Category: Education

New superintendent could be named Friday

Update: Change to agenda announced. See end of story.

The Kansas City, Kansas, Board of Education is expected to vote on a contract for a new superintendent on Friday, April 23.

A special board meeting will be held at 3 p.m. Friday online, and is expected to be live-streamed on the district’s YouTube channel. The board room currently isn’t open to the public because of COVID-19 safety precautions.

Edwin Birch, a spokesman for the Kansas City, Kansas, Public Schools, did not release the name of the superintendent candidate on Thursday when asked.

While there were some reports made earlier at board meetings on the superintendent search, there wasn’t any report on it made during the past few school board meetings.

The agenda for the Friday meeting did not contain the name of the superintendent candidate.

When asked why nothing has been heard publicly about the superintendent selection for the past few meetings, Birch said the year was different because of COVID-19.

There was hesitation about holding large gatherings this year because of the pandemic, he said. Birch said there had been community input early with four virtual town hall meetings and an online survey where residents were asked what characteristics they would like to see in a superintendent.

In 2018, prior to the selection of Dr. Charles Foust as superintendent, there were board meetings where the public was invited to meet the finalists for superintendent.

Dr. Alicia Miguel was named interim superintendent of the school district in August 2020 when Dr. Foust accepted another position.

JG Consulting of Austin, Texas, was the search firm.

At a school board meeting on Feb. 23, the school board president said the search firm was affected by the extremely cold temperatures and power outages in Texas. The president reported at that meeting they had 21 completed applications from 11 different states.

The school board received a letter from Rachel Russell that was read at the April 13 board meeting. It said in part that she was disappointed at the lack of the opportunity for the community to engage with the two finalists. She felt that transparency and communication was lacking. The April 13 meeting is online at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z1YTmWAsAzg.

The agenda for the 3 p.m. April 23 board meeting has been changed to include a budget priority discussion from 3 to 4 p.m., followed by the superintendent selection scheduled around 4:25 p.m.

KCK resident inducted into Phi Kappa Phi

Rachel Leonard of Kansas City, Kansas, was recently initiated into The Honor Society of Phi Kappa Phi, the nation’s oldest and most selective all-discipline collegiate honor society. Leonard was initiated at Pittsburg State University.

Leonard is among approximately 30,000 students, faculty, professional staff and alumni to be initiated into Phi Kappa Phi each year. Membership is by invitation only and requires nomination and approval by a chapter.

Leonard has bachelor’s and master’s degrees and teaches English at Schlagle High School.

Only the top 10 percent of seniors and 7.5 percent of juniors are eligible for membership. Graduate students in the top 10 percent of the number of candidates for graduate degrees may also qualify, as do faculty, professional staff and alumni who have achieved scholarly distinction.


Phi Kappa Phi, which recognizes and promotes academic excellence and engages scholars in service to others, was founded in 1897. It has more than 325 chapters on campuses in the United States and Philippines.

KCKCC’s PTK chapter recognized for increasing membership

The Mu Delta Chapter of Phi Theta Kappa at Kansas City Kansas Community College has been recognized as a 2021 REACH Chapter.

The REACH (Recognizing Excellence in Acceptance and Completion with Honors) Awards program recognizes Phi Theta Kappa chapters that excel in membership development and recruitment campaigns.

The program rewards chapters for maintaining or increasing their membership acceptance rate by 15 percent or higher during the 2020 calendar year. As part of the recognition, KCKCC will receive three Phi Theta Kappa graduation stoles, which can be distributed to chapter officers or members to be worn during graduation. The Mu Delta Chapter was one of 28 in the state of Kansas to be recognized this year.

“In light of COVID and having fewer Phi Theta Kappa students on campus, I was shook,” said Dr. Stacy Tucker, director of the Honors Education Program – Phi Theta Kappa at KCKCC of the recognition. “It is an honor to be a chapter that was named among the 1,081 chapters listed as a REACH Chapter.”

PTK is an international honor society of two-year colleges and academic programs. It also includes associate degree-granting programs offered by four-year college. To be eligible for membership, students must have completed at least 12 hours of associate degree course work with at least a 3.5 grade point average.

Tucker said PTK offers a variety of benefits for students including transfer scholarships, an official PTK seal on a student’s diploma, notation of PTK membership on a student’s transcript, recommendations for college and job applications and having the privilege of wearing a PTK gold stole and tassel at graduation. In addition, once students are a member of PTK, they are always a member.

“In Fall 2020, our chapter decided to offer membership applications online, so students could join PTK without coming to campus,” she said. “This application also gave students the ability to learn more about Phi Theta Kappa.”

For more information about Phi Theta Kappa, visit www.ptk.org.

  • From Kelly Rogge, KCKCC public relations manager