No Bond For USD 380 Vermillion

USD 380 Vermillion, which includes two public schools in Northeast Kansas, Frankfort and Centralia, attempted to get voters to vote for a 8.5 million dollar bond for them, this past Monday, August 1. Overwhelmingly, the people voted no; 698 to 263. That included about three fourths of registered voters in both towns. The school board is disappointed and the superintendent thinks that folks do not care about the schools, according to the Marysville Advocate. This is a little unfair; if the school board actually listened to constituents and analyzed data, perhaps such gross comments would not make their way into the newspaper.

The reasons given by the school board for desiring 8.5 million dollars were updates to the buildings, and a new gym at the Centralia locaction. USD 380 straddles three counties, Marshall, Nemaha, and Pottawatomie. Centralia is in Nemaha County. Should those who live in the other two counties see their mill levies and their property taxes increase for a gymnasium that their children will never get to use? Why is a school district with declining enrollment straddling three different counties in the first place?

The other reason given for such a large amount involved security measures. Frankfort and Centralia want keypad locks on their doors, rather than the traditional locks and keys. Not only is this an expensive initial option for a tiny school, it requires upkeep that the school district would not be able to fund, even with the bond. Every time a building with such a lock changes its schedule and itinerary, a technician must visit the building to change the pass-code information. This is at least two hundred dollars per visit, and both schools host sporting events and parent teacher conferences, which would necessitate many visits from a technician. In the case of USD 380, old fashioned locks and keys will still work as desired, if the building is actually locked when not occupied. Another item desired is a metal detector. The problem had by USD 380 concerning guns is mostly in Frankfort, and that involves a failure on the part of school administration to sanction those who bully and bring weapons into the building. If the proper reports are made to the FBI each time a child takes a weapon, drugs, or alcohol to school, even if it is the child or grandchild of someone who donates a lot of money via the booster club; and the child in question is sanctioned according to federal law, these problems will abate. Frankfort has not attempted to follow the law, and expects a metal detector to cover up that problem. Finally, both schools want cameras at all entrances, which is reasonable. Cameras for two tiny schools will not cost 8.5 million dollars. A word of caution, however; Frankfort has consistently rejected the use of a sign-in sheet in the office for adult visitors to the school. The staff does not wish to monitor those who enter and exit the building. A camera will do no more good than an unused sign-in sheet if the principal is truly unconcerned about what goes on inside the school. Also, as long as teachers are not held accountable when they "lose" students off of school property during the school day, key pads, metal detectors, and cameras will not accomplish anything. Tom Schroeder and Dean Dalinghaus, I'm looking at you, here!

The populations of Frankfort and USD 380 have been on the decline since 1910. At present, the population of Centralia is about 500 people and the population of Frankfort is about 690. That is fewer people, altogether, than attended your faithful blogger's alma mater at the time of her graduation. Why should taxpayers fund an 8.5 million dollar bond for schools that will probably shut down and consolidate with other, more viable schools, within the next ten years? The bond would take twenty-five years to pay off.

Who Really Protects Children?

This past Tuesday, an Ohio headstart teacher got fired for dragging a small child through a hallway by the arm. The picture below was snapped by another teacher. Neither the teacher or student have been identified in the news.

This teacher did not work for any of the school boards in Ohio, but a private company called Alta Care Group, that "partners" with Ohio schools and provides teachers. Since Alta Care Group does not answer to the government or directly to the parents, it is possible for Alta Care Group to maintain different hiring standards, or no standards at all, for the important task of hiring teachers. Why would public schools in Ohio want to do this? Are they saving money, somehow, by using a middleman to provide their teachers?

It is abundantly clear that Alta Care Group is not concerned with the safety of children. Despite the fact that this teacher was terminated, the taxpayers are left with too many unanswered questions, such as the teacher's name. The people of Ohio are entitled to this information, and entitled to know why this aspect of teaching has been handled by a private company. Also, any time a private company supplies a teacher for children, the parents have a right to know the qualifications and the procedures used when a teacher fails to perform. When these questions are not answered adequately by the government, and freedom of information act request usually solves the problem, but what if the problem is encountered with a private company that does not follow the law?

The Satanic Temple has a short term solution. If you sign up for emails and newsletters from The Satanic Temple, you can register your information with the Temple's Protect Children Project, and your local school board will receive an email, informing the school that you do not wish to be abused, and reminding school administration of your first amendment rights.

