Olathe news briefs for the week of July 29

Teen Bash Thursday, July 30

Olathe Parks & Recreation presents the third-annual summer Teen Bash at Black Bob Park and Black Bob Bay on Thursday, July 30, from 7 to 9:30 p.m. Check-in begins at 6:45 p.m. The event is open to students entering sixth grade, through students leaving eighth grade.  The event is free with the donation of any school supply item. School supplies collected at the event will benefit the Olathe Public Schools Foundation.

The evening will include games, activities in the park, swimming, prize drawings and more! Pre-registration is required; register online or call 913-971-8563 with code 11344.

Olathe news briefs for the week of July 20

City Council

The Olathe City Council will meet Tuesday, July 21, at 7 p.m. in Council Chamber of City Hall for a regular session. Regular sessions are broadcast live on OGN (Comcast channel 7, AT&T channel 99 and on the City’s website). To see the complete agenda for this meeting, visit the City’s website at OlatheKS.org.  For a recap of the previous Council meeting, visit the City Clerk’s webpage.

Phantom Blues Band closes out 2015 summer concert series Friday, July 24

The award-winning Phantom Blues Band closes out the 2015 Olathe Free Summer Concert Series on Friday, July 24 with its mix of jazz, rhythm and blues, gospel, rock and roll, and reggae. Special guests Teresa James and the Rhythm Tramps kick off the show at 7 p.m. at Frontier Park.

Chartrand…

Remembering and honoring Rosemary Pierron

Rosemary Pierron

Rosemary Wolff Pierron of Olathe died July 18^th, 2015 from complications of Alzheimer’s Disease. She was 89. She passed peacefully, surrounded by family at the Good Samaritan Nursing Center.

Visitation will be from 6 to 8 p.m. Tuesday, July 21, preceded by a rosary, 5:30 at Prince of Peace Catholic Church.  There will be a Mass of Christian burial at 11 a.m. on Wednesday, July 22, at Prince of Peace Catholic Church, 16000 W 143rd St., Olathe. Rosemary will be interred at Resurrection Cemetery, 8321 Quivira Road, Lenexa, Kan, next to her beloved husband, Dr. G. Joseph Pierron.

Born Nov. 10, 1925, in Everest, Kan., Rosemary entered Highland Community College at the age of 16. She subsequently attended the University of Kansas where she met pre-medical student Joe Pierron. She claims the two often would sneak off together to wander through the underground steam tunnels on the KU Lawrence campus. As money was scarce, for entertainment they would sit on the benches outside the student hospital to watch the clouds change shapes.

Benefit golf tournament Aug. 21

School district cutting $2 million for 2015-16 budget; JoCo Senator wonders why?

Due to budget challenges, the Olathe Public Schools will be making approximately $2 million in budget cuts for the 2015-16 school year.

The cuts are due to increased costs and continued district growth in a time of reduced and frozen funding from the state, said Chief Financial and Operations Officer John Hutchison in a presentation to the Board of Education at its July meeting.

The district is expecting 417 new students to the district for this school year. The district has also seen an increase in utilities, the bus transportation contract, among other cost increases.

The budget cuts will be made through a variety of measures, including:

• Eliminating vacant positions
• Reducing support positions districtwide
• Custodial staff reductions
• Reduction of school budgets
• Elimination of the elementary Spanish program
• Elimination of the district mentoring program for new teachers
• Reduction of hours for some paraprofessionals
• Elimination of middle school library aides

“These types of cuts are not easy and will impact our district, but unfortunately in this tough economic time, they are necessary,” Hutchison said.

From Sen. Greg Smith’s Facebook page:

The Olathe School District is claiming they have been cut by $2 million due to the block grant, causing a loss of 80 teachers and the Spanish program. Where is the cut? I don’t see it.