junior Olympic Games the last week of July held in Greensboro, N.C.
Competing in developmental meets in April and May helped prepare the Striders for the summer AAU meets. The Striders season started very early this year, having their first meet after only one week of practice.
“That early start led to some of our athletes battling injuries throughout the season,” coach Dave Haberman said. “We’re not going to compete that early next year. We have six fantastic runners who are running injured, Lacy Droegemeier, Makayla Lewallen, Morgan Armbruster, Zoe Brown, Briley Haynes, and Jade Beckman. They are frustrated because their times aren’t where they want them to be. Even with the injuries, they still performed well. The rest of our team also did great! We are proud of all of them.”
Many Striders set personal records at the District meet June 1. The team had a hefty 37 medals awarded — eight gold medals, twelve silver medals, and seventeen bronze medal winners.
The Striders are coached by Dave and Elaine Haberman, Dustin and Wendy Armbruster, Darris and Meredith Lewallen, Tim McElroy, Maddux Winter, Anthony “Ace” Ventura, Rusty Klitzke, Rose McFarland, and Bob Threlkel.
SALINE COUNTY — A preliminary hearing has been scheduled in the case against a former state representative accused of mistreatment of a dependent adult.
On June 5, authorities arrested 37-year-old Jeremy Dannebohm on a Saline County District Court warrant on allegations that also include deception between $25,000 and $100,000, according to the Saline County Sheriff’s office.
Dannebohm posted bond and made a first court appearance June 6. The preliminary hearing is scheduled July 23, according to Brad Sutton of the Saline County Attorney’s office.
In 2014, Dannebohm, also known as J. Basil Dannebohm, ran unopposed and won a seat in the Kansas House representing the 113th District while living in Ellinwood.
He served just 42 days and resigned due to Parkinson’s disease.
Dannebohm has ties to Hays, as well. He grew up in Ellinwood and moved to Hays to attend Thomas More Prep-Marian.
In third grade, Hays native Chuck Schmidt turned in a writing assignment and the teacher was so impressed he was told he could be an author someday.
After 33 years in education working as a teacher, coach, principal and superintendent, that day has finally come.
Schmidt recently published his first book “Tales from School: You Can’t Make This Sh*t Up!” and is currently promoting his work that shares his experiences in the classroom and as an administrator.
“This book has been a real labor of love,” Schmidt said. “I have been thinking about writing a book about my experiences for a long time, but never had the time to do it until I finally retired.”
The book is a chronological narrative recounting of many of his experiences throughout his career.
“I have had so many tremendous experiences good, bad, indifferent, funny, sad, tragic, whatever, I thought I ought to record this,” he said.
Schmidt hopes the book will be helpful to teachers and administrators entering the field of education.
“A lot of stories that I think would be really helpful to new teachers and new administrators, to see the things that I ran into and how I handled them,” Schmidt said. “Sometimes they can learn from my mistakes, and sometimes they can learn from my successes.”
While the book recounts stories from Schmidt’s career, he said it is not about him, but rather what he has learned over the years.
“It is not necessarily an account about my career, but it takes the experiences I have had in all of the different positions I have been in in education and then talks about the stories and experiences and some of the lessons you can get in that,” Schmidt said. “A lot of it is stories about some of what I see as successes where I might have contributed, some places where I have made mistakes and things did not turn out so well.”
Schmidt
The book runs the gamut of his career, covering his time as a coach, extracurricular activities, humorous recollections of interactions with students, challenging students, and his time returning as a sixth-grade social studies teacher after years of serving as a superintendent.
“I spent my last 14 years as a superintendent in two different places, and then after I retired as superintendent my successor called me in August and said, ‘Hey would you teach sixth-grade social studies because we can’t find a teacher?’ ” Schmidt said.
So he returned to the classroom after 22 years.
“It was at the same time, a terrifying and a gratifying and a heartwarming experience all at the same time.”
Returning to the classroom allowed Schmidt to compare teaching from the beginning of his career in 1972 to today, giving him valuable insights into how much has changed in the classroom.
Despite changes in technology, funding and administration, Schmidt said the importance of relationships with students remains crucial.
“In order to be a successful teacher or administrator, you have got to establish relationships with kids, you have got to show them that you care,” he said. “I think what I have seen in my career is that is even more important now.
