Schools

by Christina Taylor (CHAPMAN, Kan.) A tornado may have destroyed their schools, but Chapman students will go back to classes on time. Chapman school officials met Thursday to figure out how to make that happen. Last month's EF3 tornado demolished two of the three schools in town. Now, the district plans to use 24 mobile units to replace damaged or destroyed classrooms. The superintendent says everyone should be ready for school on August 18th. The district is fully staffed for the upcoming school year.

Storms have forced some schools to close today.  Campus High School and Ruth Clark Elementary are cancelled (both in Haysville) because the power is out. Winfield school district, USD 465, is also closed Thursday because power is out in some of the classrooms. Also, Classes are cancelled at the Small Wonders Daycare on Thursday. The daycare is located in the Midway Baptist Church at 5135 S Broadway. Director Linda Hathaway says the storm tore off about 80 feet of the building's roof.

How strict should a school be when a student cheats?  A California family is suing after their son was caught cheating on homework.  The sophomore was kicked out of an honors English class for copying another student's work.  His father says the punishment doesn't fit the crime, and could jeopardize the boy's college plans. Read more about the case here and let me know what you think.  

The superintendent of USD 358 says schools in Oxford are closed today. That's because the bulidings had no power and no heat. The good news is, power was restored just a few hours later.   No word yet on a cause for the outage.

By Cliff Judy (VALLEY CENTER, Kan.) As the state delays its full payment to schools for the sixth straight month, most schools have been able to weather the delayed payments. The question on several minds now is how much money will schools get next year and how creative will school boards have to be? The Valley Center School District hasn't missed any staff payrolls because of the late payments and can pay its bills on time. Still, school board members know setting next year's budget will be tough.

In an effort to save money, Wichita superintendent John Allison recommends changing start times at nine schools to fall "on the hour. " The move, he says, would save an estimated $450,000 by reducing the number of busses. It's what the district is calling "Phase 1 Budget Reduction. "  It faces a $30 million budget shortfall. "It puts us $29.5 million short of where we need to be," says Allison. The following schools would be moved to a 7:00 a.m. start time (6:50 a.m. bus time)

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) - A group representing 72 Kansas school districts says it will sue state officials over education funding issues later this year. Schools for Fair Funding sent notice to the Legislature on Thursday saying it will file suit in October in Shawnee County District Court. The decision isn't a surprise. The member districts had voted in February to go ahead with a lawsuit after the Kansas Supreme Court refused to reopen a previous school finance case. Schools for Fair Funding lawyer John Robb said members waited for legislators to end their 2010 session before sending the notice.

A recent report reveals that there are hundreds of of empty schools all over the U.S., including some right here in Kansas. The Pew Charitable Trusts shows more than 300 schools were on the market, for sale last year. That's including some right here in Kansas. In Wichita, an elementary school was auctioned to the highest bidder Friday morning for $56,000. In Clearwater, an elementary school sits vacant after closing 3 years ago. Clearwater school district officials say they closed the building because of budget issues and moved all activities to a newer location on the West side.  Longtime residents in the neighborhood say they were sorry to see it shuttered.

The Kinsley-Offerle school district will move forward with improvements after voters in Edwards County approve a bond issue. The $5.9 million dollar project includes a new gym, more parking and more classrooms at Kinsley High School and Kinsley Middle School. The new gym will also be a community storm shelter. District officials say the improvements are necessary. "We really haven't had a lot of new things come in, and if you look at our neighbors from the south and east of us, they have all approved bond issues or had a new school built," said superintendent Bob Davies.

With clipboard in hand, Kimberly Lowmiller trolled garage sales in a west Wichita neighborhood Friday. She wasn't looking for bargains.  She was looking for signatures. "My friend, Daniel.  I don't know if you heard about him on the news," she said to a stranger. Lowmiller asked Wichitans to sign a petition to keep her friend Daniel Nagel employed as a teacher.  Nagel was suspended earlier this week after another employee at White Elementary saw him with a gun.   "We all have brain farts, you know and do silly things," Lowmiller said.  "I think his heart was in the right place.

It's the last day of school for students in the Maize District.   In addition to the usual fun and class parties, students made time for a final life lesson. One by one students in Christine Newman's class walked up to a jar and deposited coins and dollar bills to help victims of the Moore, Oklahoma tornado. Maize Central 5th grader Dakota Schell recognized it could have easily been her school hit by a massive tornado. "If it was us, we would all want somebody to be there for us. So it's nice to give back to them," she said.

A Wichita elementary school teacher is on paid suspension after being arrested for bringing a gun to school. Daniel Nagel, 31, was arrested Monday after another employee at White Elementary called 911 and reported seeing a teacher had a gun. A family member tells Eyewitness News Nagel brought the gun to protect the students and never intended to do any harm. The family member says Nagel does have a concealed carry permit.  However, Wichita Police say it wouldn't make any difference because schools are a gun free zone.

The tornado in Moore, Oklahoma has many parents in Wichita worried about their child's safety at school. Wichita is actually the first district in the nation to build safe rooms inside of schools. The project started at Jefferson elementary in 2000, after it was hit by a tornado. Today, all but 18 schools in Wichita have a safe room. The rest will be built soon. Each safe room is surrounded by steel doors, and steel covers on the windows. Both can be locked to keep kids safe inside during a weather event.

The lock down at Gardner Elementary has been lifted.  But police continue to search for two men that could be armed. 911 dispatchers tell us police were dispatched to 1600 block of South Hydraulic shortly after 11 a.m. for a disturbance with a weapon call. When police found a vehicle related to the call, five men inside jumped out and ran. Police have three men in custody but two are outstanding.  That prompted the elementary school to go on lock down for a short time.

If you have child in the Sedgwick County Special Education Co-op, changes may be coming. One father just learned his child is being moved to another school district next year. Now he's concerned for other parents in the same situation. "The biggest thing is to keep some consistency, especially for special needs children, they thrive on routine," said parent Michael Harris. Harris meets his twins everyday after they get out of school, but he fears that will change next year.

Monday night the Wichita School Board said yes to a multi-million dollar upgrade to the district's surveillance system, plus other security upgrades. The current system is nine years old. “Just think of your cell phone from nine years ago,” says Superintendent John Allison. The new system will allow the district to view live and recorded video from a central location. It will also upgrade the current analog system with better cameras. Currently, if district officials have to view video, they have to physically go to the location to see it. The new system will allow them to view it remotely.

Wichita School Board president Lynn Rogers voiced his opinion on the future of Southeast High School Monday night. “My concern is we don't have the money to run both schools.  We only have the money to build them unless there's a cost cut elsewhere,” says Rogers. In Monday's meeting Rogers said he wanted to remove the option before taking the issue to the community. There are three options being considered now: Option A - Current Southeast bond improvement only (remodel current Southeast)

Canton had it's first Canton High School Rodeo in more than 15 years this weekend. More than 200 participants from all over the state of Kansas flocked to the high school and junior high rodeo. "The competition is pretty tough," said Timber Allen Brand, national junior breakaway champion. "You have to work at it all week long. " The central location was a major draw to the KHSRA. "Travel expenses are a big, big thing in rodeo," said Shawn Hollenbeck, national director.