Here is video from inside the new central office of the Kansas City, Kan., Public Schools District.

Note: It may take a few minutes for the video to become a little more clear, so give it a few moments.

Two schools in the Kansas City, Kan., Public Schools District will receive multi-million dollar grants spanning a three-year period.

Northwest Middle School will receive just over $4.7 million in grant funding, while Emerson Elementary School was awarded close to $3.0 million during the three-year window.

The district filed seven School Improvement Grant applications, which are part of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act and the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, commonly known as "the stimulus."

Grants for Washington, Wyandotte, Harmon, Schlagle high schools and Mark Twain Elementary School were also filed.

According to KCKPS Chief FInancial Officer Kelli Mather, instructional support will be the top priority with the grants.

In order to have received the grants, the district was required to outline a specific improvement plan.

Part of the plan for Northwest is to replace 50 percent of its staff.

The district will also have to fulfill grant obligations in order to receive funding in years two and three. A quarterly report will be filed on the process at each school and guidelines from the Kansas System of District and School Support will be followed.

A year-by-year breakdown of funding each school could receive:

Northwest Middle School: $1,898,400 in year one; $1,545,190 in year two and $1,329,716 in the final year.

Emerson Elementary School: $1,080,029 in year one; $938,829 in year two and $963,029 in the final year.

While mill levy increases have been announced across Wyandotte County this budget season, the Kansas City, Kan., Public Schools District will be one of the few to lower its total mill levy.

The Kansas City, Kan., Board of Education voted tonight to establish a maximum mill levy of 68.173 for the 2011 fiscal year, down just over 3.3 mills from last year's number.

Included in the budget is preparation for an additional $82-cut from the state's Base State Aid Per Pupil rate.

"We made sure to built in the needs to make sure we meet the goals you have set," said Kelli Mather, director of operations and quality control.

By agreeing to publish the mill levy, the final levy can not exceed the 68.173 number board members agreed to tonight.

KCKPS Director of Finance Connie Brand said the levy decrease was possible because tax collections increased, helping negate a lower assessed valuation.

"Collections have rebounded," she said. "Those cash balances are much stronger and gives us a better starting point."

The assessed valuation for the district was two percent lower than last year. Although a decrease, the number was expected to be worse.

For a homeowner with a $100,000 home inside the KCKPS boundaries, the district's portion of the property tax bill will be about $34 lower than it was last year.

It took the Kansas City, Kan., Board of Education about two minutes this morning to decide on a new name for the new Kansas City, Kan., Public Schools District's new central office.

The name?

The Kansas City, Kansas Public Schools District Central Office. The board unanimously supported the new name in a special session this morning.

Located at 59th and Parallel Parkway – near Schlagle High School – the offices will host most of the district's central office staff currently located at either Indian Springs or the downtown branch of the Kansas City, Kan., Public Library.

The building is expected to be ready for business on Jan. 1, 2011.

KCK board of education meetings will be held there. The project is funded through capital outlay dollars and the Unified Government, who owns Indian Springs.

The UG and the district agreed on a settlement amount to help the central office re-located to another location.

SPECIAL TO THE KANSAN

Wyandotte County students and parents of both private and public schools are invited to attend the 10th Annual Back to School Fair scheduled to take place from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday, August 7 on the lower level of Indian Springs Marketplace.

The event is being sponsored by the Kansas City, Kansas Public Schools (KCKPS), Communities in Schools of KCK/Wyandotte County and A Better KCK.

Getting kids excited and ready for the start of a new school year is the focus of the event, according to Dola Williams Gabriel, program coordinator for Communities in Schools. A number of community organizations will be on hand to provide services, materials and support including FREE:

• health screenings

• sports physicals

• Identi-Kid cards

• school supplies (families must show proof of residency)

There also will be entertainment, prizes and a number of activities for kids.

Gabriel said in past years, more than 1,300 families, including 3,500 students, have attended the fair. Materials and offerings are provided on a first come, first serve basis so attendees are urged to come early.

The fair is a community effort supported by a number of organizations and individuals.

They include: A Joy Event Planning LLC, Board of Public Utilities, Project EAGLE, Unity in the Community, the Wyandotte County Sheriff’s Department, United Way, Family Conservancy, KCK School Foundation for Excellence, KU Cares, KU Medical Center, the Wyandotte County Health Department, Social and Rehabilitation Services, KCK Fire Department, Unified Government and Widow’s Son Masonic Lodge No. 17.

