Just over a year into the school district’s CiCo Park improvement project, officials say they are on track for an August completion. BHS Construction project manager AJ Devlin on Wednesday told USD 383 school board members that Phase 2 upgrades to the district’s sports facilities at the park are going well. The upgrades include four new turf ballfields, eight tennis courts, and a track and field throwing area that will include two discus rings with sectors, two shotput rings and a javelin runway. At the ballfields, turf is going down, Devlin said, and workers are installing overhead netting to protect…
Author: Megan Moser
School start times will not be returning to the school board agenda after a vote by the new board Wednesday night. As previously reported, USD 383 Manhattan-Ogden last month voted to change school start times for the 2026-27 school year. The shift is intended to address a bus driver shortage and moves elementary start times more than an hour earlier to 7:30 a.m. Members of the public — mostly elementary parents — have since protested the decision, saying it’s too early for young kids to wait on buses and that it will pose problems with childcare. To view the full…
Kansas Rep. Angel Roeser is changing her name — at least personally. She said since it’s a slow process, she won’t change her name for her work in the Legislature right away. Roeser is a Republican representing the 67th District, which includes part of Manhattan. She’s in the second year of a two-year term and said Tuesday she hasn’t decided whether to run again in November. According to Elk County District District Court documents filed Dec. 11, she changed her name From Angelina Roeser to Angelina Tran, which was her last name prior to her marriage to Joshua Roeser. The…
Let’s get cracking: the local food pantry is need of egg cartons. Executive director Karla Hagemeister, who is also a member of the Manhattan-Ogden School Board, shared Wednesday that the Flint Hills Breadbasket has a ton of eggs and would welcome empty cartons. “We’re getting four pallets eggs that are bulk packed, so they need to be repacked by the dozen,” she said, and someone made a gasp. “It’s OK. We can do hard things,” she said, laughing. She said the Breadbasket also will need volunteers to help pack on Wednesday, Jan. 14, and Monday, Jan. 19. Given the fragile…
Wednesday was the last meeting for USD 383 school board members Christine Weixelman and Karla Hagemeister. Next week the board will welcome new board members Courtney Jane Hochman and Lew Faust. Board member Jayme Morris-Hardeman also won in November’s election and will continue her tenure. Morris-Hardeman also was nominated to be the new board president. The vote will take place at the next meeting, but no one nominated any other candidates. Board member Greg Hoyt volunteered to serve as vice president. To view the full article visit theMercury.com. Click here for more USD 383 news.
Nearly the first hour of Wednesday’s meeting went to people pleading the USD 383 school board to reconsider its changes to school start times. About a dozen parents and teachers spoke during public comment, hoping for the board to reverse its Dec. 17 decision to have elementary students start class earlier and high school students start later. The board took no action toward revisiting the issue. “I believe in the process,” said board member and former MHS principal Greg Hoyt. “I believe in the work of the committee. I believe in respecting the work of the committee.” To view the…
Riley County on Monday approved the hire of a new coroner. County commissioners voted unanimously to name Dr. David Dupy of Salina the medical examiner for this district, which includes Riley and Clay counties. Dupy is also the coroner for Saline, Ottawa and a few other counties. The previous coroner, Dr. Susan Speaks, is retiring. To view the full article visit theMercury.com. Click here for more Riley County news.
The Manhattan-Ogden Board of Education didn’t violate state public meeting rules in changing the district’s start times, the board president says. The board at its Dec. 17 meeting voted 5-2 to change schedules for next school year, pushing elementary start times more than an hour earlier, and moving middle and high school start times later. The main impetus was a bus driver shortage; the district doesn’t need as many drivers if it uses a system with three different start times instead of two. Since then, number of parents are complaining that the USD 383 school board violated procedural rules to…
The Manhattan-Ogden school district on Wednesday adopted changes to the board member ethics policy. That change follows controversy in September surrounding board member Katie Allen, who commented on a Facebook post related to political influencer Charlie Kirk’s death. The post included a quote from Kirk, who said, “I think it’s worth to have a cost of, unfortunately, some gun deaths every single year so that we can have the Second Amendment to protect our other God-given rights.” Allen commented, “Well deserved.” She later deleted the comment and apologized. The situation drew intense criticism from the community and other board members, who…
Elementary students will start their days earlier next year, while middle and high school students will start later. USD 383 board members at Wednesday’s meeting voted 5-2 to approve a schedule that pushes elementary start times from 8:45 a.m. for 2025-26 more than an hour earlier to 7:30 a.m. next school year. Middle school students will go from starting at 7:40 a.m. this year to 8:40 a.m. And high school students, who started at 7:40 a.m. this year, will start class at 8 a.m. That also means a change in end times. Elementary schools will go from ending at 3:45…