Elk Konnected Hand out at County Commissioners meeting on 4/25

[Ross]

I had an interesting day yesterday while collecting signatures
for the Opposition Petition.

As I have said people that have signed the Petition have expressed distrust
of the School Board ad they still are.

But the most interesting conversation I have had, was with a gentleman that said no
to signing. He spoke of how he felt that West Elk was trying to do something.
That intrigued me and, even though he had said no and I said thank you for your time and
was preparing to leave, he continued to talk to me. And said to me, you do don't know what they are trying
to do. So, I said apparently I don't know what you are talking about. and I said, I'm all ears
and would definitely like to know what you know. He either could not or would not tell me what he knows.

So, I asked him if he aware of what happened over the so-called Professional football field.           
He said, I sure have and that he found that really frustrating.
I thanked his once again for his time and conversation and I went about my business.

The gentleman peaked my curiosity and I truthfully would like to know what he was talking about.
Does any one on here have any idea what he might have been alluding to?

A few people expressed their continued frustration over shutting down our grade schools using the
excuse to save money and then wasting money to buy portable buildings ad then calling them eye-sores.
These folks would have preferred the School Board would have done something more permanent.
They would have preferred the School Board have stayed inside the present building and divided
the extra large class rooms into two rooms because, they were designed for the purpose of doing just that
in case of a population growth. One man told me the building was designed to hold 900 children and another
man claimed the building was designed to hold 800 children. I informed them that I heard the School Superintendent
at a School Board meeting state the building was designed to hold 600 students. 

Both replied that is still more students than what we have, we only have 300 students. And I agreed with them.

One man told me the School Board, when shutting the grade schools claimed that putting the younger children together
the older students that both would grow more in their social abilities. But he continued and said
they are now claiming just the opposite. In other words they have been exploiting the children as political  tools
to manipulate the voters, but thank God it hasn't worked for them. I told him, I agreed whole heartily.

One person asked how they were able to raise our taxes 6.3 mill last fall when they are suppose to be limited limited to 4 mill, I had no answer for the gentleman. I did tell him, I was going to research that question and try to find out how they did that. If any one has an answer would you please share the answer with us.

I have acquired 100%oif the signatures I need, but will continue to  collect more until I have 150% percent
of the signatures. Last year about 20% of the signatures were disqualified. I still have about three weeks
to collect the extra needed signatures, but I plan on turning the Opposition Petition very early.

A reminder folks the Opposition Petition does not stop them from raising property taxes! It only tells them they can not
use this particular Resolution to raise our taxes 8 mill. It tells them to bring the request for higher taxes to the voters in an election. In other words let the voters voice their opinion on a ballot.

[Ross]

With a Dash of Common Sense
Please !

[Ross]

I have met some really nice people while gathering signatures for the Opposition Petition.

While driving down the highway I saw a lady walking out to her mail box and I stopped to
talk with her and before I could say anything she asked if I was gathering signatures.
And I said, yes I am ! And she said are you Ross from the forum and again I said yes I am !
I asked how did you now? I ever really received an answer but that is okay. I received some really great compliments which are greatly appreciated. And I especially appreciated her signature on the petition.

While canvassing Howard today, I knocked on a door and introduced myself, I said I'm Ross and I am talking to registered voters about property taxes. And this nice lady asked if I was Ross of the forum and I replied yes I am., And she opened the door and reached her hand out to shake my hand. I was shocked sort of, but appreciative of the hand shake and compliments.  And I especially appreciated her signature on the petition.

I do have to add that I received a couple of very rude rejections but the other 5 or 6 were very polite in saying no and I thanked them for their time and moved on. Overall it has been an uplifting experience.

Good news I have collected 150% of the required signatures, but I may continue collecting more signatures.

I wish to sincerely thank all the people that have signed the petition thus far. This job can not be done by just a few people. It takes all of us.

If this is successful like the one last fall, I will try to get a letter to the editor to let everyone know.

I must say I don't expect the School Board to learn and I expect to see them do this again and again. The School Board just does not appear to learn from their mistakes. Something most people with common sense learn from. The School Board does not seem to realize the burden they place on the elderly of our community, they seem to lack the critical thinking skills, the President of the Board said, they needed to start teaching the students of West Elk.

I think it is time for the school board to start doing the job, they took on, it's time to learn what that job is.
Part of that job is to listen to the voters ! How many times do the voters have to tell them no before they learn? I thin they have been told no at least 5 times in the last 5 years.

