Olathe Administrators Sound Off and Callers React to School Closures | Mundo Clip 10-2-26

0:00last night, a late the voted seven, nothing at the school board meeting to shut down the seven schools that we have obviously spent a lot of time covering here and obviously much of Kansas City media has spent a lot of time covering this story as well. And just in case you don't know which schools those are Indian Trail middle school and then five elementary black bob heritage Scarborough, Tomahawk and walnut grove. They said they had to do it because well enrollments down costs are up and they don't get enough money from the state of Kansas. A tale is old this time. This despite the fact that over the last six years the a late the school district has increased its non-teacher headcount managers by 250. They reduced their teacher headcount by 92 and they've seen a 7% enrollment decline which is about 2000 students. So they figure hey we can't look in the mirror we're just going to have to shut down

1:00schools. And here's what the superintendent Brent Yeager said about this last night after the vote. So I also want to say I'm sorry that we're in the position we are in. I wish we were not in this position that I will go to sleep tonight and sleep well because I know there is no other community no other school system that can navigate this better than we can. How dare you? Well I'm glad he slept well last night. You think he's still sleeping in? I think he's still got that head on his big cushy pillow waking up. He's probably just stretching himself. Oh man, I slept well last night. I think he had a big fat steak when he got out of that meeting. Nice glass of red wine on the taxpayer. What do you think? Where do you think you went for that big fat steak? I'm sure he slept like a baby. Maybe a nice piece of cheesecake when it was all said and done. Seems like a cheesecake guy doesn't he?

2:04That is so offensive on so many levels. Hey we're just going to displace a couple thousand kids but I'm going to sleep like a baby tonight. You know at least say I'm not going to sleep well tonight because of tough decisions that we had to make but I have confidence in this administration. I have confidence in the school board to do the right thing. I mean that is just a PR nightmare of a quote. If you're in a late the resident and you hear the superintendent after he closed his six school saying I'm sleeping like a baby tonight. Cheese I'm glad you are glad one of us is it's like daily affirmation from Stuart Smalley on Saturday night live. I'm good enough. I'm smart enough and people like I talk about added touch. Oh I'm asleep well because gosh we're good and we can get this done. I got faith in us as parents are literally leaving the room crying last night. Mark was there he saw it. Yeah the two ladies outside next to where uh yeah they left right

3:06after the vote and they were crying they weren't happy and my daughter was not happy. I text her after it happened and she said that she's still going to call whatever school she goes to next Indian trail no matter what. Good for her. All right good for her. She's wearing a heritage elementary shirt to school today. I saw. Stand uh stand with the folks okay that's what it's all about. That's what it's all about and for the superintendent to be like I'm sleeping well the night as you have parents literally crying themselves to sleep last night because of this decision. Man you know I talked to a couple of people that I guess are close with the superintendent. I said hey can you hook me up can we get them on the show and they're like well you know he's not really an interview guy. I don't know what that means he's not an interview guy. I mean yeah yeah you're pulling in you know big time money 300 and some I grant. I think you can do a little interview right allegedly they're going to speak to the media later this afternoon. Oh on a Friday afternoon how convenient yeah we'll do a

4:09nice Friday afternoon four o'clock uh you know we'll call the media in at four o'clock on a Friday. We'll talk to you then on our time on our terms on our turf. That is everything that is wrong with the bureaucracy everything 913408 7957 I want to get to you I have more on this as well by a cell hold and to the hour. Monday in the morning on KCMO. KCMO top radio. So I think understanding what what these school board positions have turned into is really important as well. You know they're not supposed to be political positions right I think most of us perceive our school boards to be just a collection of good community folks who you know want to be good stewards for the taxpayer and and you know give back a little bit. Well that's not really the case anymore. It's in many ways become a farm system for Democrat politicians if we're being just totally honest