As of this morning, there is a new superintendent of schools in the Kansas City, Kan., Public Schools District.

Former Assistant Superintendent Cynthia Lane became the 14th superintendent in the school's history, replacing Jill Shackelford, who retired last month.

Lane was the unanimous selection of the Kansas City, Kan., Board of Education when it made its hire last December.

"I am proud and excited to begin my term as superintendent of the Kansas City, Kansas Public Schools," Lane said in a statement. "We have a strong foundation and rich history which we will continue to build upon, as we work to become one of the top ten school districts in the nation, where every student graduates ready for college and careers."

Lane has worked with the district for 23 years. She has served as a special education teacher, a principal and the director the Wyandotte Comprehensive Special Education Cooperative.

She was previously the district's assistant superintendent for instruction and business.

"Our job is to prepare our students for a successful life, both in their careers and in the community," Lane said. "To meet our obligation, we need to be among the best districts in the nation. Not just a good urban district, but a great district whose students can have access to the same opportunities as any students in our nation."

As mentioned in yesterday's story, last night was the last Kansas City, Kan., Board of Education meeting for current Kansas City, Kan., Public Schools Superintendent Jill Shackelford.

Board members and other district officials paid tribute to the superintendent, who was with the school district for five years.

"It's been a joy," said board member Brenda Jones. "The heart you have for our students in the district is amazing. It's going to be sad to see you go.  I was just excited to be part of the bus

Jones was echoed by board members George Breidenthal and Vicki Meyer.

"We couldn't ask anyone to represent our heart and soul better," Meyer said.

Breidenthal wore a pink polo shirt and pink socks in tribute to Shackelford, who's known for wearing pink in many of her trips around the district.

"We thank you…we really thank you," he said.

Schlagle principal Doug Bolden, who's retiring himself, said the outgoing superintendent has left a legacy across Kansas City, Kan.

"We will miss you," he said. "You've left quite a legacy in this district. I feel humbled and honored working in this district for 33 years."

Shackelford replaced Ray Daniels in 2005 and over-saw the district's implementation of full-day kindergarten, a new pre-school and a district-wide laptop distribution program for the district's high school students.

The district presented Shackelford with a statue of three children sitting on a bench. It was engraved with a farewell message from the board.

Kansas City, Kan., Public Schools Superintendent Jill Shackelford presided over her final Kansas City, Kan., Board of Education meeting tonight. 

During the meeting, Shackelford took time to look back at academic statistics and comparing them from her first year in the district to her final year.

"This was an act of closure for me," she said. "There's been many changes and very positive things have happened. Our community has changed over the past five years. We have been able to maintain and thrive at times."

In looking back on all the stats, Shackelford clearly showed the most pleasure and emotion when a slide pertaining to reading readiness for first graders appeared in a PowerPoint presentation.

In 2005, just 29.8 percent of the students in the district were at the proper "reading readiness" level entering the first grade. In 2009, the percent was 55.8 percent.

The increase is the result of implementing a full-day kindergarten program in the school district, she said.

"They were not on a level playing field when they came into first grade," Shackelford said. "We went to full-day kindergarten. They should be able to read at the level."

The percentage level of reading readiness skyrocketed by over 20 points the year after the district started full-day kindergarten.

Other statistics Shackelford touched on:

• In 2005, the district as a whole had 46.5 percent of its students meeting the standard in math, with 51 percent meeting it in reading. In 2009, the numbers increased to 62.8 in math and 64 in reading.
• On narrowing the gap of academic accomplishment between whites and minorities, the district saw some success, particularly among Hispanics. In 2005, 46 percent of Hispanics met the standard in reading and 49 in math. Those numbers increased to 64.1 and 66 percent, respectively. Meanwhile, among African Americans, those meeting the reading standards increased from 50 percent in 2005 to 61 percent in 2009 and 41 to 56.5 percent meeting the standards in math in 2009. In the past five years, white students increased from 63 to 72.6 percent in reading and 55 to 70 percent in math.
• The average ACT score across the district increased from 16.9 to 17.5.
• From 2005 to 2009, there was an increase of schools making the adequate yearly progress figure in math, reading or both. The 2010 numbers show a dip and are preliminary.
• The one disappointment according to Shackelford came with graduation rates. In 2005, the graduation rate was 80.1 percent. In 2009, it was 77.7 percent. "There's been a little slippage," she said. "I don't know how much is related to measuring graduation rates."

