Sports: Local athletes compete at state track See B1
THE IOLA REGISTER Locally owned since 1867
www.iolaregister.com
Tuesday, May 31, 2016
Kansas schools face threat of remaining closed By JOHN HANNA The Associated Press
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Kansas again faces a threat that its public schools won’t open for the next school year. The threat arises because of a ruling from the state Supreme Court on education funding changes made by the Republican-dominated Legislature earlier this year. The court on Friday rejected some of the changes which had revised parts of the state’s school finance system
but didn’t change the overall aid for most of its 286 local districts. The court said the remaining flaws make the system unfair to poor districts, violating the state constitution.
Four school districts sued the state over education funding in 2010. That’s prompted a series of court rulings. One in February from the Supreme Court directed legislators to make the funding system fairer for poor districts. Legislators enacted their changes in March. The high court’s ruling could mean an additional $40 million is needed to go to the state’s education budget. Questions and answers about the court’s decision:
___ Q: Why were legislators making school funding changes?
A: The Dodge City, Hutchinson, Wichita and Kansas City, Kansas, school districts sued the state over education funding in 2010. That’s prompted a series of court rulings, including one from the Supreme Court in February to make the funding system fairer for poor districts. The court in February set a deadline of June 30 for lawmakers to fix the problems, or
face having schools remain closed afterward. GOP legislators pushed through their changes in March in hopes of averting the threat.
___ Q: What was at issue in the rulings in February and Friday?
A: It’s known as “equity,” whether poor districts are getting their fair share of the state’s aid to public schools, which now stands at more than $4 billion a year. The SuSee SCHOOLS | Page A3
Iola, nation pause to reflect on sacrifices
REMEMBERING OUR FALLEN HEROES
Jared Froggatte delivers the keynote address Monday at Memorial Day services at Iola’s Highland Cemetery. REGISTER/BOB JOHNSON
Jared Froggatte, a detective with the Iola police department and veteran of the Army’s 25th Infantry and the National Guard’s 891st Engineer Battalion, provided the keynote address at Memorial Day services Monday at Iola’s Highland Cemetery. “While there is nothing unpatriotic about an auto race, a trip to the beach or a barbecue, we are here today to reflect on the true meaning of Memorial Day,” Froggatte said. “Let us remember that tyrannical regimes have been toppled and genocides stopped because Americans sacrificed life and limb. Let us remember that terrorist plots were foiled and killers brought to justice because Americans were willing to pay a high price.” Americans can make the country a better place, a land where patriotism trumps politics and military veterans are society’s true celebrities,Froggatte said. Froggatte volunteered twice to join the military, first with the 25th Infantry in Hawaii and then with the 891st, where he was among those
The Rev. Earl Bell, a Korean War veteran, attends Monday’s Memorial Day service in Iola. REGISTER/BOB JOHNSON deployed for a year to Iraq. In addition, Froggatte said his father was with the Marines, serving during the Cuban Missile Crisis and was one of the first American soldiers in Vietnam. “Where would this country be if not for the sacrifice of men and women willing to stand up in the face of evil?” Froggatte asked of the crowd. Those sacrifices are “so that we could have the liberties we enjoy and sometimes take for See HONOR | Page A6
Summer meals program takes food to students By RICHARD LUKEN The Iola Register
Much like the rest of the state, USD 257 has struggled in years past to attract children to its summer meals program. In fact, the state ranks 50th in the country in summer meals participation, noted Kathy Koehn, USD 257’s nutrition and wellness coordinator. “We just need to reach more kids,” she said. A number of incentives introduced in 2015 helped, “but there was still a significant population we weren’t reaching,” she said, particularly students living outside Iola, or too far to safely walk to meal sites. So this year, the district is taking the food to the kids. Koehn has introduced MARV — a Meals And Reading Vehicle — for its summer
meals program, that launches Wednesday. The district will continue to offer meals Monday through Friday at the Iola High School cafeteria and at McKinley Elementary School. MARV, meanwhile, will be dispatched to six different locations in Iola, Gas and LaHarpe to reach additional students. The bus starts out each day at the Chambers Drive park area in the new Cedarbrook Addition from 9:30 to 9:50 each morning for a late breakfast, followed by a stop at the old ANW preschool at the intersection of Kansas and Eisenhower drives at 10. From there, lunch becomes the main menu item as MARV heads to the south trailer park in Gas at 11 and the Gas Community Building at 11:30 See MARV | Page A6
Quote of the day Vol. 118, No. 151
MARV — USD 257’s Meals And Reading Vehicle — will deliver food to students at sites across Iola, Gas and LaHarpe starting Wednesday as part of the district’s summer meals program. REGISTER/ RICHARD LUKEN
“Forever is composed of nows.”
— Emily Dickinson 75 Cents
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