Frankfort Kansas And Public School Textbook Rentals

While your faithful blogger is digging up posts from the past, concerning public schools, here is another oldie but goodie. This one is about textbook rentals.

Textbook Rentals. That's what someone from the superintendent's office at Vermillion, USD 380, in Kansas told yours truly about the unlawful tuition that Dean Dalinghaus, the principal of Frankfort School, in Frankfort, Kansas, charges the parents of the unlucky children who attend his institution. According to federal law, there is no such thing as a "textbook rental" in a public school for a required course. If a student loses or destroys a textbook, it is, of course, another matter; but Frankfort has no legal business charging any parent 50.00 for its moth eaten, outdated, information-challenged tomes that are seldom even read by students.

Prior to paying for a "textbook rental", each parent should inspect the property for which the unlawful tuition is purported to pay. Is the textbook torn up or missing pages? Was it published in 1953? Was it written and compiled by authors whose contributions to the subject matter have been superseded by better authorities? If so, the school should not charge, in the name of state and federal government, for the use of the published material.

The savvy parent should also call the publishing company used by the school and inquire about the actual prices paid by the school for these textbooks. Have the books already been paid off, many times over, by parents who have paid "textbook rentals"? If so, it is very inappropriate and legally questionable, even in cases wherein such a fee is legal, to force a parent to pay for such a thing. How much would the publishing company charge a parent for a new or used textbook? Shouldn't the parent have this information, up front, before paying rental fees? One would not rent a car, or a home, without knowing the actual cost of purchase, so why not find out how much a used book would cost?

USD 380 and Dean Dalinghaus should stop charging tuition for public school. If Dalinghaus wishes to charge parents more money than the actual value of his product, he should attempt to pimp his product in the private market for childhood education, and find out, there, the actual value of his services and textbooks.

Another Word About Public School Enrollment Fees

Textbook Rentals. That's what someone from the superintendent's office at Vermillion, USD 380, in Kansas told yours truly about the unlawful tuition that Dean Dalinghaus, the principal of Frankfort School, in Frankfort, Kansas, charges the parents of the unlucky children who attend his institution. According to federal law, there is no such thing as a "textbook rental" in a public school for a required course. If a student loses or destroys a textbook, it is, of course, another matter; but Frankfort has no legal business charging any parent 50.00 for its moth eaten, outdated, information-challenged tomes that are seldom even read by students.

Prior to paying for a "textbook rental", each parent should inspect the property for which the unlawful tuition is purported to pay. Is the textbook torn up or missing pages? Was it published in 1953? Was it written and compiled by authors whose contributions to the subject matter have been superseded by better authorities? If so, the school should not charge, in the name of state and federal government, for the use of the published material.

The savvy parent should also call the publishing company used by the school and inquire about the actual prices paid by the school for these textbooks. Have the books already been paid off, many times over, by parents who have paid "textbook rentals"? If so, it is very inappropriate and legally questionable, even in cases wherein such a fee is legal, to force a parent to pay for such a thing. How much would the publishing company charge a parent for a new or used textbook? Shouldn't the parent have this information, up front, before paying rental fees? One would not rent a car, or a home, without knowing the actual cost of purchase, so why not find out how much a used book would cost?

USD 380 and Dean Dalinghaus should stop charging tuition for public school. If Dalinghaus wishes to charge parents more money than the actual value of his product, he should attempt to pimp his product in the private market for childhood education, and find out, there, the actual value of his services and textbooks.

A Kansas School And Guns

 

Above is a picture of a toy similar to the toy over which Dean Dalinghaus, principal of Frankfort High School in Frankfort, Kansas, once attempted to expel an autistic fourth grader. We suspect that Dalinghaus simply has it in for children with disabilities. 

Below is a gun, similar to the one an adult senior at the same school took to school one day. That student is not autistic. He did not get expelled, and was allowed back inside the building. He was even allowed to graduate, seven weeks later, with his class. 

 

First Day Of School In Frankfort, Kansas

 

It's that time of year again in Frankfort, Kansas, and this story will appear once again on this site, because the school here in Frankfort has not seen fit to come into compliance with safety standards observed by schools in other parts of Kansas, and has not come into compliance with federal law concerning the presence of weapons on school property, bullying, or student safety. The only change made is that credit shall be granted where it is due: the name of the errant and uncorrected guidance counselor who has been granted carte blanche to endanger children is Tom Schroeder.

Anyone who's listening, I will tell you a story. It's a true story, and it happened in October of 2009. Thankfully, it had a happy ending.

