Latest news with #USD259
Yahoo
02-06-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Wichita Public Schools launch community engagement survey
WICHITA, Kan. (KSNW) – Wichita Public Schools is launching a community engagement survey to gather input from families, staff, and the community. USD 259 hopes to gain a deeper understanding of public perceptions surrounding school funding, facilities, district communication, and overall community awareness. 'The survey will be a powerful tool for better understanding how our community perceives our schools, how connected they feel to our district, and how deeply they trust us to educate the next generation of workers and leaders,' Superintendent Kelly Bielefeld said. Summer Food Program begins for Wichita kids The district says the feedback will help guide future decision-making, ensuring that resources and strategies align with the community's needs and expectations. 'We want to make sure that our families hear from us, and we want to make sure that we hear from them, and so we want to make sure that we get the data we need to help move forward, so to help make informed decisions to make sure our students are future-ready,' Susan Arensman with USD 259 said. The survey includes 23 questions and takes approximately 5–10 minutes to complete. Click here to take the survey. It will remain open throughout June, and WPS plans to share the results in the fall. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
24-05-2025
- Yahoo
Wichita North High teacher arrested on unlawful sexual relations with student: police
A 30-year-old art teacher at Wichita North High School remained jailed Friday night after being arrested on suspicion of unlawful sexual relations between a teacher and student who is 16 or older, officials said. She was arrested Thursday in southwest Wichita, records show, and booked into Sedgwick County Jail at 3:33 p.m. that day. She has been placed on paid, administrative leave, a USD 259 spokesperson said. Wichita Police started investigating after getting a call at 10:38 a.m. Monday 'about an inappropriate relationship between a teacher and a student,' police said. The Eagle does not identify suspects until they have been charged.
Yahoo
25-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Smaller Wichita school bond vote not on horizon, district says. ‘We have no plans'
Wichita school district officials say they don't have plans now to come back to voters to ask for a smaller bond issue vote. Voters narrowly rejected a $450 million bond issue earlier this year. 'We have no plans,' the district's Chief Financial Officer Addi Lowell said Thursday at the first meeting of a new citizen financial oversight committee. That committee could eventually come back with a recommendation for another public vote on a bond proposal, though. Right after the February election, officials with the district and the Vote Yes campaign had signaled that a smaller bond vote could be a possibility. The newly formed committee, mostly composed of community members with financial backgrounds and some USD 259 parents and students, is an advisory group that can make recommendations to the district's school board. It's tasked with finding short-term financial solutions for the district, which is likely to face significant financial challenges as deferred maintenance costs on school buildings continue to increase. The district had hoped to replace a bond issue that falls off the tax rolls in 2029 with a new one to address some of its building issues. 'Today we're focusing on the short-term options,' Lowell said. 'I've got to focus on the budget for next fiscal year and we can engage in future meetings about our long term options, certainly.' Those short-term options could include finding outside funding, reducing the district's operating budget, or closing schools, among others. The committee did not signal which direction it planned to go in its first meeting, but it could make some recommendations at its next meeting in May. 'I could summarize school finance in, there's never enough resources to do all the things we want to do for our kids and keep up with our infrastructure needs,' Lowell said. USD 259 wouldn't be the first district in the state of Kansas to come back and ask for a smaller bond issue in recent memory. Voters in the Kansas City, Kansas school district rejected a $480 million bond issue in early 2024. The district then downsized its plans to a $180 million bond issue, which passed several months later.
Yahoo
21-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Wichita schools mourn Dr. Polite, devoted youth advocate
WICHITA, Kan. (KSNW) – Dr. William Polite, a youth advocate and staple of Wichita Public Schools, died over the weekend. Polite was the executive director of diversity, equity, and accountability for the district for over seven years. USD 259 Superintendent Kelly Bielefeld said Polite will be remembered as 'a leader for our district, a mentor in our schools and an advocate in our community.' He also volunteered for and steered multiple nonprofits that focused on helping at-risk youth. The United Way of the Plains said, 'May we all be inspired by his legacy' and 'may his memory continue to motivate us to be a #ForceForGood in our community.' How much rain Kansas got over Easter weekend Mayor Lily Wu hopes Polite's work will continue. 'Dr. Polite was so instrumental in helping youth as well as reminding our community that education is really the key to a lot of the ailments that our community is facing and so he's going to be greatly missed,' Wu said. For more Kansas news, click here. Keep up with the latest breaking news by downloading our mobile app and signing up for our news email alerts. Sign up for our Storm Track 3 Weather app by clicking here. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
27-02-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
School districts learn lesson from low voter turnout for USD 259 bond issue
WICHITA, Kan. (KSNW) — There are several school districts with bond votes coming up in the next few months. Many are looking at how they can increase voter participation. Given the low voter turnout in USD 259's bond election, districts are working to raise awareness for their projects. On April 8, Haysville USD 261 voters will decide on a nearly $80 million bond. KSN spoke with a parent on the Haysville school bond committee about how they're working to raise awareness about the upcoming vote. He says that between now and election day, they're stressing that this bond is focused on infrastructure improvements that will ensure that students, teachers, and employees have a clean and healthy environment. New results in for Wichita school bond vote 'We have a bunch of meetings where anybody can come to every week to coordinate to kind of strategize how we can get the message out for people. Also, we're very active on Facebook and with the community itself,' said Eli Rueda, a member of the school bond committee for USD 261. He added, 'We also held a couple of tours around the schools themselves.' Rueda also said he hopes that the smaller, tight-knit community will come out in greater levels to vote. KSN also heard back from the Goddard School District, USD 265. The district will have a kick-off informational meeting for the public on March 31, and we will learn more about their efforts then. The vote for USD 265 is on May 13. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
