Recent Kansas editorials

The Manhattan Mercury, July 17

The big decision of the past week was the governor’s delay of the start of public schools in Kansas, which strikes us as a prudent move.

Virus numbers are surging throughout the state, including the Manhattan region, and it doesn’t make a lot of sense to open schools unless that can be controlled. Opening schools is very important to society, and so we also understand the need to continue to push ahead.

On one level, it would be most prudent to just close schools until there’s a vaccine. Clearly gathering 2,000 people together in one building every weekday — which is what happens at Manhattan High — is not what a scientist would recommend. It will doubtless result in new infections.

Can appropriate measures limit those infections? Yes, clearly, the wearing of masks could cut the numbers, as could good hygiene. The real risk is the infection of older teachers and staff members, who would likely be more at risk than teenagers or younger kids in middle schools and elementary schools.

Those measures will have to be followed rigorously, or else schools will simply have to close. Because there are all sorts of thorny issues: If a student has a confirmed case, does that mean all of the teachers in his classes have to take two weeks off the job at home in quarantine? Do all the other students in all his classes? What if a teacher has a confirmed case? Do all of her students have to get tested? Do they all have to go home? Who pays for the tests? Do teachers get paid time off, or do they have to burn their own vacation?

The thing is, we as a community have to get better control of the virus right now if we want to have any chance of having a sustained school year. We have to get control of it if we have any prayer of having in-person college continue.

The governor’s order for a delay gives us a slim chance to get on top of it. People are generally complying with mask requirements, and that will help. But people can’t just decide to give up, and let their kids go to sleepovers, and insist on walking around the grocery store mask-free.

The numbers here aren’t surging out of control as they were only a couple of weeks ago. But they are still growing, far faster than they did when the whole community was locked down in March and April.

We should note that there’s reason for hope, too. Scientists are clearly making progress toward a vaccine, and toward therapeutics and far better testing. We just have to do our best to give them time by controlling our own behavior.

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The Topeka Capital-Journal, July 17

Questions have followed U.S. Rep. Steve Watkins from the campaign trail to Washington, D.C.

We don’t have the time or inclination to wade through all of the allegations here. Suffice to say that reporters dug into a sometimes-overinflated autobiography, and the stories have continued after the election. Watkins isn’t beloved by Republican insiders, and efforts to push him aside for another Republican candidate - say, state treasurer Jake LaTurner - have been ongoing.

That gives us context for the latest Watkins news eruption: the filing of felony charges against him by Shawnee County District Attorney Mike Kagay. Watkins has been charged with interference with law enforcement, providing false information, voting without being qualified and unlawful advance voting. He also faces a misdemeanor charge for not telling the DMV about an address change.

The legal action stems from one of the earlier Watkins news eruptions: the fact he had registered to vote using a UPS storefront rather than a physical address. Watkins has maintained that using the address was a simple mistake and nothing more.

As satisfying as it may be to see as lightweight a politician as Watkins face the music, the charges do carry more than a whiff of politics. They were announced before a televised debate and the opening of absentee ballots. They came at the exact time that primary elections across the state were heating up.

To be fair to Kagay, Watkins may have slow-rolled providing information to officials, and the COVID-19 pandemic no doubt slowed investigators. But there’s still no question that the charges coming when they did were a godsend to Watkins’ opponents.

Kagay should have considered the timing more carefully. He should have understood that, taking all of the context into account, these charges would be looked at critically.

With all that being said, Watkins does have explaining to do. His Republican Party has focused for years on purported voter fraud (which experts say almost never occurs on a widespread basis).

It’s richly ironic, then, that Watkins is charged with running afoul of voting law. Did he think that one set of rules existed for everyday Kansans and another for himself? Would he support changing the law to increase leniency for “mistakes” of the kind he made?

This won’t be the last time that messy questions and allegations follow Watkins. He seems to have a talent for such entanglements, and these charges will be adjudicated in some form. Primary voters will face the unenviable task of trying to separate the man from the questions.

Watkins better hope that’s possible.

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The WIchita Eagle, July 16

Everyone wants to get back to normal.

We’d all like children back in school on regular schedules, riding buses, in classrooms, with teachers who can give hugs and high-fives.

Unfortunately, things aren’t normal.

Gov. Laura Kelly’s plan to delay the start of school recognizes that simple fact: As local coronavirus cases continue to surge and Wichita-area hospitals warn that they’re nearing capacity with COVID-19 patients, we can’t just pretend everything’s OK.

The governor’s plan to keep schools closed through Labor Day would allow districts to hone plans and communicate them to employees and families.

It also would buy a few precious weeks during which residents might finally get serious about face masks, and we might see the troubling trends start to slow down or reverse.

Unfortunately, we’ll have to wait and see. If there’s one thing we know about this virus, it’s that we don’t know much about this virus.

Since the first documented case of COVID-19 in Sedgwick County, information about its spread and the best practices for protecting the community have evolved and changed. That’s the nature of epidemiology, and it’s frustrating but unavoidable.

Now, a few weeks from the planned reopening of Kansas schools, we’re looking at a long list of recommended safety protocols that will affect every aspect of the school day, from transportation to class schedules.

Once again, parents will have to adapt - and local employers will, too.

This week, Wichita school board member Ben Blankley urged Wichita-area business owners, managers and human resources officials to be flexible as parents scramble to arrange child care or supervise at-home learning.

“The school restart is going to be tough on our working families,” Blankley said. “The summer was not easy, the spring was even worse.

“The entire community needs to understand that … a layoff or a voluntary separation should not be the first option,” he said. “We should be looking at (offering workers) second shift, reduced hours, those kinds of things, because kids working remotely are going to need an adult there.”

When the governor ordered schools closed last spring, the Wichita district scrambled to keep kids learning with online programs and paper packets. Even so, about one in six high school students had no contact with their teachers during the shutdown; some schools reported even lower participation at certain grade levels.

Since then, the Wichita district revamped its online learning academy and approved spending $24 million to buy Wi-Fi-enabled devices for all secondary students.

Even the best technology can’t replace face-to-face instruction with caring, qualified teachers, so it’s no wonder that many Kansans want a swift return to in-person classes.

But this pandemic has other plans. The governor’s order to delay reopening schools is unfortunate but prudent, and the Kansas Board of Education should approve the plan.

Then it’s up to all of us - particularly local employers - to adjust, adapt and accommodate working parents as much as possible.