“I think kids are smarter today than when I first started teaching, but they don’t know what to do with it because they don’t get as much guidance,” Schmidt said, noting several tough situations he observed with his students in recent years.
“That’s where a teacher becomes even more crucial today.”
Amazon publishing platform gives Schmidt outlet to share experiences
As any author knows, writing a book is only the first step in a long process of getting it into readers’ hands.
Schmidt shopped his manuscript around before deciding to self-publish on the Amazon publishing platform.
“They have a pretty good process,” he said.
But before you get to that point you have to have an editor, he said, and he found one for his book using an online service that connected him with a professor of English at Southern Arkansas University.
Layout and design of the cover was completed with the help of a Wichita cover artist who Schmidt met during a panel on self-publishing.
The artist had some help, though, as Schmidt’s 12-year-old granddaughter mocked up the cover idea that the artist used to make the final cover.
“It’s her concept,” Schmidt said.
With the book ready, Schmidt is now working on getting the word out and hoping new or future educators can value his insights from 33 years of education.
He has already hosted book-signing events in Independence and Topeka and was featured in the Topeka Capital-Journal.
He is also pushing the book through social media and in areas where he taught, with a Hays event to be scheduled soon.
Schmidt said he is also contacting schools of education in Kansas, with the hope that future educators may read it and use his stories as they embark on their own careers.
While completing his bachelor’s degree in secondary education at the University of Kansas in 1972, Schmidt said he remembers a first-hand experience of a teacher and found it to be more helpful than any textbook and hopes his book may be as helpful to new educators.
Time at Thomas More Prep-Marian shapes life in education
Schmidt credits much of his success, and the success of many others to Thomas More Prep-Marian, 1701 Hall.
“I had some great teachers, both in grade school and at Thomas More, which was St. Joseph’s Military Academy at the time,” Schmidt said.
One teacher stuck out to Schmidt as having a particular impact on his life and career; freshman English teacher James Traffas.
“He opened my mind,” Schmidt said. “I was just a farm kid from western Kansas at he started us reading Great Expectations and we read the Bronte sisters books and all of that stuff which was completely foreign to the life I had.”
“It opened my eyes and mind to the world.”
His class sparked Schmidt’s interest in education, but in general, he credits TMP with creating many notable alumni.
He noted several school superintendents attended the school as did former Kansas Gov. Jeff Colyer, author and journalist John L. Allen Jr., and executive Washington editor for The Wall Street Journal Gerald Seib.
“They challenged us so much. They challenged us to reach our potential,” Schmidt said.
Those challenges in turned pushed Schmidt to drive his own students, several of which are now superintendents as well.
“I think there was an atmosphere of striving to be the best you possibly can and we a lot of kids that went on and did that,” Schmidt said. “For me, that came from my teachers in grade school and high school.”
The culture that shaped Schmidt at TMP stuck with him and over the years he dreamt of coming back to Hays to serve as the principal and president at TMP, but as he moved through his career and accepted other challenges and opportunities kept his dream never came to pass.
Students success reward enough for former educator and author
Without a doubt, Schmidt cares deeply for education and for his students, and the biggest reward he could seek is the knowledge that his teaching had a positive impact on someone’s life.
He recalled recently one of his students from the early 1970s saw the book announcement and texted him telling him he was one of his best teachers and thanked him for what he had done.
“That’s enough to take care of me for the next couple of years,” Schmidt said. “Sometimes you don’t even realize how you are helping them. That’s the reward.”
You are never going to get rich as an educator he said, but “the richness comes from the knowledge that you have helped people in their lives and helped them to be successful in some way.”
“When you hear those things, there is nothing better, nothing better than that.”
Technology is a tool to create better-educated students
When Schmidt began his career as a teacher in Topeka during the 1972 school year, technology in the classroom as we know it was in it infancy, but Schmidt embraced new tools and valued their ability to assist teachers in their classrooms.
Early in his career, he recalled sending letters around the world in order to collect stories to share with students about life around the globe first-hand.
Embracing the internet as a tool for learning, during his last year of teaching pulled up a live stream of people climbing Mount Everest.
“That could sear into their memory the height and the magnificence of the mountain,” he said.
The embracing of technology in the classroom has gone through ups and downs, Schmidt said, but he sees the value of integrating technology to enhance student learning.
