Tag: transparency
Gardner-Edgerton Mom alleges coverup after email confirms school hid from her 2024 transgender female incident in girls’ locker room
For a month beginning in mid-September, Carrie Schmidt, mother of a Gardner-Edgerton High School junior, sought information from the USD…
Kansas Commerce Dept: approve projects, then learn if they’re viable
When the Colby City Council met to discuss a new STAR bond project on Oct. 7, 2025, they had to…
Johnson County, Overland Park plan big tax increases while sitting on millions in reserves
Despite hundreds of millions of dollars in reserve, Johnson County Commissioners are planning to raise property taxes by 6.5% next…
Search for answers in 25-year-old cold case in woman’s disappearance stymied by Kansas law
Roughly 25 years ago, Jennifer Lancaster and her two young daughters left her mother’s house in Topeka, Kansas. They were…
Commerce department continues pattern of oversight failures
After multiple audits of both rounds of the “Building a Stronger Economy” (BASE) Grant program have routinely found issues with…
State ordered to pay nearly $100k in attorney fees in Fresh Vision OP 1st Amendment lawsuit
An Overland Park City Council member’s 2021 attempt to silence opposition has cost the state of Kansas nearly $100,000 as…
Audit finds ‘inconsistencies’ in Commerce’s handling or COVID funds
A new audit by the Kansas Department of Legislative Post Audit has found that the Kansas Department of Commerce did…
Prairie Village denying residents chance to vote on $30 million bond issue
The City of Prairie Village is refusing to allow residents to vote on a $30 million bond issue — and…
Department of Commerce ‘transparency database’ out of compliance with state law
A new report from the Kansas Legislative Division of Post Audit shows the Kansas Department of Commerce’s “transparency database” is…
AUDIT: STAR Bonds program continues record of failure
Three years ago the Kansas Department of Legislative Post Audit evaluated the STAR Bonds program overseen by the Kansas Department…
Commerce Department dodging questions about programs — again
The Kansas Department of Commerce is refusing to answer questions about the number of grants it has awarded over the…
USD 286 Chautauqua school board fined over KOMA violations
The Chautauqua County Board of Education has been found liable for multiple violations of the Kansas Open Meetings Act. According…
School board members share ideas on improving student outcomes at 2nd annual KSBRC conference
With the goal of reversing the downward trend in K-12 proficiency levels, school board members and superintendents from across Kansas…
500% tax increase, lack of transparency frustrates Douglas County taxpayer
Citing property taxes in Douglas County are up more than 500% in the last 25 years, nearly five times as…
JoCo Commissioners release Peg Trent opinion on library funding after Sentinel publication
In a victory for transparency, within hours of publishing a story about Johnson County Chief Counsel Peg Trent refusing to…
Olathe school district dodging questions about legal fees
The Olathe Unified School District administration and board of education are either refusing to answer questions about legal fees defending…
Johnson County Commission Chairman allows anti-Christian rant that violates county policy
Johnson County Commission Chair Mike Kelly has taken steps to stifle citizens who are concerned with or critical of county…
SB 427 would give school board members tools to improve transparency and accountability
School board members would no longer be restricted to whom they could speak on district issues, nor be barred from…
Beloit group claims school board lacks transparency in bond issue campaign
Voters in USD 273 Beloit go to the polls in April to decide the fate of a $20 million package…
House panel debates bill limiting KORA charges to provide public documents
Taxpayers won’t be overcharged to receive public documents in Kansas Open Records Act (KORA) requests any longer if House Bill…
LVCO superintendents lobby legislators and try to exclude board members
A decision to leave local school board members off an invitation list for Leavenworth County superintendents to lobby state legislators…
AG opinion on state law raises concerns about legal notices
A Kansas taxpayer is sounding an alarm about a recent opinion by Attorney General Kris Kobach, and its effect on…
Connell says shady attempt to alter ethics policy was behind his loss of temper
Disagreement over an attempt to remove conflict of interest language from district ethics policy prompted an Olathe Board of Education…
Evidence-Based Grading: another attempt to obscure poor performance?
The Shawnee Mission School District will unveil the concept of “Evidence-Based Grading” (EBG) in the upcoming school year,fueling the conversation…