Ask lawmakers
to support Alzheimer’s and dementia patients
On Tuesday, Feb. 7, I joined nearly 100 Alzheimer’s Association advocates at the Kansas State Capitol to meet with our legislators about the importance of two legislative asks.
The first ask was the creation of a Dementia Services Coordinator position within the Kansas Department of Aging and Disability Services (KDADS). Currently 55,000 Kansans have Alzheimer’s with more than 85,000 Kansans caring for them, but there lacks a position to evaluate and coordinate state-funded dementia services for these Kansans.
The second ask, “Charlie’s Bill” would establish the right to appeal an involuntary transfer from an assisted living facility. Currently in Kansas, residents of assisted living centers have no right to an appeal if they are involuntarily discharged from their home and sadly, some residents with dementia have been discharged to homeless shelters and hotels without their family’s knowledge. This can result in “transfer trauma” and can be detrimental for these individuals and families.
As an assistant professor at the Center on Aging at Kansas State University, I was excited to bring some of our Gerontology students with me to the Alzheimer’s Association Kansas Advocacy Day so they could connect with our elected officials in person and share how important they believe it is to care for our aging population.
Together, we urged legislators to support families facing Alzheimer’s by supporting Charlie’s Bill and the suggested dementia services coordinator position and I encourage you to also reach out to your state legislators and urge them to support these critical legislative asks.
Jessie Piper,
Randolph
Become a ‘friend’
of Manhattan Public
Library ahead of spring book sale
It is a great time to join the Manhattan Library Association (MLA) or renew your membership today. Our nonprofit “friends group” works to raise critical funding for literacy programs at our Manhattan Public Library.
Last year, we provided $19,000 in funding to support both youth and adult programs at the library. We support the annual bookmark contest, Books for Babies early literacy initiative, and the Rosie’s Corner Used Book Store. We were also named the Outstanding Friends Group in Kansas 2022 by Friends of Kansas Libraries.
Every year, we host our Annual Book Sale to give you an amazing opportunity to purchase a wide variety of gently used books – kids picture books, adult fiction, nonfiction, and more. It is also our largest fundraiser, helping to support those critical library programs.
Your MLA membership gives you special early-bird access Friday evening. Mark your calendars for April 28-30 for our Annual Book Sale, held at Wefald Pavilion in City Park. Thank you Manhattan for your support and we’ll see you at the book sale.
Stephen Bridenstine
Membership Chair
Manhattan Library Association
USD 383 community should help local
special education
As a member of the USD 383 Board of Education, I’m writing to ask our community to advocate for the Kansas legislature to fully fund special education — this year and into the future.
There’s no refuting the current system of funding Special Education needs to be overhauled and simplified. However, until the legislature accomplishes this cumbersome and heavily politicized task, citizens need to understand why not fully funding SPED hurts all public school students.
The federal Individuals with Disabilities Act (IDEA) mandates that public schools provide a free and appropriate education and related services to children with disabilities. That’s the law of the land.
When IDEA was originally passed in 1975, the federal government promised to pay 40% of the cost of those services annually to the states. Historically, the federal government has not met this level of commitment, nor has its contributions kept up with the price of inflation.
It costs much more to educate and serve special education students than general education students. By statute, the State of Kansas is required to reimburse local school districts at the end of each fiscal year 92% of the “excess costs.” The State of Kansas hasn’t paid its share since 2011.
Local school districts are required by law to provide students with the services agreed upon in a student’s Individualized Education Plan (IEP). This must happen even if the state or federal governments fail to pay their portion of the cost. School districts have had no choice but to subsidize the cost of SPED services out of their general operating funds. Over the past decade, that’s equaled nearly $31 million in USD 383.
(That’s way more than the cost of building our latest elementary school!)
When money must be transferred from general education to cover SPED, money is taken away from all kids to support the education of a smaller number of kids with more expensive needs.
That means there’s less money available to ensure a quality education for everyone — and less money local boards have available to address other local priorities.
One of the biggest challenges for local districts is that we don’t know how much SPED reimbursement we will get until the very end of the fiscal year. Since we can’t end the year with a deficit by law, we must reserve enough funds to cover what the state shorts us. Last fiscal year, the amount 383 general funds had to subsidize was nearly $4 million.
The bottom line is that many Kansas legislators feel it is more important to reduce government spending than improve public education. In a year when the state has a budget surplus much greater than the amount needed to fully fund this school year’s commitment to local districts, many legislators are suggesting we kick the can while they sort out the issue.
Yes, the state needs to work with the Kansas State Department of Education to develop a better strategy for funding SPED. But given the speed the state operates and with such heated division in Topeka, this process could take several years to complete. In the meantime, local districts will have to continue to subsidize SPED. Your local school board has many things it wants to do to strengthen USD 383 — increase salaries to attract and retain teachers and staff, address concerns about safety and mental health, and produce better student outcomes.
But until this SPED funding issue is resolved, our general operating budgets will continue to be shorted by millions annually, limiting our ability to prioritize these important issues. It’s time we demand the legislature fully fund SPED.
Kristin Brighton
3917 Golden Eagle Drive
Let’s design a hospital gown that’s better
for patients, nurses
When patients are in hospital for a variety of tests, hospital gowns are a problem for nurses to hook up equipment.
If nurses could design patients’ gowns, they could reach what they need to easier. That would be better for the patient. Call them “Reachables.”
Hospitals ads could announce, “Our patients wear Reachables!”
Generous hearts and groups could give money to hospitals for Reachables.
Recently I learned that placing equipment on the patient is a struggle through gowns, also that hospitals use lots of gowns.
How about some kind groups donating for “Reachables: Patient gowns designed by nurses”?
Helen Roser
2121 Meadowlark Road
