Monday, January 31, 2022
Locally owned since 1867
Iola teams fall to Chanute
iolaregister.com
Historic bell to ring in new era By VICKIE MOSS The Iola Register
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COVID-19 deaths spike in Kansas By SHERMAN SMITH Kansas Reflector
TOPEKA — The Kansas Department of Health and Environment on Friday reported 134 more people have died from COVID-19, the highest two-day total since safe, effective and free vaccines became widely available last spring. The rapidly growing toll of the pandemic now stands at 7,522 dead Kansans. Hospital leaders for weeks have pleaded with Kansans to get vaccinated and take basic safety precautions seriously to limit the damage caused by omicron, a highly contagious variant of the deadly virus. Infections and hospitalizations have skyrocketed to unprecedented See DEATHS | Page A4
History depends on those who tell it. And no one tells it the same way. That’s the case with Iola’s first school bell, according to Donna Houser, a history buff who has been researching the 1868 bell located on the Jefferson Elementary School grounds. School district officials want to move the bell to the new Iola Elementary School when it opens next fall, and Superintendent Stacey Fager asked Houser for help in discovering the bell’s history. She’s found about four versions that discuss Iola’s first schools, including mention of the bell. Houser has done her best to put the pieces together, mostly trusting a history written by longtime Jefferson teacher Ida Faddis along with stories included in the Annals of Iola and Allen County. THE FIRST school in Iola started in 1855 in what was the first courthouse, at the northeast corner of Washington and Jackson streets — “ a dumpy little building in terrible shape,” Houser said. Along with the courthouse, it moved to a different building on the square, at the southwest corner of Madison and Jefferson. Most early schools had bells — often, multiple bells — that were used to signal the start of the school day and
Iola’s first school bell, dating to 1868, was purchased by the Union Sewing Circle and was once part of a duo. The bell has been located at Jefferson and Broadway since then, either as part of a bell tower or on a cement base since 1941. It will be moved to the new Iola Elementary School in the fall. At right is the former Jefferson School, sometime around 1924. PHOTO BY RICHARD LUKEN (above) AND COURTESY OF THE ALLEN COUNTY HISOTRICAL SOCIETY
again at lunch, as the school didn’t provide lunch and students went home for the midday meal. When the first permanent school was built at the corner
of Jefferson and Broadway, it had two bells, paid for by the Union Sewing Circle in 1868. Over the years, multiple schools would be built on that site. One bell was lost, but an-
other remained at that site since then. In 1900 (some records say 1902), a new school was built that most called the South See BELL | Page A4
Over 1,000 Wichita school workers out with COVID
David Smith, right, spokesman for Shawnee Mission School District, and Mark McCormick, spokesman for ACLU of Kansas, appear Jan. 24, before the House K-12 Education Committee for a discussion on “critical pedagogy.” (SHERMAN SMITH/KANSAS REFLECTOR)
Lawmakers rebrand complaints about diversity in push for ‘school choice’ By TIM CARPENTER Kansas Reflector
TOPEKA — Lawmakers in the Kansas House began laying the groundwork last week for redirecting taxpayer money from public to private schools by holding a two-hour hearing on complaints two parents have with diversity and inclusion initiatives. Vol. 124, No. 84 Iola, KS 75 Cents
Rep. Kristey Williams, R-Augusta, organized the discussion on “critical pedagogy” as a rebranding of critical race theory, although the parents and members of her K-12 Education Budget Committee continued to invoke CRT as the anti-American “religion” lurking behind staff training and curriculum in schools. Rep. Patrick Penn, R-Wich-
ita, introduced familiar legislation at the start of the hearing that would allow parents to pull their share of state aid out of a public school and into a savings account, where the money can be applied to private school tuition. Williams scheduled a hearing on House Bill 2550 for Tuesday. In an interview last week See SCHOOLS | Page A4
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WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — More than 1,000 staff members in the state’s largest school district are in quarantine because of COVID-19, but currently all Wichita schools are open. The Wichita Eagle reports that district records show that nearly 14% of the school district’s staff — some 1,033 people — were off because of COVID-19 illnesses or exposure as of Friday. That is up from 912 and 646 in the previous two weeks. Earlier this month, the district had to temporarily close several schools, including one of its high schools, because of staff shortages as the highly contagious omicron variant of the virus spread, But at the moment, the district is keeping all schools open even as the staff absences set a record for the school year. Kansas schools are having enough problems finding teachers that the State Board of Education lowered the standards for substitute teachers earlier this month. Unlike last year when many Kansas school dis-
tricts turned to remote learning when virus cases soared, this year schools are opting to close schools temporarily because a new law restricts online learning to no more than 40 hours per student. But there was some encouraging news in the district’s latest numbers because the number of student virus cases declined. The district said 543 students tested positive for the virus between Jan. 20 and Jan. 26. That’s down from 915 the previous week and down from the peak of 1,285 set two weeks ago. The seven-day rolling average of total daily new cases in Kansas also decreased over the past two weeks, going from 7,928.57 new cases per day on Jan. 14 to 6,008.86 new cases per day on Friday.
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