5:10about what these school boards and city councils have turned into that's what they are. Yeah entry level position. Exactly and people that lean right conservatives I mean it doesn't really matter how you want to define it they've done a terrible job combating this stuff I mean just horrible job and there's not a lot of organization around these races the turnout's always low and it becomes kind of a training ground for people to move up the political ladder and in Johnson County that would be up the blue political ladder that's that's what these positions have turned into. So I you know I hope that what happened in a late the last night with the seven nothing vote by the school board to shut down six schools and at no point self reflect on what maybe they can do what cuts they can make I mean they'll tell you they made a few million dollars in cuts but they really haven't done the heavy lifting when you've added 200 plus non teaching positions which they've done the last five six years when you've lost seven percent of your enrollment and you've

6:13cut 92 teachers don't tell me you're doing everything possible don't don't don't don't say what John Hutchinson the elathe cfo said last night we owe it to our teachers to become much more efficient so that we can provide them livable wage we owe it to our students to be more efficient so we can provide them the resources the additional science lab that they're that they don't have today and in addition we owe it to our taxpayers oh my gosh cloaking this under the guys of you know we got to make sure the teachers get a livable wage and we got to give the students the resources that they need and you know it's all about the taxpayer no it's not no it never has been about the taxpayer you just milked us for four hundred million dollars in March and I will forever believe that these closures having talked about and you know they they have yes talked about closing schools and you know having to make some tough decisions but I think

7:15that they've had these six schools in the chopping block for a long time but they conveniently waited to get their four hundred million dollars in capital improvements from you in March and then a couple months later roll out the idea of hey by the way we get a close down six schools oh man that's that stinks huh how many people feel like they got hoodwinked in the wake of that decision in the last few months you get every right to feel that way and for the CFO to you know use the old we just want to make sure the teachers have a livable wage you know it's all about the livable wage for the teacher stop you know might have been born at night but it wasn't last night share spare me the sob story and you get that and then you get you know this from Claire Reagan who is also on the Alatha school board up for reelection next year do with that information what you want and the other blame game is obviously the Kansas legislature there's a lot of anger right now and I can appreciate people being angry but as as Mrs. Steele said the circumstances that we are having to

8:21deal with and the people who are absorbing the repercussions you did not create those circumstances a lot of forces in the universe did but one of the forces that created the circumstances that put us in the position that we're in right now is the Kansas legislature every single house member is on the ballot on November 3rd so now she is advocating Claire Reagan on the Alatha school board to go out there and elect a bunch of Democrats let's be clear that's what she's doing so that then you'll get people into Pika who will just give blank checks to the Alatha school district despite the fact that in the last six years their manager head count has gone up 12% their non teacher head count has gone up 12% their students have gone down 7% and the amount of teachers is down 4% to keep that formula going to give them a blank check you

9:22have an Alatha school board member supposedly a non partisan operation by the way supposedly wing quink not nod saying go elect Democrats to the Kansas House so we'll get our blank check that's that is basically the pitch that's what you're hearing here and people can say they support schools people can say they support our district but have they supported it when it matters I mean meaning just give us every dollar that we want don't ask any questions don't look for transparency don't demand results don't do any of that just give us every last stinking dollar that we want to get our hands on that is it you still poor bro busting and disgusted have they built coalitions of legislators to support our district on the floor of the Kansas House of the Kansas Senate voting for funding in a comp in a committee hearing that's all well and good but until you get it to pass on final action I don't want you to tell me you

10:24support public education in Kansas so if you're angry yeah you see this you don't support us unless you literally give us everything we demand these are mob style tactics and it's not just happening in Alatha it's happening in North Kansas City there was a school board meeting in North Kansas City last night what's happening there well there's short 16 million dollars what are they saying well they're saying the Missouri state legislature did not give the state and the local funds the amount of money that they needed therefore we are in a pickle right now it's the same exact blueprint and playbook same exact one if you do not acquiesce to every single demand well you are in favor of cutting public education that is the pitch and guess what it works that's why they keep going

