August 20, 2003
kcstar

Superintendent Ron Wimmer said the school year got off to a smooth start, despite a radio prank Tuesday morning. Randy Miller, who hosts the morning show on the Planet 97.3 FM, told listeners that the district was weighing its elementary students and fining parents whose children weighed too much. Miller directed listeners to call a number, where a recorded message identified the phone as that of Robert Ogden, student welfare, Olathe Public School District.

Wimmer said the district doesn't have anyone with that name or title on staff and that the telephone number wasn't part of the district's phone system. He also said the district wasn't weighing students or fining parents.

He said the district office started receiving phone calls about Miller's show around 7 a.m. Other calls went to elementary schools and the district's food production center.

"We had a multitude of calls from people who were quite upset about that," Wimmer said, adding the district contacted the radio station to express its concerns.

Ted Edwards, program director for the radio station, defended the prank as satire in a phone interview with The Star: "It was pretty apparent to anybody who was listening that it was satire."

Wimmer said the district plans to file a complaint with the Federal Communications Commission about the prank.

"Other than that distraction," he said, "we had a very smooth opening."