“I think for a long time it became a fad, and then we finally figured out that technology is just a tool to help us think better, to help us find information and then we still have to use our brains to analyze it.”
“I think we have gotten more sophisticated now to use it when we need it to quickly find information.”
In particular, Schmidt said the value of technology in the classroom is the ability to prompt deeper discussions about a topic rather than spending time only on information gathering but warns technology can also be a detriment if not monitored.
“We have to be careful how we use it in schools, a lot of schools ban smartphones in the classroom and there is a good reason for that,” Schmidt said. “Kids will get on there and they will be texting and not paying attention, But there is also a lot of great use of those smartphones as well. If you can regulate and get those students to use them well, it’s a great tool.”
The information available to students with access to the internet is so vast Schmidt believes teachers now need to shift their lessons to demonstrate how to filter information, rather than how to collect it.
“I think kids are smarter than they ever were today because they are exposed to so much information, the key now is we have to teach them how to use that information, and what to do with it,” he said.
Good facilities facilitate good education
A significant part of the job of school administration is maintaining facilities, and with 20 years of administration experience, Schmidt has seen a wide range of buildings in various states of need, dedicating a chapter of the book to facilities and bond issues.
“It’s not the major thing and it’s not the only thing, but it is an important part of it,” Schmidt said. “Kids have to be comfortable, they need to take pride in their facilities. You lose something if you are teaching in an old dump.
“You still have to have the basic things in your facilities, and you have got to be modern and you have got to prepare kids for the world they will be coming into and if you are in building that you haven’t done anything to in 100 years you’re not going to be able to do that. Technology is one of the big things, technology is something that was not considered in very old buildings, and they need to be upgraded.”
Preparing for the bond issues, Schmidt said he learned a lot of valuable lessons, not just about facilities, but also about leadership.
“I did some things wrong on the first one,” he said. “The second one, I hold up as an example of the best democracy in action I have ever seen.”
During his second bond issue, it was presented three times, all three for around $20 million.
All three failed.
On the fourth one, a community group was brought together, and they came up with a 45 million bond issue.
“I was stunned,” Schmidt said. “‘I said ‘What the hell makes you think we can pass 45? We can’t even pass 19.’ ”
But the community push, succeeded with 58 percent voting yes.
“It was an amazing process,” Schmidt said.
He shared those lessons with Leadership Kansas on how to build a consensus.
Generally, Schmidt hopes people stop to learn about the facilities in the districts and they come to understand their importance.
“We had the people that said ‘It was good enough for me back then, it’s good enough for them today.’ Well, that’s short sighted,” he said.
He recalled during his bond issues others told him it’s not the building that makes the education, teachers do.
“All of those have some element of truth in them, but they are not the whole story,” he said.
Finding educators harder during far-right leadership in Kansas
He believes many of the difficulties finding high-quality teachers in Kansas lays squarely on the shoulders of Republican leadership in Kansas that frequently attacked education in the state.
Schmidt said it is getting harder and harder to find teachers.
“When Sam Brownback came in and the far right leadership of the legislature, they started attacking education, they started with attacking administrators, saying we get paid too much, and we don’t do enough and there is too many of us, then they even started attacking teachers.”
He said the trend has continued causing many to abandon their hopes of becoming teachers knowing they will get attacked and paid at a lower level than similarly educated professionals.
“That’s reflected right now in our low numbers in lower numbers in our schools of education,” Schmidt said.
But he believes the current Kansas governor is pro-education and has hopes the trend may start to reverse, but without higher pay, it will still be challenging to find teachers.
“We have got to raise that pay,” Schmidt said. “I think what we have got to do is continue to try and explain to people why it is important and why we need to fund it.”
Unlike many other professions, no matter what technology comes along Schmidt said the problem is education is a people-intensive business and leaders must recognize the value of good teachers in Kansas schools.
“We have got to have political leaders who talk about the value of education and recognize the outstanding teachers that are out there,” Schmidt said.
And he knows both sides of the pay issue — as a superintendent he often had to negotiate pay with teachers to make a budget, noting the teachers were not always happy, but he always did what he could.
“The bottom line is that it pays off if we have an educated population we do better as a state, everybody does better,” Schmidt said.
Kansas, he said, has always been a leader in education until that last decade, corresponding with the attacks on education, and that was an attraction for people to come to Kansas.
