Author: Mary Rupert

Two schools returned to mask rule

by Mary Rupert

Two schools in the Kansas City, Kansas, Public Schools district recently returned to a mask rule for students and staff.

The two schools had experienced an upswing in COVID-19 cases, according to district officials at the Tuesday Kansas City, Kansas, Public Schools Board of Education meeting.

The district policy now is when a school building reaches COVID cases of 5 percent or greater, it will go back to masks, Superintendent Anna Stubblefield said.

The two schools that had to go back to masks recently were Lindbergh Elementary and Pearson Elementary, according to district officials.

If a school experiences a surge of COVID cases, the district officials may not wait until the new dashboard figures come out on Monday, but might decide on masks earlier than that, according to the superintendent.

Lindbergh’s case surge was in a previous week, while Pearson’s surge was not yet reported on the district’s dashboard.

According to the school district’s COVID dashboard, Wyandotte High School had 27 COVID related absences, which was 1.4 percent of the total number of students and staff. Sumner Academy had 15 cases, which was 1.3 percent.

The data by school building, as of last Monday, is listed at https://kckps.org/covid-19-statistics-by-school/.

Wyandotte County’s current community level is “low,” according to the CDC’s rankings.

Senior utility rebate program expansion proposed

by Mary Rupert

The senior utility rebate program is proposed to expand in Kansas City, Kansas.

A Unified Government committee heard a proposal on Monday night that would expand the program to all ages. Those who earn less than $25,000 a year would qualify for a utility tax rebate under the proposed program.

The Economic Development and Finance Committee approved the proposal and forwarded it to the full UG Commission for more discussion, requesting it be placed on the nonconsent agenda.

As described by UG Chief Financial Officer Kathleen von Achen, the rebate program would not result in a large windfall for anyone, but it would offer a small amount of relief for the neediest.

Currently the program is for those Kansas City, Kansas, residents 65 and older who earn less than $25,000 a year. The recipients typically receive from $50 to $200 in a rebate payment. The maximum anyone could receive is $301, but few receive that much, according to UG officials. The proposed change would allow those KCK residents of any age who meet the income guidelines to apply.

Von Achen estimated an expanded utility rebate program could add an additional 1,500 persons with an additional cost of about $250,000.

According to UG staff, in 2019 the UG processed 745 applications for the senior utility rebates for $171,000; in 2020, the number dropped to 576 applications for $134,000; and so far this year, there were 533 applications for $127,000.

The program goes from Jan. 2 to March 31 each year, and the deadline for applications this year is over. The program currently covers those over 65 who live in Kansas City, Kansas, and have total household incomes of less than $25,000 a year. Eligible expenses included utilities such as BPU bills, natural gas bills, telephone bills, as well as sales tax.

Von Achen said it would be up to the UG Commission whether to change any of the details of the utility rebate program, such as changing the maximum household income to $30,000.

The utility rebate discussion drew a comment from Louise Lynch, a Kansas City, Kansas, resident.

“I can’t begin to tell you how horrified I am in the parameters being set forth,” Lynch said at the meeting.

If this were the 1950s, limits of $25,000 per household in a two-person household might work, but today, they don’t work, according to Lynch.

“If we want to be truly helping our community, those limits have to be raised,” Lynch said.

The information about the proposed utility tax rebate program was presented at the same time as information about creating separate classes for the PILOT fee, which is the first step in potentially lowering the PILOT fee for residents.

To see the earlier story about the PILOT fee, visit https://wyandotteonline.com/proposal-moves-forward-for-separate-classes-for-pilot-fee/.

Kansas Lottery preparing for sports wagering

The Kansas Lottery is getting ready for sports wagering to start in Kansas, according to Stephen Durrell, executive director.

A bill that passed the Kansas Legislature would allow casino managers to run sports wagering in Kansas, while putting the Kansas Lottery in charge of it. Betting on college and professional sports would become legal in Kansas under the law, and it would be allowed through the state-owned casinos.

The bill would take effect on July 1, and the lottery plans to implement it as quickly and efficiently as possible, according to Stephen Durrell, executive director of the Kansas Lottery. Durrell discussed the topic at a meeting Wednesday of the Kansas Lottery Commission. There are a number of different deadlines in the bill.

Durrell said individuals in Kansas who want to place sports bets would have to have some sort of account with either a state-owned casino, with a casino application or with the Kansas Lottery, but the details of that are not yet worked out.

According to Durrell, similar to the state-owned casinos in Kansas, the Kansas Lottery would act as the owner-operator of sports wagering, with the Kansas Racing and Gaming Commission the regulator and the state casinos the day-to-day managers.

He said that casinos would do a good job of making sure that sports wagers are fair and regulated, and if players wins, the players would get the money they are entitled to.

The Kansas Lottery is meeting with casino managers to discuss rules and regulations, and also plans to meet with the Kansas Racing and Gaming Commission to discuss any gray areas of whose responsibility it will be to implement various parts of sports wagering, Durrell said. The new law is not always clear on the various responsibilities.

Senate Bill 84, which passed the Kansas Legislature, had not yet been signed into law by the governor, but Durrell said the lottery is proceeding as if it will be.

Durrell said the Kansas Lottery will create a document, a contract which would cover aspects of sports wagering.

He said casinos would have the option of selecting sports online wagering vendors, with the state having the ultimate authority on using them. Online vendors would have to pass a background check from the Kansas Racing and Gaming Commission before approval, he said.

In addition to online applications that casinos will be able to offer for sports wagering, there will be an option of making physical changes within the state casinos to offer sports wagering, he said. Any changes to the casino floors will need the approval of the Kansas Lottery, under the language of the Kansas Expanded Lottery Act, he said.

The Hollywood Casino at Kansas Speedway in Wyandotte County is one of the four state-owned casinos in Kansas.

Senate Bill 84 also included Sporting Kansas City and Kansas Speedway as two locations that can contract with managers to offer sports wagering, he said.

The bill states that any manager may enter into a marketing agreement with not more than 50 marketing entities, at least 20 percent of which are nonprofit fraternal or veterans’ organizations. Marketing agreements would have to be submitted to the Kansas Lottery for approval.

Senate Bill 84 also contained a provision that would pledge some of the sports wagering revenues toward attracting professional sports teams to Kansas.

The bill also allows wagering on historical horse races at racetrack facilities, regulated by the Kansas pari-mutuel racing laws.

A provision for “I-lottery” that had been in the bill originally was not part of the final version, according to Durrell. That means the Kansas Lottery will not be able to offer its instant games online.

More information on Senate Bill 84 is at http://www.kslegislature.org/li/b2021_22/measures/sb84/.