11:27back to that well and there are very few people with a microphone or a tv camera or a social media account or whatever or a newspaper column who will tell you this because well they're hyperpartisan as well that's what's going on here let me just continue with Claire Reagan and you're hurting like so many people in our community are tonight you need to join together and row in the same direction I will be at the front of that boat I will be yelling at all of us to row because we need the funding in our district which time needs the funding in their district to peak a Lawrence blue valley shunny mission gardener spring health row in the same direction and let's go vote for the D's says Claire Reagan on the elathe school board give us everything that we want boy that's something else huh hey Claire what's the reading proficiency in these districts that you've mentioned P.S. and by the way could you put a little animosity and emotion behind that nah

12:28no nah well we don't have enough money I guess why it's our own question yeah exactly only we had the money shonda's an elathe shonda good morning hey p thanks take a micol we actually became part of the 7% this year we stepped away we found that our daughter who was in seventh grade couldn't write a proficient essay didn't know capitalization didn't know cursive did great in reading um but was on a fifth grade math level and we had to say goodbye to the elathe school district and we're glad we did we didn't think we could afford private school but it actually we found a GM in elathe that uh and i've talked to mark about it actually on uh just privately but we are so thankful that we did and um i would just encourage more families to look at how they might get tightened about to

13:30be part of that 7% make it 8 10% and our daughter is now flourishing she is already you know we're just uh in this what which is october she's already writing beautifully in cursive and um is already got her math scores up so we're very grateful and i just wanted to say um i i am i'm just i can't believe the school board's doing but um laver not in it shonda thank you very much you know if only the state gave a more money your kid might be a little more official you know it's what it's all about so give anymore i was bleeding out yeah thank you shonda never vote for a school bond by the way never yeah thank you see you later let's go to same joe that's where lin is lin good morning go ahead yes this is lin appearance ain't joe and you are on the radio lin thank you i'm in i'm in the why right now my deal is we've had the same issue up here in saint joe they have closed a couple schools

14:33one of the people that's on the uh board she is also a representative but they can't tell you where the money comes is going to all right and i believe that be at cancelsate cancelsate elathe whatever appear in saint joe we all need to start doing a deep dive and have you noticed it's been since mr trump is in office and these schools they're not getting that extra cash because they've stopped the board of education i believe it was well it was really what's really going on here lin uh it was really going on here is is that they did get a lot of money during covid and that money's drying up and they balloon their budgets and now they're like oh no what do we do about it that's a that's a part of it too yeah so thank you lin yeah have a good day you as well appreciate it pulling over them park go ahead Paul all right my friends um you know this is with the problem of someone like

15:37Claire and Yeager they don't look like you said they don't look themselves in the mirror they don't understand that their product is actually forcing people i think you i think i heard yesterday you may have one of your kids in a homeschool situation i know several families with the young kids that are choosing not to go in the end of the public school but even if they get half of the people back of the two thousand enrollment their budget issue is resolved so this is a this is an abject failure of leadership at the school board level and i've seen it in blue valley i've seen it in elathe for the last six years and the problem one of the problem is is that we have an incompetent republican party who can't organize how to stack roles a toilet paper when the dams are out there doing their thing and this is how we get people like Claire Reagan this is how we have people like Jim McMillan not on the school board is because the dams are actually organizing under the guys of school uh stand up blue valley elathe any a pack all these liberal whack jobs and what what are we seeing in the public schools yet the close schools because we can't balance our budget

16:41well said Paul i'll put it even simpler if that's okay you mind if i do that sure i know i have brilliant thoughts but you know no no yours yours were yours were excellent i just want to simplify it real quick for you is that okay sure help me out they don't know what the f*** you're doing you understand that this is my sanctuary of hope story i almost didn't keep my baby i was young broke and terrified then i found sanctuary of hope they gave me a safe place medical care counseling sanctuary of hope believed in me they helped me finish school and taught me how to be a mom they gave my baby a chance at life today when i look into my child's eyes i see a future i almost lost you can be that someone just twenty five dollars can help a young mother find hope instead of walking away give today at jhm.org slash hope or call 1855 694 9647 that's jhm.org slash hope or 1855

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