While the district did not meet her 2010 goals of 85 percent of students meeting the standard in reading and 75 in math, Shackelford still sees accomplishment during her five years.

"We are still a little bit short," she said. "We have managed, despite changes in our demographics and highs and lows in our economy, to continue and improve. We have had several people jump on and off the bus but we have always been able to get that focus going."

On July 1, current KCK Public Schools Assistant Superintendent Cynthia Lane will take over the reigns in the school district. 

The fourth annual Sumner in the City National Convention will be held next month.

Sumner High School alumni are encouraged to attend the event, which will be held from July 15-18 at the Hilton Garden Inn on 5th and Minnesota.

A welcoming session will be held on Thursday, July 15. On that Friday, a playhouse will be held at Sumner Academy. The Sumner Memorial Marker will be dedicated at 9th and Washington Boulevard.

Also on Saturday, the Sumner Alumni Room at Sumner Academy will be held. A banquet will be held Saturday evening and will feature alumnus Ronald Harland, Sr., who owns Evolv Solutions.

“I’m so excited to see all of the Sumner High School alumni once again,” said Brenda Jones, member of the Kansas City, Kansas Board of Education and convention chair.  “The dedications of both the Sumner High School Memorial Marker and the Alumni Room are the dreams of many, which are finally coming to fruition.”

For Sumner High School alums interested in having their names added to the memorial marker, a $100 donation is required.

SPECIAL TO THE KANSAN

More than 800 academically talented seventh-grade students selected for the Duke University Talent Identification Program were honored June 6 at the Lied Center at the University of Kansas.

About 300 students attended the ceremony.

Susan Williams, associate professor of chemical and petroleum engineering, addressed the seventh-graders and their parents and guests.

Her talk focused on celebrating talents and opportunities that can help the next generation of college students to change the world.

Selection to Duke TIP is based on college entrance exam scores that are in the top 36 percent while the students are in middle school. Students participate by taking either the SAT or ACT national achievement tests.

Working with host academic institutions such as KU, Duke TIP sponsors 35 ceremonies in its 16-state talent search region. 

Each Duke TIP student received a medallion. The state recognition ceremonies honor seventh-graders who earned scores above the average scores of college-bound high school seniors.

Of more than 74,000 applicants this year, 24,204 students qualified and were invited to state recognition events, including the more than 800 students recognized at KU.

The Duke program is in its 30th year, and this is the 12th year KU has been host for the Kansas recognition program.

A former Duke TIP participant from Paola, Michael Tetwiler, now a KU senior, served as master of ceremonies. An English major planning to study medicine, Tetwiler is the son of Lee Tetwiler of Paola and a graduate of Paola High School.

Joshua T. Charles, senior from Moscow, Idaho, provided entertainment. A piano major, Charles is the son of Don and Michelle Charles. He is a graduate of Rocklin (Calif.) High School.

Julie Bennington, coordinator for the seventh-grade talent search for Duke TIP, presented the medallions.

Students from Kansas City, Kan:

CARLA G. FLORES 
ANDREW M. RAMIREZ 
EMILY N. TRESNER 
SOPHIE WILSON 
THALIA E HERNANDEZ 
MELANIE LEYVA 
RAMON M. MURGUIA 
CARLY E. JOHNSON 
SEAN J. PAHLS 
KEELEY M. PETERSON 
LOGAN N. SHEARER 
MIKALA R. SULLIVAN 
RAYNA WEIBRECHT 

Students from Bonner Springs:

JEFFREY T. JOHNSON 
SAMEUL C. NELSON 
ASHLEY VEST 
JACK WALSH 

Sumner Academy of Arts and Science in Kansas City, Kan., has done it again.

Sumner was ranked as the top high school in Kansas by Newsweek Magazine in a piece entitled "America's Best High Schools."

Overall, it was ranked 246th in the country.

The college preparatory public school in KCK was ranked ahead of seven other schools: Blue Valley Northwest (650), Blue Valley North (684), Wichita East (841), Shawnee Mission East (885), Blue Valley West (907), Manhattan High School (1,334) and Shawnee Mission South (1595).

