Kansas task force opens work on school finance overhaul, seeks detailed special-education funding data

Renee Erickson, chair of the Special Education and Related Services Funding Task Force, opened the group's first meeting on Friday, saying the panel should begin work immediately and be prepared to adapt as it develops a replacement school finance formula required by statute.

The panel was created by Section 4 of 2024 Senate Bill 387 and established in statute as "KSA 728194," Nick Myers, with the Office of the Revisor of Statutes, told members as he reviewed the task force's legal charge. "This group, was formed by in Section 4 of 2024, Senate Bill 387, so last year's education, funding and policy bill. It enacted KSA 728194 and that's where this task force was, has been established," Myers said.

The task force's statutory duties include reviewing the current school finance system, the methods for determining and distributing special-education state aid, inputs to the formula (funding levels and weightings), and outputs (academic achievement and reporting). Myers warned members that the panel must submit a report with recommendations on or…