News

ELLY GRIMM

   • Leader & Times

After a brief tease at a previous meeting, the USD 480 school board heard the district’s Kansas Assessment Program (KAP) results at its most recent meeting Monday evening.

“One thing I do want to have the board know is the 2023-2024 KAP summative assessment was on a different scale with different Performance Level cut scores. Therefore, they advise not to compare results from this year to last year,” Assistant Superintendent of Academics Dr. Maria Gomez-Rocque said. “Then, to give some definitions, a scale score is a mathematical conversion of the total number of points a student earned on an assessment into a score along a predefined scale, and the scale spread on the KAP assessments range from 400 to 700. Scale scores compare a student’s performance to the expectation of the grade level and subject area. The subject areas we’re tested on are English Language Arts (ELA), math and science. Students performing at Levels 3 and 4 are reaching those expectations, while students performing at Levels 1 and 2 are still working toward reaching proficiency. And again, this is for grade level standards. This year, we are making comparisons to state outcomes due to the 2025 KAP assessment having different Performance Level cut scores. School buildings can make comparisons to the district and to the state.”

ROBERT PIERCE

   • Leader & Times

In early October, more than 1,300 people made their way to Southwest Medical Center’s 2025 Community Health Fair at the Seward County Activity Center.

The health fair also saw 2,671 free exams and screenings performed, a number SWMC Marketing and Development Director Janeth Vazquez called astounding.

Vazquez said the annual Community Health Fair is the largest of its kind in the region, with dozens of health care providers, local organizations and volunteers brought together to offer free and low-cost health services designed to help residents take charge of their well being.

With all of this in mind, Vazquez said the 2025 health fair was quite successful.

Kansas Department of Transportation

The Kansas Department of Transportation will start a resurfacing project this week along U.S. Highway 83 starting from the Haskell/Seward county line north to the U.S. Highway 56/83 junction.

U.S. 83 will be reduced to one lane in smaller sections as work takes place on the 6-mile project area. Motorists should expect delays of up to 15 minutes as flaggers and a pilot car direct one-lane traffic through the work zone.

ELLY GRIMM

   • Leader & Times

Those wanting to help the community take on a more festive look will soon have just that chance thanks to the Liberal Chamber of Commerce.

The Liberal Chamber of Commerce will again be hosting its Wrap-A-Lamp decorating contest, and people can sign up and register to decorate a lamp pole. The deadline to be assigned a pole is Nov. 17, and decorating can begin any time after Nov. 14, with the lamp poles being fully decorated by Nov. 26. Chamber of Commerce staff will assign the poles to the people who register, and in order to do that, they need to get in touch with the Chamber office at (620) 624-3855. Staff will have a map of all the posts and assign a lamp to those who participate. This year, the categories will be Most Holiday Spirit, Most Inspirational, Most Creative, Most Whimsical, Most Original, and Most Humorous, and those winners will receive a Chamber gift certificate.