Another Kansas Teacher With Criminal History

Surprise, surprise. No, not really; should anyone be surprised to hear that another Kansas public school employee, a building administrator, this time, has resigned because his criminal history came to light? Mike Burgan, USD 350, in St. Johns, Kansas, was found to have a criminal record for indecent solicitation of a child in 1988. Oddly enough, he was employed by the school district in 1985, which places his offense three years into his illustrious career. Since 1988, Mr. Burgan has lied to the Kansas Department of Education numerous times about his criminal past. In a community that only has about one thousand people, it seems almost impossible that no one heard about a conviction for something as serious as sex crimes against a minor, even in 1988.

A retired teacher from the same community still appears to defend Mr. Burgan. Either the retired teacher has failed to grasp reality, or the retired teacher has other reasons for denying the truth. Either scenario should truly scare any parent who loves his children.

Thank You For Helping With The Trees

One of my Northeast Kansas neighbors wrote something rather special to me today, and here it is!

Sensing that this is not really about being thanked for hauling off trees, and I believe the person was actually thanked, I decided to write a response to the comment and include the post it followed, which is actually about Governor Sam Brownback and his contribution to education in Kansas. Had I known the names of all my neighbors, as I generally have in other places I have lived, my daughter and I would have baked some bread or cupcakes for the helpful soul who took the branches away and written a note. Seriously. I would have loved to do that, I just don't know many of my neighbors, at this point. Most of them are not terribly friendly, and when some of them favor such actions as following me home from the store to let me know they will burn my house down if I don't move away, going out of my way to meet more of them is a challenge. I know that does not represent every one of them, but experiences like that tend to stand out. It also illustrates more reasons to bring the "unified school districts" under state and federal control, rather than allowing local control by people who really just want to curse and threaten murder.

Here's what I told this person, in return:

So nice of you to respond in language that was, no doubt, taught and encouraged by USD 380! Jesus and your mother must be very proud!

I was not present when the tree was removed; if it was you, thank you. Seriously. That's still not a reason to write to me, using profanity. I don't think I know anyone like you, anywhere else but here. No one has ever thanked me for potty training an eight year old who had not been taught to use the bathroom by her frankfurter momma, or for teaching two six year olds how to talk; when I married their dad, their frankfurter mom had not taught them a darned thing. Within six months, they were proficient with the language, at a fifth grade level. My "lazy ass" may have cardiac problems brought on by thallesemia, (look it up; my hemoglobin was around 6 when it was diagnosed) but I bothered to teach my children and stepchildren how to use the language in this country. No small task in an isolated community where children are deliberately under socialized. All anyone ever wants to say to me, or to my husband about the fact that his children now achieve, rather than fail, are nasty things. Once again, people like you do not exist elsewhere on the planet, and that's a good thing.

I am so glad you know how to count. Yes, USD 380 does, indeed, have one school board. But learn to analyze numbers more efficiently, please. Marshall County has about 10,000 people within it's borders, and it really only needs one school board. It could probably use three or four small elementary schools, and either two middle schools or one junior high, depending on how the state would decide to manage the system, and one high school. That's all we need. We could offer all the students a better curriculum and better education, and we would save a lot of money. The state could see to it that no one who is unqualified even ran for a position on the school board, and we would all be following the same laws as the rest of the state and the nation. Pretty soon, Marshall County children might even be able to compete, academically, with children from other countries! None of you can now. You know why? Almost all of you, except the "illegals" you keep crying about, are MONOLINGUAL!

To bring geography, as well as mathematics, into this, allow me to also point out that USD 380 has one inefficient institution in Marshall County, and one inefficient institution in Nemaha County. It's much better for the students if all the schools within a school district are in the same county, following the same laws. That way, fewer of your children get away with taking guns and drugs to school.

Once again, if you were the one who helped with the tree, thank you. I do appreciate it. I don't know who people are yet, because no one has reached out to me in gestures of friendship yet, since I moved here in 2007, and when everyone looks so similar to everyone else (I mean that in the nicest way possible; I am used to more diversity) and no one even extends his or her hand in a handshake and says, "Glad to meet you, my name is______", it is hard to track down who is involved in what, in order to say thank you. Believe me, that has bothered me a lot. But there's no need to cuss anyone out over it.  

