USA|Kansas

Legislature reaches first major deadline of 2010 session

Monday, February 22nd, marks the halfway point of the 2010 Legislature’s regular session. Unless referred to an exempted committee—House Appropriations, Senate Ways and Means, House/Senate Federal and State Affairs, or House Taxation—all bills must have passed out of their chamber of origin.

A number of bills relating to USA\Kansas’ legislative priorities are still alive in the session and those are highlighted below. The biggest issue of this session, the budget allocations for FY 2011, is yet to be decided and likely will not be resolved until the veto session. The next consensus revenue estimates are due in mid-April and nearly everyone agrees the Legislature will wait for those estimates, before making real budget determinations for the next fiscal year.

As legislators are realizing the impact of budget cuts already implemented, as well as the devastating impact further cuts would have on critical state programs and services, there is growing talk of putting together a reasonable revenue package—one that would incorporate a sales tax increase, likely smaller than the 1% recommended by Governor Parkinson, a tobacco excise tax increase and, perhaps, roll back some of the state’s current tax exemptions.

It is especially important for school district leaders to get their patrons involved in contacting their legislators, if we’re going to hold the line on K-12 education cuts for FY 2011. It is important to hold meetings with parents, local businesses and chambers, and other voters to let them know how budget cuts are impacting school districts—and how devastating more cuts will be—and encourage them to contact legislators about school funding. It will take legislators hearing from the local grassroots to get a revenue increase this session. School administrators, alone, will not be able to successfully carry this message; legislators must hear from their voters on this!

Contract renewal deadline for teachers and
administrators—SB 362

SB 362 allows school districts to adopt a resolution, prior to May 1, of their intent to move the contract renewal notice date from the current May 1 deadline, to June 1. Teachers and administrators would then have until June 15 to notify the school board of their intent not to renew their contracts.

Status: Passed the Senate by a vote of 30-10; referred to the House Education Budget Committee.

Catastrophic aid formula—SB 358 & 359

SB 359 increases the eligibility threshold from $25,000 to twice the amount of per teacher categorical aid. Any special education aid received would be deducted from the amount of categorical aid received. If this bill passes in its current form, it would take effect in the 2009-10 school year. Strenuous efforts are underway by Johnson County school districts and legislators to strike a compromise that would allow the legislation to take effect in the 2010-11 school year.

Status: SB 359 was passed out of the Senate Education Committee favorably, exempted from the turnaround deadline through Ways and Means, and referred back to the Senate Education Committee for reconsideration. No action has been taken yet, but committee reconsideration was focused on making the legislation effective next year, rather than the current school year.

SB 358 did not receive action by the committee and was not exempted from the turnaround deadline.

School bus retirement age—HB 2486 & SB 538

Both of these bills extend the retirement age of school buses to 25 years. has been passed by the House, on a vote of 114-8. It has moved to the Senate and been referred to the Senate Transportation Committee.

Status: HB 2486 passed the House by a vote of 114-8; referred to the Senate Transportation Committee.

SB 538, which has been exempted from the turnaround deadline, will receive a hearing on Tuesday, February 23, at 8:30am, in the Senate Transportation Committee.

Tenure changes—HB 2699

HB 2699 would extend the point at which a teacher is initially eligible for tenure by two years, from the current three years of consecutive employment and offered a fourth contract, to five years of consecutive employment and offered a sixth contract. Teachers returning to a school district where they have previously met tenure requirements would again be eligible following three years of consecutive employment, rather than the current two years.

USA|Kansas requested this legislation to allow school districts additional time to work with and evaluate new teachers, before being required to offer tenure.

Status: Introduced on February 12 by the House Appropriations Committee, making it exempt from the turnaround deadline, and referred to the House Education Budget Committee.

Bills relating to School Finance
State aid for bond issues and capital outlay resolutions—HB 2280

HB 2280 has several primary components:

Drops the state aid ratio for bond issues and capital outlay resolutions by 10%, unless the levies are imposed prior to July 1 of this year. This would mean that a district currently receiving 25%, the median aid level, would only get 15% state aid; Requires districts, which are less than 200 square miles and have an enrollment of less than 400 students, to receive approval from the legislature’s Joint Committee on State Building Construction to receive state aid for bonds; and
Allows school districts to transfer funds from the Capital Outlay Fund to the Contingency Reserve Fund in school year 2009-10, if the district transferred funds from the General Fund to the Capital Outlay Fund in school year 2008-09.

Status: The third item was amended into the bill on the House floor. Passed the House by a vote of 65-57; awaiting referral to a Senate committee.

Special education Medicaid replacement—SB 512

SB 512 provides for the payment of Medicaid replacement aid to school districts indefinitely. Current statute would allow this provision to expire after the current school year.

Status: Passed Senate by a vote of 40-0; awaiting referral to a House committee

Free lunch eligibility for at-risk funding—HB 2410

If a student is counted for free lunch eligibility and is later found to have been ineligible, the district will not receive At-Risk state aid. If, however, the student was considered ineligible for failing to submit proper documentation and is subsequently found to be eligible, the district may submit the documentation prior to January 14 of the school year and will receive At-Risk state aid for that student.

Status: Passed House by a vote of 74-48; awaiting referral to a Senate committee.

High Density At-Risk Weighting—HB 2601

HB 2601 applies a linear transition to the high density at-risk formula, from 35% of students eligible for free lunch to 50%, and increases the weighting at 50% and above. The bill would not become effective until the legislature funds the BSAPP at the statutory level of $4,492.

Status: Passed House by a vote of 120-2; awaiting referral to a Senate committee.

Uniform Accounting System—HB 2239

HB 2239 would require the State Board of Education to implement a web-based uniform accounting system that would provide easy access to comparison data between school districts, by December 31, 2011. According to the bill, school districts would be required to:

Report receipt and expenditure data electronically, according to the current uniform chart of accounts and as prescribed by the State Board.
Compile expenditure reports of required school programs, including the number of students in each program; and,
Include a statement of assurance that data are being reported according to the uniform chart of accounts, with annual school district audits.

The bill also requires the Legislature to fund the costs of implementing and complying with the legislation. (Note: There is currently no official estimate of these costs.)

The bill was amended on the House floor to remove a financial penalty for failing to conform, as passed by the House Education Budget Committee.

Status: Passed the House by a vote of 64-58; awaiting referral to a Senate committee.