“All of that has come together and pulled us done where we are not in the top 10 anymore.”
Jessica Moffitt, a health educator, said she wants to give a voice to members of the community she does not believe are being heard.
She has filed for election to the Hays USD 489 school board.
Moffitt, 29, joins a field of eight other candidates for four open positions on the board, including incumbents Paul Adams and Luke Oborny and newcomers Craig Pallister, Lori Hertel, Tammy Wellbrock, Alex Herman, Allen Park and Cole Engel.
Moffitt also is the owner of Prospectively Healthy and is store manager for American Shaman in Hays.
“One of the transitions I have been making for my company is to do a little bit more online classes,” Moffitt said, “but with that being said, really I wanted to have an impact in the community for education, specifically with the younger population, which is my favorite group to work with in terms of age demographic.
“I thought it would be a good combination to combine my education background with expanding USD 489’s goals and accomplishments for the next four years.”
Moffitt outlined several goals if she was elected to the school board.
“I think some of the most heartfelt reasons that I was motivated to run for the board include advocating for the community. I think there are a lot of unspoken voices that really need to be heard. I would like to help those people do so. [I would like to] serve as a resource for the community to let them know that the board of education wants to know what they are doing and wants to hear their ideas,” she said.
“And then ultimately my goal over the next four years would be to find a solution for improving, for example, the heating systems in the schools with the bond, but a solution that still works for everyone in our community, as well.”
The Hays school district has had two failed bonds in the last three years — in 2016 and 2017.
Moffitt said she supported both of those past bonds.
“I know there needs to be a solution that is both feasible for everyone in our community on a financial basis, but also feasible for the school district,” she said. “And it is going to have to be a compromise on both sides. The only way to find that compromise is for both parties to really be able to objectively look at both sides of the story.
“That’s my goal — to help each side hear the other person and understand the other person’s point of view in hopes that we perhaps can find a compromise in between.”
The board keeps coming back to three projects for a next bond election attempt, although it has not taken a vote on the matter. These projects include finishing HVAC upgrades to the Hays High School, expanding the cafeteria at Hays Middle School and expanding and renovating Roosevelt Elementary School.
Moffitt said she was extremely alarmed about reports from friends and family that schools have gone without heat because of problems with HVAC systems. She said the cafeteria issue is also on her mind with her nutrition background.
The Hays school board reached impasse with its teachers last year during negotiations.
“With a fresh and open perspective on the school board, hopefully, we’ll find that solution as a team,” she said of teacher relations. “I don’t necessarily know there is one right or wrong answer, but I think, at this point, we are at a little bit of a stalemate with frustration, and hopefully that fresh view might find the solution they are looking for.”
In recent years, the board has been divided on the types of devices to purchase for its one-to-one computer program for students.
“I think any technological advancements in the school districts have to be supportive of keeping people in our community,” Moffitt said, “so if improving technology is what we need to do to keep our younger generation in Hays, then it is definitely a priority, but I do think nutrition, class size, teacher satisfaction and HVAC are significantly higher on the list at the moment.”
“My dream goal would be to create an environment where all four parties are 100 percent happy,” she said. “The children are in the best possible environment for learning. The teachers are feeling rewarded and appreciated for the amount of work they put in. The district is financially and goal supported and the community feels like it is making an impact without being burdened. If we can find that happy medium for all, that would be a good start.”
Moffitt lives in Hays with her husband. She is an active Hays Area Chamber of Commerce member and a committee chairwoman for Hays Area Young Professionals. She volunteers frequently in the community through HAYP.
She teaches health education classes through the Hays Recreation Center, Hays Public Library and other entities. She has a bachelor’s of science degree in public health from Portland State University with an emphasis in physical activity and exercise. She has a certification as a health education specialist.
“I feel I have a well-rounded knowledge of different groups in town and different ways we can all work together to help [the district] succeed,” she said. “While USD 489 is an extremely successful district with some absolutely amazing teachers, there is always 5 percent more that we can find. Rather than focusing on the negatives, I really want to help everyone focus on the positives and everyone pushing just a little bit more ultimately to be able to keep people in the community who prioritize education hopefully as much as I do.”
HaysMed, part of The University of Kansas Health System, will hold a career event on Tuesday.
