The Unified Government’s American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) Subcommittee will meet at 1 p.m. Monday, Oct. 31. It will be a virtual meeting. The public may view the meeting in person in the fifth floor conference room, Suite 515 of City Hall, 701 N. 7th St., Kansas City, Kansas, or virtually through a Zoom webinar. The webinar link is https://us02web.zoom.us/j/87938999145. The webinar ID is 879 3899 9145. For more information, see https://www.wycokck.org/Departments/Clerks-Office/Agendas-Minutes.
Temperatures will reach 70 today, warming through midweek, according to the National Weather Service.
There will be breezy conditions with decreasing clouds, the weather service said.
Dry fuels and gusty winds will elevate fire weather concerns Tuesday through Thursday, according to the weather service. The next chance of showers will be late Thursday night into Friday.
The trick-or-treating forecast tonight will be 67 degrees at 5 p.m., 65 degrees at 6 p.m. and 62 degrees at 7 p.m. It will be partly cloudy. The wind will be about 10 mph from the west at 5 p.m., 5 mph from the west at 6 p.m. and 5 mph from the southwest at 7 p.m. Sunset is at 6:18 p.m.
Today it will be mostly cloudy, then gradually sunny, with a high near 70, the weather service said. A calm wind will become west northwest 5 to 7 mph in the morning.
Tonight, Halloween, it will be mostly clear, with a low of 46 and a calm wind becoming south southwest around 5 mph after midnight, according to the weather service.
Tuesday, it will be sunny, with a high near 76 and a light south wind increasing to 6 to 11 mph in the morning, the weather service said. Winds may gust as high as 18 mph.
Tuesday night, it will be clear, with a low of 53 and a south wind of 8 mph, according to the weather service.
Wednesday, it will be sunny, with a high near 74 and a south wind of 9 to 17 mph, gusting as high as 28 mph, the weather service said.
Wednesday night, it will be partly cloudy, with a low of 59, according to the weather service.
Thursday, it will be partly sunny, with a high near 75, the weather service said.
Thursday night, there is a 50 percent chance of showers, with a low of 59, according to the weather service.
Friday, there is a 60 percent chance of showers, mainly before 1 p.m., the weather service said. The high will be near 62.
Friday night, there is a 50 percent chance of showers, with a low of 48, according to the weather service.
Saturday, there is a 50 percent chance of showers, with a high near 57, the weather service said.
Saturday night, there is a 30 percent chance of showers, with a low of 48, according to the weather service.
Sunday, it will be mostly sunny, with a high near 59, the weather service said.
During a lengthy discussion regarding a proposal to place 1,600 cameras in classrooms across the district, Board of Education members committed to having future public discussions on the matter after facing criticism over a lack of community feedback.
Parents and teachers lined up Tuesday night to criticize a $6.8 million proposal to install 1,600 cameras in Kansas City, Kansas, Public Schools classrooms.
According to a description of the proposal provided by the board, the cameras could be used to record lessons that would be shared with absent students or to broadcast instruction from one classroom to several others. The recordings might also be used by administrators reviewing how staff teach in the classroom.
The proposal faced universal criticism from six community speakers who appeared at the meeting, all of whom were teachers or parents within the district.
“I spoke with several teachers, and we do not want to teach in a fish bowl,” KCKPS kindergarten teacher Shalesha Parson said. “This tells us that we are not valued, trusted or respected as educators.”
Other community speakers mirrored Parson’s concerns over the cameras potentially being used by parents and other outside personnel to monitor lessons taught in school.
Similar proposals have caused controversy in other states, such as Iowa, where lawmakers attempted to mandate cameras to monitor lessons on race and history.
Schools in Kansas City, Kansas, already have security cameras in some classrooms and common spaces, but this proposal would increase that number to include all classrooms across the district.
Board members also criticized the proposal for moving forward without feedback from community and staff members within the district.
“As a newly elected board member, this item caught me completely off guard as it did many members of our staff and community,” board member Rachel Russell said. “It is my strongest belief that decisions like these should solicit intentional feedback.”
Other members quickly requested additional public discussion on the issue, saying the limited notice and time given to community speakers was inadequate.
“I’d like to make a motion that we provide a setting to have a conversation, in-person as well as virtual, to discuss the camera issue,” Board member Wanda Brownlee-Paige said.
The board unanimously voted to discuss possible dates for further public discussion during a meeting on Nov. 3.
The Kansas News Service is a collaboration of KCUR, Kansas Public Radio, KMUW and High Plains Public Radio focused on health, the social determinants of health and their connection to public policy. Kansas News Service stories and photos may be republished by news media at no cost with proper attribution and a link to ksnewsservice.org.
