Rain is in the forecast from Friday through Monday. (National Weather Service graphic)
Skies will be sunny today, with a high near 62, according to the National Weather Service.
Thursday’s weather will be similar, before showers move in on Friday, the weather service said.
Saturday, Sunday, Monday and Tuesday also have chances for rain, according to the weather service.
Up to two inches of rain is possible through Monday in some areas of the region, the weather service said.
Severe weather is not expected at this time, according to the weather service.
Today, it will be sunny with a high near 82 and an east northeast wind of 7 to 9 mph, the weather service said.
Tonight, it will be clear, with a low of 12 and an east wind of 6 mph, becoming calm in the evening, according to the weather service.
Thursday, it will be sunny, with a high near 68, the weather service said. A calm wind will become south southeast 5 to 7 mph in the morning.
Thursday night, there is a 20 percent chance of showers after 1 a.m., according to the weather service. The low will be around 48 with a south southeast wind of 6 mph.
Friday, there is a 40 percent chance of showers, with a high near 69, the weather service said. A south wind of 6 to 11 mph will gust as high as 20 mph. Less than a tenth of an inch of rain is possible.
Friday night, there is a 40 percent chance of showers, with a chance of thunderstorms after 1 a.m., according to the weather service. The low will be around 55. Between a tenth and quarter-inch of rain is possible.
Saturday, there is a 60 percent chance of showers, with thunderstorms also possible after 1 p.m., the weather service sai. The high will be near 70.
Saturday night, there is a 60 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms, followed by showers after 1 a.m., according to the weather service. The low will be around 59.
Sunday, there is a 70 percent chance of showers, with thunderstorms also possible after 1 p.m., the weather service said. The high will be near 74.
Sunday night, there is a 70 percent chance of showers, with a low of 60, according to the weather service.
Monday, there is a 60 percent chance of showers, with a high near 74, the weather service said.
Monday night, there is a 50 percent chance of showers, with a low of 59, according to the weather service.
Tuesday, there is a 60 percent chance of showers, with a high near 75, the weather service said.
Since the majority of students have returned in person to the Kansas City, Kansas, Public Schools, there have been a few COVID-19 cases, according to school district officials.
The cases resulted in some large numbers of quarantined students at the Carl Bruce and Eisenhower middle schools, Dr. Alicia Miguel, interim superintendent, said at the Tuesday night Kansas City, Kansas, Board of Education meeting.
Dr. Miguel added that there is great compliance with the school district’s mask mandate in all the schools, among all the age groups.
Three students tested positive at Carl Bruce school, including two students in the seventh grade and one in the sixth grade, Dr. Miguel reported. The first two did not appear to be linked, and the third had a known COVID positive patient in the household.
The health personnel and staff of the district did contact tracing in the cases, she said. There were 163 students who were in quarantine, she said. At this time, none of the quarantined students or staff have tested positive, she added.
Eisenhower Middle School had six positive cases, she said. So far, no cases have spread inside the student population, she added. Two of the cases had household family members who were positive, and other cases are not believed to be related, she said.
None of the quarantined students and staff reported positive in any of the cases, she said.
Elizabeth Morris, health services coordinator for the school district and a registered nurse, works closely with the staff to identify possible contacts. The process usually starts with a phone call from a nurse that a student has been identified as positive, she said at the school board meeting. Then they get in touch with the lead COVID nurse. They find out information about the classroom, if the student rides the bus and goes to after-school activities.
Then they gather the classroom seating carts, she said, and check them. They find out if students stayed with the class seating chart. Sometimes kindergarten students don’t stay with the chart, she added. Most of the other elementary classes stay in their seats, in small pods, she added.
If the positive student rode the bus, the staff needs to find out how many days they rode it, and who they sat next to, she added. Middle school has many classroom changes, and they need to find out how many students were within the six-foot distance. It is usually five to six in each classroom.
When there are positive cases, an extra nurse is sent to assist with supervising, and there also may be additional nursing assistants sent who go through seating charts, make phone calls, and watch kids waiting to be picked up because they are quarantined, she said.
Identification of persons exposed on the bus is a challenge, and it relies on video identification, Morris said. It takes hours to go through the videos and see who was within six feet for 10 minutes or longer, she added.