The come-and-go event will be from 3 to 6 p.m. in the Hadley Rooms at HaysMed, 2220 Canterbury, Entrance C. Simultaneous events will be held at the MOB Conference, 3717 Sixth, Great Bend and the St. Joseph meeting room at the Pawnee Valley Campus, 923 Carroll Ave., Larned.
At all locations, representatives from nursing, support services, and clerical areas will be available to speak to job seekers and assist with the application process the day of the event.
Rep. Barb Wasinger, R-Hays, and Sen. Rick Billinger, R-Goodland, touted contributions to KPERS as they gave recaps Thursday night to the Hays City Commission on the spring legislative session.
“This year I think the big thing was that we started funding KPERS properly again,” Wasinger said. “We put $115 million in late payments in and also was able to overturn the governor’s veto on this year’s payment of $51 million.
Rep. Barb Wasinger, R-Hays, gives a legislative recap to the Hays City Commission Thursday night.
“We are really proud that we are taking care of our teachers, we are taking care of our state employees. We still have a long way to go, but we are working on that. It was good to avoid reamortization of KPERS, which would have cost the state another $7.5 million to extend it with interest. We thought that was poor fiscal policy.”
Billinger said on KPERS, “In eight years, I think we have come a long, long way. We are above 60%. I think we are at the upper part of 60%. I think totally over the last five years we have put $5.1 billion in KPERS. We have taken it seriously. Pass that on to your city employees. When they make their contribution, I feel the state needs to make theirs.”
Wasinger said the state legislators could not override a veto from the govern on legislation to allow taxpayers who did not itemize their federal tax returns to itemize their state tax returns. When the the federal government, increased the standard deduction, that meant some Kansans could no longer get tax breaks for items such as mortgage interest and medical payments.
Both Wasinger and Billinger said they were pleased to report less money was taken from the Kansas Department of Transportation budget than in years past, but money was still swept for the general fund.
“We are trying to stop that and we stopped some of that transfer and put money back in to try to finish the T-WORKS that were so vital to particularly rural areas,” Wasinger said.
About $60 million was not transferred this year, but $200 million was swept for the general fund, Billinger said.
Sen. Rick Billinger, R-Goodland, gives a legislative recap to the Hays City Commission Thursday night.
Billinger was on the state Transportation Task Force. He said he hoped he could help the city in addressing the bypass and Northwest Business Corridor.
“I was very impressed with the businesses going in out there and the opportunities, and I think it would be a great asset to Ellis County and the City of Hays to get that in. I want to push to make sure the state is involved in this and help all we can financially and any other way,” Billinger said of the Northwest Business Corridor.
Billinger also said he was pleased to hear the city is making progress on the R9 Ranch water project.
The budget also targeted about $35 million additional funds for the Department of Corrections to try deal with issues at the state’s prisons. Billinger briefly addressed the state’s challenge of treating patients in the state prison system with Hepatitis C. The state allocated $1.5 million for the coming year for treatment, but that will only cover about 100 of the estimated 700 to 800 patients in the system.
The Legislature also designated more funding for the Department of Children and Families. However, children are again sleeping on office floors. Wasinger said she thinks more needs to be done to loosen restrictions on potential foster parents and their homes so more children can be placed in the community.
“Our children are our future,” she said. “If we let our children down, we won’t have a good future in Kansas. We won’t have as wonderful as leader as we have now with all of you.”
City Commissioner Sandy Jacobs said she was appreciative of the attention DCF is getting, but the situation for kids in state custody is still dire.
“That is what I think about at night,” she said. “I know people who are applying to be foster parents right now, but they are having a very difficult time meeting some of the standards. I don’t think it should have no standards, but I think it should be looked at very carefully. When you have good, solid families, I think we should look at what is stopping that, because there are some really good families who are struggling to be appointed.”
Mayor Henry Schwaller said, “They started making the program much more difficult for people who just really love children and are capable and have been through the training and have a good home to get into it because they had to meet all of these other kind of whacky requirements that had nothing to do with it.”
About 7,000 children are currently in foster care system.
Billinger also noted the Legislature will have an interim committee on Medicaid expansion.
“I personally think if we are going to help rural hospitals, which is one of the things you hear about, I think an enhanced reimbursement for rural hospitals is something we should talk about,” Billinger said. “I think there should be a work requirement because we are not talking about a single mom or people who are disabled. We are talking about people who can work.”