What Are They Teaching In Kansas Schools?

A couple of years ago, I confronted Dean Dalinghaus, principal of Frankfort School, in Frankfort Kansas, about his practice of allowing anyone at all, friend or foe, or unknown person, for that matter; to enter the school and wander the hallways and classrooms at will, no questions asked. Most schools do not allow this for obvious reasons, connected to safety of students and faculty. Dalinghaus rudely asked me if I wanted him to install a metal detector, like "inner city" schools.

Funny, Deanie-Boy should mention metal detectors. While metal detectors will not help him as much as a simple sign-in list with his strangers and the boogyman entering the building at will, a metal detector can be very useful when strangers, teachers, the boogyman, or students, particularly those already on probation, bring guns to school. A couple of months ago, the secretary in the superintendent's office at USD 380, Frankfort's district, telephoned the county prosecutor in hopes of having your faithful blogger arrested (!!!!) for complaining about the inordinate number of children with criminal records in Frankfort High School and requesting that USD 380 do more to protect the children who are not interested in crime. How is that for pressure and fear-mongering when someone steps forward with the truth? Mrs. Secretary was disappointed when she was told that it is not a crime to complain about crime in public schools. (where's the eye-rolley when I need it?)

As it turns out, the question was well placed. Not only is Frankfort High School a place where children feel free to drink underage and use recreational drugs, Frankfort High School is also a place where children feel quite free to express infantile rage (possibly escalated by inept and unqualified staff?) to the point of police presence in the school itself, and.....resulting in an arrest of yet another child, boosting the percentage of Frankfort students with resumes at the courthouse. I refer to an incident that happened about a month ago, involving a sophomore. Somehow, it seems that Deanie-Boy Dalinghaus could have managed the incident differently, if he really cared about any of the students; this child did not have a weapon. But back to metal detectors: last week, a senior, who is already on probation for other crimes, was arrested for taking a gun to Frankfort School. Two arrests on the campus in a month's time, one involving a weapon. Wow. In a school that only has about one hundred and fifty children from kindergarten to twelfth grade.

I forgot to mention that the senior was also arrested for drugs. Could the creation of a distraction be the real reason the superintendent's secretary wanted to fan as many flames as possible against yours truly, when yours truly wanted Frankfort High School to straighten up and fly right, for a change?

Arkansas Teachers Can Go Commando

An Arkansas school board actually issued an edict requiring that all of it's teachers wear underwear. No spandex, either. And underwear was not to clash with clothing, or reveal panty lines. The question that apparently was not asked when the school board in Little Rock voted on this nonsense has to do with what the author of the edict was actually thinking when he wrote it! Probably not academics!

So anyways, the teachers all got mad and complained, and now the school district in is receivership. The state has stepped in and taken over, and now teachers are free to choose their own underwear again. Or go commando. Greg Adams, the president of the Little Rock School Board, is disappointed. Some of the high schools in that district were also found to be under "academic distress", and the imposition of non-spandex undergarments did not promise enough improved learning for the board chairman, Sam Ledbetter, who, despite Adams's disappointment, stated, "At some point, you just have to go in a new direction."

Looking at all the problems experienced by public schools nationwide, and all the reasons a school district could go into receivership, it amazes your blogger that a state would actually take over a school district over teachers' undergarments! Are bra straps really that important? Geesh!

Yes, There Really Is Stranger Danger In Kansas

When will Kansas learn? Here's a twelve year old, who actually got away from an adult who tried to take her away, but with whom she was not familiar. The man even tried to intimidate the girl by slapping her across the face! Stranger danger. This happened in Topeka, and this child was extremely lucky.

Maybe it's time for USD 380's school board to rethink their situation with Tom Schroeder, the Frankfort guidance counselor/cross country coach who left a high school freshman girl by herself four miles away from school and didn't bother with a phone call to the police or to the girl's parents when he realized that she was missing. Unless his actions were deliberate, and ulterior motives played a role, this kind of carelessness should be reserved only for the families of those who support Schroeder's continued employment, not for those of us who love our children. Of course, if he intended to leave a child in a vulnerable position, awaiting some darker fate, as the stranger in Topeka obviously had in mind for the girl he tried to abduct, Frankfort, Kansas has bigger problems.

