Proposed Bill That Limits Who Could Serve on School Boards Would Have A Significant Impact on Current School Board Membership

A REPORT FROM THE KANSAS ASSOCIATION OF SCHOOL BOARDS (KASB)

A proposed bill that
limits who could serve on school boards would have a significant impact on
current school board membership, according to informal responses during the
start of KASB’s “Success Across Kansas” Fall Summit tour.

House Bill 2345 would prohibit a person from serving on a
school board if the person has a spouse, sibling or parent who is an employee
of any district in the state. It would also prohibit a person from serving on a
school board if they had a substantial interest in any business that provides
services to the state.

For example, a person
who is on the Leoti USD 467 school board in far western Kansas couldn't serve
on that board if they had a brother who drove a school bus for Lawrence USD 497
school district in eastern Kansas.

During KASB’s summit
on Tuesday in Sublette, the question was asked if HB 2345 became law, how many school board members would
be disqualified from serving. In the room were representatives of probably 10
or so school districts. A quick count found that an estimated 50 school board
members would be prohibited from serving.

KASB strongly opposes
the bill and school board members testified against it during the last session
when it had a public hearing before the House Education Committee. The bill did
not advance and some committee members said time spent on the legislation was a
waste.

Still, Republican
legislative leaders have asked for further review of the bill by theSpecial Committee on Ethics, Elections and Local Government.

The committee has
sent a survey to all school boards to determine how many would be affected by HB 2345.  

The Kansas
Legislative Research Department requests that the survey, being sent on behalf
of the committee, be returned by Oct. 16. The survey requests answers to
several questions and the department says answers will remain confidential and
documentation of the survey results will not be tied to any individual.

School board members
can return the survey to KLRD Principal Research Analyst Martha Dorsey at Martha.Dorsey@klrd.ks.gov

The KASB tour started
Tuesday in Sublette and continues today in Oakley; then Salina on Thursday
before picking up again Tue. Oct. 6 in Olathe; Wed. Oct. 7 in Greenbush and
Thur. Oct. 8 in Clearwater.

In addition to the
KASB meeting, Kansas Education Commissioner Randy Watson will be presenting at
those sites results of his listening tour in which Kansans said schools needed
to emphasize more soft skills, such as conscientiousness and collaboration, for
students to be successful. The tour also features meetings of USA/Kansas
(United School Administrators of Kansas) and KSSA (Kansas School Superintendents
Association).

In discussions about
the next school finance law to replace the temporary block grant system,
participants at the Sublette Summit provided several suggestions and
observations.

They said schools
should find out the individual student’s needs, put a dollar amount on that and
fund it; the funding system will alway be complex, so what is important is the
total amount and if policymakers don’t see education as an investment, they
should be prepared to increase funding for welfare and other assistance
programs.