Other business
The commission voted to make changes to its purchasing policy. Revisions include adjustment of purchasing limits, removal of references to a purchasing agent, addition of contractual provision language, the addition of a service calls section, and codification of the current process to purchase vehicles and large pieces of equipment from government contracts.
The city is testing new rock for the alleys. City Manager Toby Dougherty said the crushed concrete and limestone the city now uses is not lasting very long. If the new rock works well, the city may invest in expanding the program.
He also said work on the roadway for 41st Street will start soon. Work on 43rd Street should be finished by the end of the month. Water line and road work also continues on sections of Ash, Elm and Fourth streets.
Sometimes I wonder how long we will be talking about fixing the problems that Sam Brownback left Kansas. Our latest Brownback heartburn is prisons. The news that Kansas officials are considering sending inmates to a private prison in Arizona has generated understandable controversy.
Patrick R. Miller is an Assistant Professor of Political Science at the University of Kansas.
Bluntly, the Brownback Administration gutted the Kansas prison system, the legislature often enabled him, and Kansas now faces a desperate situation with no easy or cheap solution.
The Kansas press has well documented the problems in Kansas prisons: hundreds of vacant positions for corrections officers, mandatory overtime for overwhelmed and underappreciated employees, overcrowding, conditions that jeopardize prisoner health, and prison riots.
Since assuming office, Governor Laura Kelly has repeatedly used the term “triage” to describe her approach to the Brownback policy legacy. That decently describes using private prisons as an imperfect short-term option to address a gigantic mess that cannot be fixed overnight.
Part of what makes the private prison option unappealing is the company that it forces Kansas to keep—CoreCivic, formerly Corrections Corporation of America (CCA).
Locally, CoreCivic has been accused of violating wiretap laws at the Leavenworth Detention Center, and has been a central player in the Lansing prison controversy. Its facilities elsewhere have attracted media attention for inmate abuse, understaffing, and poor management. Yet, there are few options for desperate states like Kansas with overcrowded prisons since media reports estimate that CoreCivic and its competitor GEO Group hold roughly 80 percent of the national private prison market.
CoreCivic is also no stranger to Kansas politics. It and GEO Group are generous campaign donors. In 2018, CoreCivic hedged its bets, donating $2,000 to Kris Kobach and $1,000 to Kelly, even though she had publicly criticized the company. Other Kansas politicians accepting private prison campaign money include Jerry Moran, Pat Roberts, Kevin Yoder, Vicki Schmidt, Derek Schmidt, Kathleen Sebelius, and various state legislators.
But the private prison industry’s favorite Kansas politician has been Brownback, who left Kansas a prison crisis as a parting gift. He accepted campaign money from Prison Health Services, Inc., whose post-merger successor Corizon holds a state contract for health care in Kansas prisons and retains Brownback’s former chief-of-staff as its lobbyist. Kansas officials have penalized Corizon for performance failures.
The Kansas Governmental Ethics Commission reports that Brownback’s gubernatorial account took $4,000 from CCA and $7,000 from its CEO. This close relationship made even one Republican legislator publicly imply impropriety in rewarding the company the Lansing prison contract given the revolving door of Brownback staffers subsequently hired as lobbyists by the company up to present day.
The ironic twist here is how Kansas legislative leaders have now decided to insert themselves into prison policy, clutching their proverbial pearls at how the Kelly Administration is handling matters. Many of these same leaders took a mostly hands-off approach to legislative oversight under their ally Brownback, never effectively checking how his administration managed the prison system while defending the Brownback tax policies that starved that system.
Fortunately, some progress was made this year on increasing corrections funding. But the system’s problems remain, and Kansas cannot solve these problems long-term with band-aids like outsourcing prisoners to private prison companies whose political and business practices fuel every worst fear about that industry.
Long-term progress on prisons requires genuine bipartisan commitment from policymakers, something that was lacking under Brownback. It requires a legislature that truly care about the problem, and not a legislature that suddenly cares just because a Democrat is governor. It took years to torch this system, and it will take years and more unattractive short-term remedies to fix it.
Patrick R. Miller is an Assistant Professor of Political Science at the University of Kansas.
Today
By JAMES BELL