Their job is to run the school efficiently and effectively !  They could start by showing some leadership abilities. The school board is suppose to be manned only by elected officials, that leadership I speak would remove all non-elected people from the board ! They can provide a separate table or desk for the Clerk of the Board of Education. If they think it necessary they could provide special seats (as in chairs) for the School Superintendent and the Principal separate from the the Board of elected members. Which would provide more decorum as in behavior in keeping with good taste and propriety.

The board could also face the audience out of respect for the citizens in attendance, because it is a public meeting.

The President of the board could display some sense by utilizing critical thinking while leading discussions per the Roberts Rules of Order which their by-laws say they are suppose to be using. Perhaps the fiasco over the football field would never had happened if there would have been some critical thinking going on and some discussion among-st the board members, instead of a hasty jump to conclusions that cost the taxpayers 4 times more than it should have cost. This is the purpose of any board, to discuss problems, not to create problems.

But much like the Federal Government this School Board does not listen to the people and does not provide transparency. In plain language they don;t care about the people and they don't want the people to know what they are doing. If the truly cared about the people we would never have heard the School Board President say he did not care how mad the voters get. Yes, I heard that during a Board meeting. If they really wanted to include the community and keep the community informed they would evolve in to the 21st Century and post video of the Board Meetings on the West Elk Web site that we pay for.

Most importantly the board members should recognize that the School Superintendent is their employee not the other way and that is is a Board Meeting not a Superintendent meeting and act appropriately and with the proper decorum..

Don't confuse education with intelligence.

I say that because they tried to sell us a bunch of bull when they recorded 3 School Board members and the Superintendent and edited the video. It is my opinion by editing it they created propaganda. They could edit the video because there was not a quorum, meaning they made sure there was never 4 or more board members on the stage, which meant it was not a school board meeting. They had the school superintendent sort of as an M.C. but the board members could not talk for themselves, it was the Superintendent that answered the questions. School Board meetings that are recorded may not be edited as per Kansas State law and I believe that is why they will not record them.

Thanks again to all that have signed the Opposition Petition.

Happy Summer and good night.

[Ross]

What a beautiful day it is today, huh !

I went out and collected a few more signatures for the opposition petition.
There was just one problem, I think because of it being a beautiful so many doors
I knocked on went unanswered. I guess people were out and about enjoying the day.

I did acquire a few, but i did not stay at it to long because my wife was feeling ill and I wanted to be home to keep watch over her.

I did have one very interesting stop and enjoyed it quite a bit.
I told the gentleman who I was and he interrupted me and said I'm not signing your
petition and before I could say thank you, he said you are too much of a radical and known through out the county. I responded that if being honest is considered radical, you are right. He responded that was a matter of opinion. And I said I suppose your are right, and I said thank you and went on my way.

I do not know who he was and I don't really care who he was ! But I assume he is one of the so-called elite of Elk County.

I am quite pleased that the elite have taken notice that I stand up for the poor, the middle class, the aged and I speak the truth. It's a shame that they consider it radical.

But i think what radical means  To me it means bullheaded, determined and honest, It also means I accomplish what I set out to do.

And really the folks that have signed the Opposition Petition are only telling the School Board if they want to raise our property taxes again, bring it to an election and let all the voters say yes or no!

But like the last time they did their Resolution and were told by the voters no, bring it to an election, the School Board failed to do so. It is my opinion that the School Board members lack respect for the people by ignoring them And because they attempted to slip anoth Resolution by the voters to raise their property taxes.

It is very clear in my mind that the School Board has more than enough tax dollars to operate on if they would only quite the wasteful spending of money and if they did their jobs as the boss of the School Superintendent and told him to quite recruiting students from other School districts.

Remember, last fall the School Superintendent said they were bringing 27 students over from another school district? Remember that ? He had it put in the newspaper! And that is also when he said it cost the school $8000 per student to educate them !    Remember I posted, according to the state it costs $25,000 (+) for our own students per year.  The $8000 is only the amount collected from West Elk School District property owners, property tax payers. The School District these recruited students collect about the same amount of money from the property owner in that School District and they keep that money? Why should we, the West Elk School District property owners and taxpayers be taxed more to pay for recruited students when the can stay home so we don't get hammered.

All this apparently makes me a radical which is fine with me.
I was labeled an undesirable at the School Board meeting aby School Board Members or so I was told by a person I could trust. You see they called to have a sheriff deputy come to a school Board meeting that I was attending. I had to leave before the meeting even got half way through but a man I could trust stayed for the whole meeting. When the meeting ended he asked why the deputy was there and was tod because an undesirable was in the audience.

Now what does that tell you?
It tells me that I, as a property owner and taxpayer and voter is an undesirable.
It tells me that the School Board and the so-called elite of Elk County do not want concerned citizens involved in their locally funded governments. I say their Government because they think they own it. It is the same attitude of the Obama Administration and our Federal Government.   