The schools have test kits provided by the Health Department, she said. The nurses encourage testing of students who have been exposed or who have symptoms, and if the students decline, the students will have to stay home for 10 days. The district’s policy has been based on Health Department recommendations, she added.
Seventeen percent of students who tested positive had no symptoms at the time of the test, and 83 percent had symptoms, Morris said.
If a child has any symptoms, the school asks the parent to keep the child at home and get tested, she added.
Dr. Miguel said she shared the example of the two middle schools because they had the most cases in the district. There were many students who had to be kept at home until they could do the tracing, she said. She said the district asked the Health Department if the two schools should be closed, and they said absolutely not.
Dr. Miguel said the district’s older high school students were vaccinated last week. At this time, anyone 16 and older can get a free vaccine. The school district had about 250 students who volunteered to receive a vaccine, she said. Younger students had to get parental consent.
The district now is in conversations with the Health Department to send mobile vaccination units to the five district high schools, she said. Vaccinations would be for students and their families, anyone who wanted it, she said. Vaccinations would be after hours, she added. It will help schools return to as normal as possible and be safer in the summer and fall, she said.
On Tuesday, after the emergency use authorization was extended to students 12 and older, the district started having conversations about vaccinating middle school students 12 and older. A tentative plan is to vaccinate students on the last week of school, then have them come back on a day during summer school to get the second dose. As soon as they have more details they will be sharing them, she said. They also want to encourage families to get the vaccine.
She said the staff will be there at mobile vaccination clinics for support. School is a place where they can feel welcome and safe, and come with the whole family to get a vaccine, for those 12 and older, she added.
Free vaccinations available Wednesday
Free walk-in COVID-19 vaccinations will be available for everyone over age 16 from noon to 7 p.m. Wednesday, May 12, at the former Kmart, 7836 State Ave., Kansas City, Kansas.,
Free vaccinations also will be available from 9 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Wednesday May 12, at the Kansas National Guard Armory, 100 S. 20th (18th and Ridge), Kansas City, Kansas.
The former Best Buy, 10500 Parallel Parkway, Kansas City, Kansas, will be closed on Wednesday.
The Health Department will be doing more mobile vaccinations, and people may request vaccines to be given at different sites in the community by going to WycoVaccines.org and clicking on “mobile vaccine request.” People also may request a ride to vaccination sites on the same page.
UG Health Department vaccinations are now open to people from other counties and states. People may walk in for vaccinations or can schedule them.
Those who wish to schedule an appointment may use the Health Department’s self-scheduling tool at WycoVaccines.org and click on a blue button that says, “Click here to schedule an appointment online.” The page is available in Spanish by clicking at the top of the page. Walk-in appointments also are welcome.
Those who don’t have an internet connection may call 3-1-1 or 913-573-5311 for assistance in scheduling their vaccination appointment time and date. To see more information about Health Department vaccinations and next week’s schedule, visit WycoVaccines.org.
Other sites available for vaccination
Vaccinations at KU Health System are open to the public. Current patients may use MyChart to make an appointment. Others may call 913-588-1227 or visit kansashealthsystem.com/vaccine to make an appointment to get vaccinated.
CVS has announced walk-in appointments for COVID-19 vaccine at some of its stores. Those interested in getting a vaccination at a CVS pharmacy are asked to visit a CVS website in order to make sure there is vaccine available. The website is at www.cvs.com/.
Other pharmacies and sites giving vaccines are listed at www.vaccines.gov.
Case numbers reported
KU Health System reported an increase in the number of patients on Tuesday. There were 25 patients with the active virus being treated, an increase of one since Monday. Nine of the patients were in the intensive care unit, the same as Monday. Four patients were on ventilators, a decrease of one from Monday. There were 13 COVID-19 patients who were out of the acute infection phase, an increase of three from Monday. There were a total of 38 patients, an increase of four since Monday.
Wyandotte County reported an increase of 11 COVID-19 cases on Tuesday, May 11, for a cumulative 18,599 cases, according to the Unified Government Health Department’s COVID-19 webpage. There was a cumulative total of 292 deaths reported, no change.
The Mid-America Regional Council’s COVID-19 dashboard reported 171,876 cumulative COVID-19 cases.. The daily average of new hospitalizations was 58.
