SALINA, Kan. (KWCH)—School districts across Kansas responded differently to winter conditions on Tuesday morning, which brought subzero temperatures and dangerous windchills. With the air temperature and windchill being the biggest concerns, the question for districts was whether buses could get running and if students would be safe to wait on the buses.

The Salina school district held school on Tuesday after ensuring that buses were running. The district encouraged parents to bundle their children in layers, but excused absences for students who stayed home due to the weather.

“Ultimately, our parents and guardians have the option to keep their children home when they have concerns about getting to school safely in the bitter cold. At Salina Public Schools, the absence is excused by reporting it in keeping with regular reporting procedures at the child’s school,” the district said.

In Western Kansas, the Garden City school district canceled classes on Tuesday because the cold weather was too much for their buses. The district issued a statement saying, “Diesel fuel began to gel due to the temperature. This was creating an issue of getting the buses started and running correctly.

In the Wichita area, responses varied based on bus availability and the time that students had to spend outside. The Wichita school district canceled classes on Tuesday, as did several surrounding districts including Maize, Valley Center, Goddard and Haysville.

Several districts throughout Kansas, including McPherson, opted to start two hours late on Tuesday.

With cold weather and how school districts respond, Salina parent Terry Hill said that ultimately as parents, it’s important to remember one thing.

“I’m sure the school district makes their decisions based [on] many, many, many different criteria, weather being one of them,” he said. “It all comes down to if you feel that loss of a school day is that important.”

Hill said Salina Public Schools made the right call on Tuesday by leaving the decision as to whether or not students attended up to their parents.

“Giving us parents the option is good because it allows us to make a decision on if we want to subject our children to it or not,” he said. “if they feel like it’s safe enough to get buses out and get kids to and from school then I’m sure they’re making the right decision on that.”

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TOPEKA —  Three agriculture organizations, a lobbyist for real estate interests and a conservative think tank endorsed legislation Tuesday repealing a statewide property tax delivering $84 million to public building projects in Kansas.

Under a Senate bill, the state’s 1.5-mill property tax for constructing, equipping and repairing state buildings would be deleted. The state’s general treasury would be responsible for $75 million — a $9 million cut from this year’s property-tax allocation — dedicated to projects at universities, veterans’ homes and cemeteries, schools for blind and deaf children, state hospitals for people with mental illness or developmental disabilities, and the state’s juvenile correctional facility.

The bill says the general fund, which includes sales and income tax revenue, would be the source of $50 million earmarked for university building priorities. Separately, $25 million would be designated for other state building projects. The measure says lawmakers should raise appropriations to both funds by 2% annually.

The Legislature, however, would retain authority to reset on a yearly basis state spending on building maintenance.

The proposal was part of the Republican-led Legislature’s response to complaints about high property taxation in Kansas. During the 2024 legislative session, the House, Senate and Gov. Laura Kelly approved a $1.2 billion, three-year plan that concentrated on income tax policy. There were sales and property tax changes in that law, but the public was disappointed property tax adjustments took a back seat.

“This bill is a great starting point to provide much-needed relief to all Kansas property taxpayers,” said John Donley of Kansas Farm Bureau. “As we have testified in the past, the state and local government’s reliance on property taxes has reached a point where action must be taken.”

The Kansas Livestock Association and Kansas Grain and Feed Association shared comparable testimony with the Senate Assessment and Taxation Committee.

Mark Tomb, lobbyist with the Kansas Association of Realtors, said changing the source of funding for building projects at Kansas Board of Regents universities and other state agencies was overdue.

“The two funds addressed in this legislation support institutions that work with Kansas’ most vulnerable residents as well as support construction and repair of buildings under control of the Kansas Board of Regents,” he said. “Removing these property tax levies does not eliminate the state’s obligation to support these important programs.”

There was no question the state of Kansas could afford property tax relief simply by finding efficiencies in the state budget, said Dave Trabert, CEO of the Kansas Policy Institute.

Under Senate Bill 35, the change would occur in the fiscal year starting July 1, 2026. On July 1, 2027, an additional 2% would be allocated to the building funds. In that second year, it would equate to a $1 million bump for universities and a $500,000 upgrade for the other building fund. The law would sunset in 10 years, which means the Legislature would have to reconsider the program in 2036.

Blake Flanders, CEO of the state Board of Regents, offered conditional support for removal of a “vital and stable” source of funding for building objectives at state universities. The educational building fund had been the only consistent source of state dollars for academic and research building projects for 80 years, he said.