The School Board is behaving like a Dictatorship by by-passing the voters by attempting to raise our property tax using the sleazy method of a Resolution. They have been told no, but they don't care, they will keep using a copied Resolution that really does not apply to their needs, that is if they have needs! And that is because they are to lazy to write their own Resolution and/or they have no real needs ! For instance show me where there is asbestos in the West Elk USD-282 School Building. Show me what building sites they want to buy. Show me what students are attending a Vocational School that falls uner the West Elk School Board. No one can show me that stuff, because it does not exist. And that is the truth!

You don;t see any of the School Board Members disputing any thing I post because it is the truth. And don't try to tell me they can not post here on the Forum, because they can.

I do believe you and I can agree that they read everything, I post just so they can have some one to complain about, if for no other reason.

I bet they have given me plenty of names that they could not politely post here. LOL

I will be turning in the Opposition Petition in most likely on Wednesday!

Has anyone read any of the School Board Minutes in the newspaper this year?
I thought, I was just missing them in the newspaper   for some reason or     forum because they can.
well a lady that signed the Opposition Petition brought it to my attention that they have only posted one meetings minutes so far this year in the newspaper.

Is that perhaps because someone is failing to do their job and earn their paycheck?
Or is it because the School Board does not think it is any of your business?
Something to think about, isn't it.

I have shot off my mouth enough for now, so I will say by-by and thanks to all the Opposition Petition signers you have made my day. Together we stand a chance to succeed.

[Ross]

This should apply equally to our out of control local Governments!
One wants to tax, tax us out of our homes
And another wants to be Socialist by giving money away !
Just telling it like it is !

[Ross]

The Opposition Petition is now in the hands of our County Clerk, who happens to be very busy
today. But she said she will get the job done this week.

Last fall the requirements to complete the petition called for 10% of the registered voters in
the West Elk School District. There were 1212 registered voters which required 121 verified registered voters. I turned in 139 signatures of which 130 were validated.

This doesn't sound like much, but when you are out there knocking on door after door and nobody answers it sure seems like a lot. It is a bit difficult to catch people at home. But it is rather rewarding when they answer the door and praise you for what you are doing to help the people.

This year with a bit of experience under my belt, I made better progress, I think. I also think, I influenced a few people to register to vote. I told them I felt like they do, that the Federal government basically throws out our votes on the National level, but I informed them their local vote carries a lot of weight.

This year, I was told the number of registered Voters had not changed much if at all. So I got prepared to meet last years 121 signatures. What I actually collected was 183 signatures and checking them against my list of registered voters, I came up with 39 signatures I could not find. But that still leaves me with a wide margin of 144 signatures to come up with 121 signatures or more. Those have to be verified by our county clerk.

I am anxious to get the County Clerks results and will share them, as soon as I get them.

One signer of the petition asked me, since this is the second time they will have been told do you think the School Board will learn, that the people have spoken. My honest answer to her was -- NO---. They will be back again and again because they fail to learn and be reasonable, I really don;;t believe they care who they hurt with excessive spending and waste of other peoples money. I don't think they care about the elderly in Elk County. As a matter of fact from attending School Board meetings, I know they don't care.

Last year they funded an all expense paid vacation for two kindergarten teachers in Las Vegas to attend a convention conducted by Common Core. There was nothing at that convention they could not have learned on Educational sites on the internet. The two teachers even bragged about going and gambling.

And this year they sent a couple of first or second grade teachers. Those were totally un-necessary and expensive trips in my opinion. Just ask those teachers if to further their education abilities if they would spend the money out of their own pocket and if they say yes, just tell them to go for it. My bet is no one would go.

The school board does these things and spend excessively on the football field to make it a professional football and then install an automatic sprinkler system so the maintenance men will not have to drag out water hoses. Which has them spending more money than they have in the budget.
Doesn't that sound a lot like the Obama Administration?

What is effective and efficient about managing a School with these attitudes? I think this explains why the School District will not stop hammering us for more and more property taxes with a resolution again in 6 more months or less. Because they do not learn and they do not care.

We need to stop confusing a College Degree
(education) with
Intelligence.

My sincere thanks to everyone that signed the petition
without you the petition would be nothing.

[Ross]

If you recall last year Mr. Moore said in the newspaper that the school had an extra 27 students
from out of district. That simply meant he had 27 students whose school district received
Federal aid and State aid and their local personal property tax to pay for their education.

West Elk as far as I know does not receive a cent of that educational funding for those 27 students.