Sumner Academy joins just six percent of schools across the nation ranked by the magazine.

Each year, the list is configured by Jay Mathews.

Here's his criteria:

We take the total number of Advanced Placement, International Baccalaureate or Cambridge (AICE) tests given at a school each year and divide by the number of seniors graduating in May or June. All public schools NEWSWEEK researcher Amy Novak and I could find that achieved a ratio of at least 1.000, meaning they had as many tests in 2009 as they had graduates, were put on the list on the NEWSWEEK Web site. Each list is based on the previous year's data, so the 2010 list has each school's numbers for 2009.  
 
NEWSWEEK published national lists based on this formula in 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008 and 2009. In The Washington Post, I have reported the Challenge Index ratings for every public school in the Washington area every year since 1998. I think 1.000 is a modest standard. A school can reach that level if only half of its students take one AP, IB, or Cambridge test in their junior year and one in their senior year. But this year only 6 percent of the approximately 27,000 U.S. public high schools managed to reach that standard and be placed on the NEWSWEEK list. 

General consensus among members of the Kansas City, Kan., Board of Education is the Kansas City, Kan., Public Schools District will lower its mill levy for the 2010-11 fiscal year.

Should the board decide to pass a five mill levy decrease this year, the school district would likely have to cut its School Resource Officers program.

Board members examined the various mill levy decrease scenarios at a special meeting Monday afternoon.

One of those scenarios involve the security program, a partnership between the Kansas City, Kan., Police Department and the school district.

The district's share of the funding is $150,000 annually. It appears most board members are hesitant in cutting the program.

"Having officers there is a way of creating a calm feeling," said Gloria Willis, president of the board.

This year, should the program continue, three school resource officers would be located at each high school – up from two last year.

Meanwhile, board member George Breidenthal believes more information is needed before a decision on the program's future is made.

"Before I can decide, I'd like to have some anecdotal evidence about whether the program works," he said.

Still, it's likely the program will be spared for at least this school year.

Most board members prefer just a four-mill decrease.

The Kansas City, Kan., Board of Education voted this afternoon to participate in any future litigation filed from the Schools for Fair Funding organization.

The district, which participated in the previous school funding lawsuit, was expected to join the efforts this time.

"Over the past several years, the (Kansas) Legislature has failed to provide the funding required to establish a funding formula that meets the criteria  and findings as defined by their very own analyses of what constitutes 'suitable' education," reads the agenda item submitted by Kansas City, Kan., Assistant Superintendent Cynthia Lane.

Nearly 80 districts across Kansas have joined Schools for Fair Funding. The organization successfully sued the State of Kansas for more funding and achieved a $466 million increase in funding spread out over three years beginning after it won the lawsuit in 2006.

Last year, the legislature voted to cut education funding by 9.5 percent. State-wide, over $300 million has been cut from the K-12 funding pie.

Schools for Fair Funding, based out of Wichita, attempted to reopen the previous Montoy lawsuit in the Kansas Supreme Court earlier this year.

However, the high court refused the motion.
 

Patrons of the Kansas City, Kan., Public Library now have a new form of communication when help ina answer a question about the library is needed.

The library, joining with Mosio, is now offering reference service via text messaging.

During the library's operation hours, patrons will be able to text librarians when they have a question about the library and its services.

Residents can send a message by texting AskKCKPL to 66746. After verification is complete, questions can be text messaged to the library.

The library encourages those interested in taking part in the service to check with their cell-phone plans as data rates may (and likely) apply.

The Kansas City, Kan., Public Schools District has received a $500,000 grant from the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation.

The grant will be used to support the new Argentine Library branch.

“Education is vital to the success of every generation. It takes dedication and the right resources to realize that success,” said Carl Schramm, Kauffman Foundation president and CEO. “We applaud the Kansas City, Kansas Public Schools for its work and are pleased to be a part of this community campaign to build a new library to serve area residents.”

Ramón Murguía, a Kansas City, Kan., resident who's leading the fundraising effort, said the library will serve a need for the community.

“The new Public Library building is stimulating hope in the midst of urban blight,” Murguía said. “It carries forward an institution that has enhanced the success for generations of people like my family who start out with few resources but achieve success through education. We are grateful for the Foundation’s contribution and support of this campaign.”

For more information about the library, scroll down just a bit for our previous update.