“We absolutely appreciate that property taxes in Kansas need to be addressed,” Flanders said. “Because facilities and the stewardship of those facilities are such an important aspect of what we offer our students, we can support the legislation with amendments I have in my testimony.”

He proposed the initial state general fund appropriation to universities be set at $56 million rather than $50 million. Annual increases should be pegged to the preceding three years’ growth in property valuations in Kansas, he said.

Flanders said the Board of Regents was implementing a capital renewal initiative requiring annual investment by universities in facilities maintenance equal to 2% of the building asset replacement values.

Colton Gibson, executive director of University Contractors Association of Kansas, said there were many examples of government failing to meet commitments for building maintenance through annual discretionary appropriations.

“Make no mistake, if we don’t pay for this now, we will pay for it later at a higher cost,” he said.

The Kansas City Chiefs did enough to win against the Houston Texans in the divisional round of the NFL playoffs, but now it’s time for the reigning back-to-back champions to evaluate Saturday’s win while preparing for the Buffalo Bills in the AFC championship game.

What surprises came from the Chiefs’ usage of noteworthy players against Houston? A closer look at Kansas City’s snap counts tells several stories worth following.

The Chiefs’ tight end usage was largely par for the course with Travis Kelce recording 76% of Kansas City’s offensive snaps while Noah Gray took 57% and Peyton Hendershot took 27%, though those are season-low numbers for Kelce.

Kelce’s single-game low-percentage mark in 2024 was 77%, while his lowest total snap count number in the regular season was 44. It’s worth noting the slightly decreased workload for Kelce, but KC’s 51 total offensive snaps on Saturday were also a season-low for the Chiefs’ offense with Mahomes at quarterback.

The wide receiver rotation is where the Chiefs’ personnel usage becomes even more interesting.

Rookie Xavier Worthy led Chiefs receivers by taking 42 of the Chiefs’ 51 offensive snaps (82%). Worthy was also the only Chiefs wide receiver to catch a pass on Saturday. Kelce led KC’s pass catchers with Worthy and Gray in tow.

Meanwhile, Marquise “Hollywood” Brown took 34 snaps (67%) but received two incomplete targets. JuJu Smith-Schuster took 21 reps (41%) and was targeted once. DeAndre Hopkins took just 16 snaps (31%) and also received just one target. Justin Watson received his lightest workload of the season by a wide margin, recording only four snaps (8%). Watson’s previous season-low was his 21-snap day (34%) against the Pittsburgh Steelers on Christmas.

Hopkins’s snap count is also his lowest mark of the season after playing at least 23 snaps in every other game as a Chief. That 23-snap game (32%) was Hopkins’s Chiefs debut.

It’s hard to imagine Hopkins not receiving a larger workload in the AFC championship game, but it would have been hard to envision the veteran getting fewer than 20 snaps in the divisional round. While Watson appears to be largely phased out as the postseason rotation tightens, will Hopkins remain a niche player, or will the game plan evolve for Buffalo?

Cornerback Jaylen Watson took 40 of the Chiefs’ 68 defensive snaps (59%) on Saturday, giving Watson the second-highest workload among Chiefs cornerbacks, trailing only Trent McDuffie (63 snaps, 93%). The Chiefs’ next choice at cornerback was clearly defined as Steve Spagnuolo chose to play Nazeeh Johnson for 34 snaps (50%) while Chris Roland-Wallace took three snaps and Joshua Williams took zero.

Assuming that Watson felt good following Saturday’s showdown, his workload should increase against Buffalo. Still, the Chiefs will need to rely on at least three cornerbacks in coverage on a regular basis. With Chamarri Conner (50 snaps, 74%) back in the slot corner role for the vast majority of his work on Saturday, the Chiefs will likely plan on McDuffie, Watson and Conner staying on the field for the majority of the AFC championship game, while Johnson appears to have the clear upper hand over Williams as the next man up.

The Chiefs’ defensive line controlled much of the divisional round matchup, ending the game with eight sacks of Texans quarterback C.J. Stroud. Defensive end George Karlaftis led Chiefs D-linemen in sacks (three) and snaps taken (58, 85%), with defensive tackle Chris Jones (one sack, 52 snaps, 76%) close behind.

Mike Danna was next in snaps taken (43 snaps, 63%), just ahead of Tershawn Wharton (39, 57%) and Charles Omenihu (35, 51%). The rotation was rounded out by run-stuffers Mike Pennel (20 snaps, 29%) and Derrick Nnadi (nine snaps, 13%) in addition to second-year end Felix Anudike-Uzomah, who recorded a sack on one of his six snaps (9%).

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