So Mr. Moore was saying he needed another $8,000 for each for those students because that is what it cost to educate them.  Folks at I have shown you where the State says West Elk spends $25,000 per student to educate them. So you see, Mr. Moore is simply leaving out the Federal Aid and the State aid out of the calculation of cost to educate students.

Well a rumor has been circulating that Mr. Moore has paid a visit to Burden and Central High to recruit students to come to West Elk again next School year. It is said he is offering free transportation and free breakfast and free lunches for those students.

Hello, Bernie Sanders get a load of this  free transportation and free breakfast and free lunches for students that leave their school and come to West Elk. While, West Elk Students get nothing free. How cool is that?

I believe that students that pay full price for meals is in the neighborhood of $600 a year. What an incentive for parents to send their kid to West Elk, Huh?

Can anyone verify this rumor?

What can be the reason for recruiting students and bribe their parents to the tune of $600 worth of free meals?

Well it has been suggested to me to recruit athletes, but that is illegal !
But wait if you recruit enough students, it does not appear you are recruiting athletes, does it?
It has been suggested to me to fool the state into thinking we have a larger population of students in order to get more Federal and State Aid.

That sounds a lot like people that claim disabilities they don't have, in order to get Social Security Disability doesn't it?

Is it really the job of a Superintendent to recruit students and to play politics using those children to manipulate our property taxes. To me that is the worst exploitation of school children I have ever heard of!

How about you, what do you think?

I hope this is all wrong in my opinion.
I guess we will know when School starts back up again, won't we?
Will we get 27 more students?    More or less?      Maybe 25 or perhaps 30?
We will have to watch and see!

Socialism is free stuff
that someone else pays for !

HOW RADICAL IS THAT?

[Ross]

27 STUDENTS RECEIVING FREE MEALS AT $600 FOR THE YEAR
ONLY SETS THE TAXPAYER BACK FOR

$16,200.00

No big deal for the Wealthiest county in Kansas, is it?

And that isn't even talking about the $8,000 per student
the Superintendents says he needs to
Educate them!

That is just another
$216,000.00

[Ross]

GOOD NEWS
MY FRIENDS
AND FELLOW TAXPAYERS
AND VOTERS

The Opposition Petition has has been verified, certified or what ever they call it, by the Elk County Clerk and turned over to served to West Elk USD-282 School Superintendent.

WE did it again !

My sincerest thanks to everyone that signed the petition!

I doubt the School Board will learn that the taxpayers have had enough!
So we may very well have to do this again in 6 months if not sooner.

I am hoping that a few people were influenced into registering to vote
because are votes are so much more important here locally at home
than our National votes ! I know of two people that visited the Court house and
filled out the little card to register. My thanks to them as well.

I intend to send a letter to the editor this time to get the word out to the other people
that signed the petition that are not here o the forum. I didn't do that last year because
I had an emergency and ended up getting my wife in the hospital.

Many, many thanks to all.

[Ross]

Mr. Knox.

My name is L. W.  Ross, I live at:`         





Last fall West Elk USD-282 ran a Resolution in the Prairie Star newspaper, the Resolution was not to exceed 5 year and not to exceed 8 mil.

I studied and put together an Opposition Petition and gathered the needed 10% of required registered voters in the West Elk USD-282 voting district to oppose the Resolution.

I turned the petition into the County Clerk who verified the count and notarized the petition and presented it to the School Superintendent!

Well, sir after attending many School Board and hearing the School Superintendent advise the School Board numerous times that they could only raise property tax 4 mil maximum with out going to the voters. I just don't understand how West Elk USD-282 managed to raise our taxes 6.377 mil last fall.

My question I need answered is where can I find the law, rule or regulation that legally limits the mil levy raised by the School Board with out going to the voters. I am referring to last years rules or laws.

I would also like to know what actions are required if the School Board made an error in raising our property taxes by 6.377 mill, to refund the over charge? Would I be required to take the information to the Kansas State Department of Education or the Kansas State Attorney General or the Kansas Governmental Ethics Commission to get the refunds. I would like to ask for more and improved transparency of the governing of West Elk USD-282.

I just completed yet another successful Opposition Petition against a second Resolution stating not to exceed 5 years and not to exceed 8 mil.

I have personally spoke with both the School Superintendent and the Board President about, speaking up during Board Meetings due to the fact that I have a hearing disability!  And although I have very expensive hearing aids, they do not make up for various sound pitches and I have asked them to face the audience so I, and at least one other person that practice lip reading to compensate for hearing loss. The only response I received was to sit in the front row. The front row is not always available and it only makes 3' of difference.

Any help you may offer will be greatly appreciated.

Sincerely,
L. W. Ross
10 year Vietnam Veteran

P. S.  I am posting this e-mail to our local forum, minus my personal information.