Is this what you and USD 380 were trying to do to my daughter, Tom Schroeder? 

Anyone with information about the case in Topeka, detailed in the video, above, is asked to call Crimestoppers at 785-234-0007.

A Fourth Reason To Consolidate Kansas Schools

Wouldn't it be nice if Kansas schools, like schools everywhere else in the nation, were administrated by educators, rather than politicians? Wouldn't it also be nice if every principal in Kansas had a degree in teaching and a few years of experience in the same? This provides yet another reason for consolidation of schools: tiny, often errant, independent little school boards comprising "unified" school districts, sometimes do not bother to hire qualified people for this post, making victims of all the students and their parents. That's what happened in Kansas USD 380. There should probably be an audit of USD 380's standardized test scores for the past ten years or so, too.

Reason Number One For Consolidation Of Kansas Schools

Kansas never ceases to amaze me with it's stupidity. The public schools in Kansas are not consolidated, which means that each "unified district" has a local school board that is not answerable to state or national standards, or to the state or federal authority, and can force any decision they please on children and parents, be it lawful or not. They can even hire sex offenders and kidnappers if they choose! We now have a Sedgwick County former coach, who was caught in an internet sting, attempting to solicit sex from a fifteen year old, demanding his job as a high school football coach back! Unfortunately, Todd Puetz (it really should be Todd Putz) was allowed to plead guilty to the lesser charge of soliciting sex from a prostitute, and now, since he was not convicted of more serious sex offenses or required to register as a sex offender, his lawyer says he is "entitled" to his job as a high school football coach, and is fighting to somehow force the local school board to engrave him another invitation to endanger children!

Most of us would find this whole request, and the obvious best response......telling Mr. Puetz that he need not apply again.......to be a no brainer. After all, he was fired immediately after his arrest for sex offenses, the local school board did not wait for the trial or the disposition of the charges. As Kansas law does not guarantee a person a job in the event that his services are no longer relevant, and his contract violation(no abusing or molesting children) was proven by his admission of guilt, even though he made a plea in court to a lesser charge, there is a tradition in the unconsolidated, unified school districts of Kansas of covering up the misdeeds of teachers and coaches, and telling the victims to go to hell, because they don't matter. At the other end of the state, in Marshall County, a guidance counselor at Frankfort High still collects taxpayer dollars to endanger children by dropping them off by themselves along highways. The parent who almost had a heart attack over it was told by her local school board that this should not be a cause for concern. If schools in Kansas were consolidated, the laws against child endangerment would need to be followed at each and every public school, and there would be no local school boards protecting political favorites. A thug, such as the guidance counselor in Frankfort, would not be allowed to continue employment in a public school. In fact, the school's insurance should not be allowed to cover this employee any more than an auto insurance policy can be written to cover a driver with fifty DWI's. Child abuse is child abuse, and this guidance counselor committed child abuse and got away with it because Kansas school boards are unsupervised and do not answer to the state. They only answer to themselves. If they do not care about a particular child who has been abused by a teacher, they will generally not lift a finger to stop the abuse. Kudos to the school board who will not offer Todd Puetz his job again. This is an amazing change of pace for Kansas.

Most Kansans fight tooth and nail against consolidation of their schools. Brown v. the Board of Education in 1956 was quite a shock for the quietly prejudiced white population of Kansas, and keeping schools unconsolidated is quite likely a deliberate attempt to continue to keep schools as racially and culturally segregated as possible. Unfortunately, unified districts also have a lot of latitude to violate almost any law when running Kansas schools.

Very Smart School Board Decision

 

A Jackson County, Ohio middle school used to have a stupid looking, White-Jesus picture hanging from a railing on a staircase, until the American Civil Liberties Union and the Freedom From Religion Foundation sued the school on behalf of the more intelligent parents and students to take the offensive thing down. The superintendent of Jackson County Schools pointed out that the school insurance company refused to insure the school against lawsuits inspired by the subtle expression of a preference for one religion over another, so he removed it. That was very smart. It's too bad Northeast Kansas schools will not learn a lesson about lawsuits, insurance to cover damages won by parties with reasons to sue the occasional erring school, and the dumb shit fundamentalist Christian teachers and administrators often do to encourage lawsuits.

If that picture were to stay, there should be other pictures alongside it. Perhaps one like this: