After hearing from the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the USD 503 Board of Education voted Monday to release the district from any obligation to open Guthridge and Garfield tornado storm shelters to the public.
Area residents should make arrangements to shelter in place or with neighbors who are willing to share shelter accommodations.
No one from the community was in attendance Monday to speak to the board about the matter, despite encouragement from city commissioners.
Volunteers, including retired personnel like Debbo Johnson, who opened the shelters for years, have either moved away or are no longer physically capable of opening and manning the shelters. Despite numerous requests, no trusted persons have come forward from those neighborhoods to volunteer to take over. The Lincoln School shelter has not been opened for several years despite the district reaching out to the public numerous times.
The district is not able to pay its personnel for non-school related work to perform those duties, and it risks liability requiring personnel to travel across town to those locations during severe weather events.
Superintendent Lori Perkins reached out to the city concerning emergency preparedness operations to have the shelters opened, but was told it was not feasible. The city itself provides no tornado shelter.
When able, some district personnel and retired personnel, including the superintendent, have volunteered to open the shelters at Garfield and Guthridge in the past couple of years. Their efforts to serve the public have been met with everything from people bringing their pets when told absolutely no pets are allowed and allowing them to defecate in the halls to verbal abuse for not providing food and drinks, diapers, beds and other accommodations.
Board member Lou Martino said the 20 years the district was obligated to have the FEMA built shelter at Guthridge open to the public during off school hours has long passed and the district itself has no legal obligation.
Morally, Martino said, he does not feel the district can ask any volunteer to put themselves in the position of having to get up at 2 or 3 a.m. and go open a shelter to put up with such abuses from the public as the district and other volunteers have faced.
USD 503 is extremely grateful to all those who have volunteered and sacrificed their time and energy over the last couple of decades to provide this public service to the community.
The shelters will still provide a safe haven for students in the event of tornado warnings during school, which was their primary function.
Cell Phone Ban
As required by state law, USD 503 approved a new policy banning students from having cell phones and other personal communication devices from bell to bell, except as medically necessary or directed by an IEP.
The board adopted the policy wording recommended by the Kansas Association of School Boards.
Cell phones, smart watches, ear buds, head phones and similar devices will fall under the district’s policy of if they see or hear a device they will take it. They recommend that all students not bring any such device to school. If students forget, then they should leave it in their car, or the schools will devise a check in system at the office, where students can check their device in at the start of the day and then check it out at the end of the day.
Such a policy has been in place at the middle school for years. It is already anticipated there will be students at the high school who refuse to give up their devices, which will ultimately lead to suspension.
“It’s going to come up and come up often at the high school,” Assistant Superintendent Jeff Pegues said.
“It’s going to be an interesting adjustment for everyone,” Perkins added.
A new policy was also put in place regarding staff only being able to communicate with students through approved district communication platforms from now on.
Chronic Absenteeism and Behaviors
While chronic absenteeism has leveled off, numbers are still higher than the district would like and efforts will continue for students to regularly attend school.
Beyond students being excessively absent, a great concern in scouring data is student behavior. While violent incidents remain mostly level, and fewer fights were reported, defiance and disruptive behavior continues to get worse and the apathy of students coming out of COVID continues.
For the first time this year, beyond noting behavioral referrals, behaviors at Lincoln were classified like other schools, because with the COVID babies coming in behaviors were seen this year that were not previously seen at Lincoln.
On the sheer number of behavior referrals, the district talks a lot with admin about supervision in high incident areas, common areas, lunch rooms, locker rooms, etc. The increased supervision has helped decrease violent incidents, but also increases behavioral referrals because they are catching more things, Pegues said. All the schools are trying to manage the small stuff so they don't have the big incidents, like addressing horseplay immediately before someone gets mad.
Pegues said a lot of the incidents are the same students doing the same thing over and over, which skews the data.
He said they want to revamp recovery rooms, to focus on correcting behavior.
Another concern, Pegues said, is vaping at the high school is an epidemic. Students have figured out how to circumvent the sensors by covering them or blowing into their shirts. Increasing the sensitivity of the sensors makes them vulnerable to going off for other things, like hairspray or aerosol deodorant. School officials want the consequences for such infractions to go up.
IN OTHER BUSINESS, the board:
Recognized record breaking state champions in athletics.
Authorized transfer of funds to close out the year.
Approved a .10 cent increase in lunch prices for adults. All students will eat free again next year.
Approved a July organizational meeting prior to the regular July 13 meeting of the board.
Approved participation in the Greenbus Energy Group and Hedging Authorization.
Approved action on personnel.
Discussed the first reading of the Title I Family Engagement Policy.
Accepted donations to schools.
Approved other new business as listed on the agenda