The Kansas Department of Health and Environment reported 310,927 cumulative COVID-19 cases in Kansas on Monday, May 10, an increase of 345 cases since Friday, May 7. There were a total cumulative 5,016 deaths reported statewide, the same as Friday.
The Johns Hopkins University COVID-19 dashboard on Tuesday night reported 32,779,153 cumulative COVID-19 cases in the United States, with 582,848 total deaths reported nationwide. There were 36,231 new cases nationwide and 399 new deaths nationwide. States with the highest number of new cases were North Carolina, 3,753; Michigan, 2,987; Texas, 2,715; Florida, 2,296; and California, 2,166.
Countries with the highest number of new cases were India, 329,942; U.S., 36,231; Brazil, 25,200; Iran, 18,408; and Argentina, 17,381, according to Johns Hopkins information.
One of the WellHealth sites for free COVID-19 testing is open beginning at 8 a.m. Wednesday, May 12, at Lowe’s at 6920 State Ave., Kansas City, Kansas. Appointments are required. For more information, to see other testing sites and to make an appointment, visit https://www.gogettested.com/kansas.
Free COVID-19 testing will be available from 1 p.m. to 6 p.m. Wednesdays at the Vibrant Health Cordell D. Meeks Jr. Clinic, (formerly Children’s Mercy West), 4313 State Ave., Kansas City, Kansas. No appointment is needed. People can get tested regardless of symptoms or exposure.
Dennis Covington, chief finance and operating officer, showed this slide about raising the local option budget authority to 33 percent. The chart showed the total mill rate staying the same at 49.650 mills. (From Kansas City, Kansas, Board of Education meeting)
The Kansas City, Kansas, Board of Education on Tuesday night refinanced bonds and raised its local option budget authority to 33 percent.
The action to raise the LOB authority from 30 to 33 percent will not cause the total district mill levy to increase, according to district officials.
While the two actions were independent of each other, they both aligned with the overall objective of improving the district’s financial picture, according to Dennis Covington, chief finance and operating officer.
Refinancing the bonds would save the district about $4 million in interest, according to Covington. The district plans to refinance $82.4 million in general obligation improvement bonds from 2016. The underwriter is Piper, Sandler and Company of Leawood, Kansas, and the bond attorneys are Gilmore and Bell.
Covington said the district has refinanced bonds on about seven different occasions, and about two years ago, it saved the district about $30 million.
Board member Valdenia Winn asked several questions about the refinancing and the increase in the LOB authority.
The district underwent a major building campaign over the past several years, with a bond issue of $235 million. Answering a question from Dr. Winn, Covington said there will also be future opportunities to refinance until they pay off the rest of the bonds.
Refinancing passed on a 4-3 vote with Yolanda Clark, Janey Humphries, Randy Lopez and Dr. Stacy Yeager voting yes, and Maxine Drew, Wanda Brownlee Paige and Dr. Winn voting no.
On increasing the LOB authority from 30 to 33 percent, Covington said the board would have the discretion of how much of that taxing authority it would choose to use. The board will decide at the time it passes the budget how much the LOB rate will be. If the final decision is 33 percent, it could generate an additional $4 million in state aid for operations, according to Covington.
Covington said although the LOB authority was increasing, it would not increase the district’s total mill rate. He said the bond and interest fund would be reduced by 1.16 mills and the supplemental general fund would increase by 1.16 mills.
Dr. Winn asked why wouldn’t taxes increase in 2022-2023, with the LOB going up to 33 percent.
Covington said taxes would not increase because of this action. The overall school district mill rate would stay at 49.650 mills, not changing, he said.
Dr. Winn said that didn’t appear logical to her.
The vote to raise the LOB authority to 33 percent was 5-2, with Yolanda Clark, Maxine Drew, Janey Humphries, Randy Lopez and Dr. Stacy Yeager voting yes.
Dr. Winn and Wanda Brownlee Paige voted no, and Paige said, “because I find this hard to believe.”
The school board has not yet approved a budget for fiscal year 2022.
Several other items also were discussed at the 5.5-hour meeting Tuesday night. The meeting is online at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a3x6wQyeKls.