My oldest daughter used to be quite the avid cross country buff when she was thirteen years old. She was good at it, too. But one day, while she was at practice, and I was at home, just assuming that all was well, her coach drove past my house, stopping to talk to my eight year old son. Mr. Coach wanted to know if Mr. Eight Year Old had seen his older sister. Mr. Eight Year Old had not. No one had seen my daughter in over two hours. She was lost. Why was she lost? Because her coach had dropped her off by the side of a highway, four miles south of the town we live in, by herself, and just left her. It was part of cross country practice. No supervision. If she had been stung by a bee, had tripped and hurt herself, or had some other medical emergency, no one would have been there to help her. (at this juncture, you should know that I offered to volunteer to help with cross country, but since I do not attend a Christian church, my offer was rejected. The school staff thought it better to take chances with a child's safety in the way I just described) When my daughter realized that she did not know her way back, she started to wander on a side road, hoping it would bring her to a house, or another person. This area has a lot of commercial farms, and there were no houses or places my daughter could go to for help.

Back to my eight year old son.......Twenty minutes went by. While he did not realize the signifigance of his conversation with Mr. Cross County Coach, (also Mr. Guidance Counselor) he did realize that no one knew where his sister was, and it was getting later and later, and no one was looking for her. So he told me about it. I looked all over town, called all her friends, searched the school (why was the school left unlocked after everyone had gone home?) and finally started home to call the police, when a couple of senior boys drove up with my crying daughter in their car. It was still within a few minutes of when I found out she was missing, but this cross country coach had known all afternoon, and had not called the police, or spoken to me. Why? I guess whatever he cared about, it WASN'T my daughter. Well.........I actually DO care about my daughter. Nowhere else have I met a teacher that did NOT care, at least a little, about the children he teaches, but I think that is what the problem is with Mr. Cross Country Coach/ Guidance Counselor.

Suppose it was not young men from her school who found her, but a dangerous person? I have been told time and time again by the people who live in this small Kansas town that "those things don't happen here", and "there ARE no dangerous people here", but there was a sex offender whose address was within half a mile of where my daughter was abandoned. The police were quick to point that out, but the principal only argued his harmlessness as a sex offender with them and the school board is not worried about the incident.

My children no longer participate in cross country at their school. It isn't safe.

Kansas Public Schools Charge Tuition

Some of the public schools in Kansas have taken to the unlawful practice of charging "enrollment fees". This is against federal law, and every time a case concerning enrollment fees has gone to court, brought by either the school or parents, the parents have won because the practice of charging for public education is unlawful. The American Civil Liberties Union has gotten involved in a few cases involving this issue, as well.

It appears that the (ahem) school, and I use the word "school" very loosely here, in Frankfort, Kansas is up to their usual unlawful stunts again in regard to extorting money from parents. The "tuition" charged this year for each student is $50.00. This does not include activity fees. There is no information revealing the purpose of the fee, or what is actually covered by it. Frankfort does, after all, garner state and federal dollars, in order to pay staff to yak on their cell phones most of the day, or surf the internet. Why is it all-encompassing to charge money that is legally not allowed to be charged?

In the past, when yours truly sent children to school in Frankfort, she refused to pay the "enrollment fees", stating emphatically that her "fees" were already covered by the mill levy and property taxes she pays each year. This would naturally bring on threats from the principal, promising everything from refusal to admit students to crying to a collection agency. The principal discovered that he cannot refuse to enroll any student in his district, regardless of fees; and that legitimate collection agencies are loth to intervene in matters wherein the so-called obligor owes nothing.

Jesus Lives In A Trailer

Lessons in Christianity offered in a trailer that is parked on school property, but not part of the school. Not sanctioned, manned by trusted, trustworthy personnel, and not even insured....yep. Sounds like fundamentalist Christians are at it again.

Luckily, this Michigan trailer was forced elsewhere, and the trailer trash told to take Jesus and the bible with them. Religious training and the resulting peer pressure in public school is a violation of federal law, and the Michigan Association of Civil Rights Activists took up the fight against the public school to remove the eyesore and the bibles from school property. Something that didn't happen, but probably should have happened, involves confiscation of any computers in the trailer. Since the bible thumpers were clearly committing a federal crime, perhaps the FBI should have obtained a warrant to take possession of any computers inside the trailer. There may have been another reason, entirely, for these christians to push their religion at school. A trailer, on school property, but not a part of the school in any way....sounds like an opportunity for christian kiddie porn creation.

The school in question wants to keep this illegal operation.

On Boys Who Don't Really Go To Heaven

Alex Malarkey, (what a name for a kid who recants best-selling biographical literature!) has recanted the story line of his best seller, The Boy Who Came Back From Heaven, stating that he made the whole story up, and that he did it to gain attention. Unfortunately, his father seems to own his intellectual rights to his story, be it fantasy or not, and his rights to make changes to it have been horribly impeded. The publisher decided to take the book out of print and remove it from retailers' shelves, anyway. Another junior fantasy writer, Colton Burpo, (one more interesting surname for a kid who's been discouraged from critical thinking) was recently promoted in Marysville, Kansas, and captured the interest of many fans who care about delusional interpretations of christian dogma, but apparently do not care about exploitation of children. Burpo has yet to recant, but when he does, are the christian morons who bought his book and his story going to settle down and shut the hell up? A quote from the article in the Marysville Advocate (no offence, Sarah Kessinger, you are not at fault for the subject matter) states:

Alice Jones, Frankfort, thought the presentation was “absolutely wonderful. They did a good job of explaining their situation and how it changed their lives,” she said. “They gave God the praise for it. I thought they were very sincere in their story,” she said. “They are just common people, like you and I, and they put that across really well. It makes me excited that they have decided to glorify God by their appearances in various places.”

Alice Jones, of Frankfort, is the library director who determined, when a child participating in a school sponsored program in the library showed up under the influence of alcohol and drugs, that "Jesus" had spoken with her, in her head, telling her that she should not contact school administration and law enforcement, as required by state and federal law, and report the underage drinking and use of illicit drugs by the child. She actually had the gall to explain the alleged words of Jesus to the parent of another child, who also participated in the school sponsored program at the library. The parent of the other child was not only angered at her child's first exposure to underage drinking and illegal drugs, but was rather offended at the idea that someone's deity would determine that it's permissible to violate the law and harm children who are not criminals or drunks, because Jesus had "authorized" it! Does this sound like a religion that anyone should actually practice? Or does it sound like fraud and delusion? If Jesus really thinks that it is okay to violate the law in order to protect a child involved in crime to the endangerment of other children, perhaps federal authorities should partner with local police departments to investigate christian churches more often.

Malarkey and Burpo are examples of children who suffer from mass hysteria, and Alice Jones typifies an adult suffering from similar delusions. Unfortunately, both children have been exploited by others and have had the rights to their intellectual property pracatically raped. Alice Jones is an example of an adult who suffers from a cultural, or mass delusion. The fact that she was breaking the law by allowing minors to drink and abuse drugs at the public library was unimportant to her, as was the well being of all witnesses. Alex Malarkey has already apologized for his part in the corruption of his story. The family whose child was exposed to crime and addiction at the direction of Jesus and the delusion of Alice Jones is still waiting for an apology.

* Your faithful medium had difficulty finding representations of "heaven" or "jesus" that featured races other than Caucasian. Coincidence? 

Kansas Lawsuit Against School Board Dismissed

Citizens For Objective Public Education, in Peck, Kansas, determined last year that public schools in Kansas were teaching our children too much evolution and not enough creationism. So naturally, they went to court. Their damage, for which they demanded compensation, was that all of Kansas public school children had been encouraged to become atheists. Where the hell is the eye-rolley when I need it?

Yesterday, the Kansas Supreme Court dismissed the lawsuit. Judge Crabtree, apparently, was unable to see a large number of  young atheists running amok in the state of Kansas, and was also unable to connect any rampant atheism to science classes in public schools. Also there's that pesky constitutional right to freedom of religion or lack of religion, and to separation of church and state. Not to mention Abington v. Schempp, 1963 which disallows any bible thumping of any kind in public schools nationwide and the show of religious preference that accompanies bible thumping. Judge Crabtree was quite insistent upon proof that there had actually been any damages caused by the rare occurrence of Federal Law being properly followed in Kansas public schools, and the good Christians of Peck were unable to prove that a little book learning had damaged their children in any way, so the lawsuit went bye-bye. He noted, as well, that since schools in Kansas are not consolidated, and there is no actual approved and adhered to curriculum in Kansas, but small, generally unqualified school boards deciding curriculum in public schools, such a lawsuit would be a waste of time, anyways.

This is why Frankfort, in USD 380, continues to teach about the Jewish culture by showing the movie, The Ten Commandments, to sixth graders and pronouncing them "informed" about Judaism after the children fail to identify the Jewish holiday about which the movie was made! Once again....eye rolley, here. Using Hollywood and the entertainment industry to define and stereotype a culture is, unfortunately, as predictable in Kansas as using a poorly translated collection of biblical hocus pocus to teach science.