KSDE updates board on KISA rollout; policy committee to draft clarified 'appeal to the board' language after governance dispute

KSDE staff gave an update on Kansas Education Systems Accreditation (KISA) activity and timelines and described the department’s work supporting districts through action-plan development and compliance review.

KSDE said it has completed school improvement days in every region and has received hundreds of action plans for review. A dedicated action‑plan review team has evaluated submissions for clarity, alignment with the KISA model and data‑driven goals; KSDE expected to have action‑plan status information available to the board and to districts by mid‑May, with formal Accreditation Review Council (ARC) recommendations to follow and board action planned for the late summer cycle.

KSDE staff also discussed the department’s approach for KISA implementation standards (plan/do/study/act) and said it will return to the board with draft graduation and postsecondary outcome standards later in the year. The department said it will publish compliance checklists and provide districts a compliance tracker so districts know whether they meet KSDE requirements in statutory or program areas such as child nutrition.

Separately, a governance dispute between board members about whether detailed board discussion should be included in meeting minutes led the board’s policy committee to review the matter. The committee evaluated board policy governing “boardmanship expectations” and the process by which a member may “appeal the ruling of the chair.” While the committee found no violation of existing policy, members agreed the policy language was ambiguous about whether an appeal requires a formal motion and second and how the board should process and record such an appeal in an open meeting. The board asked the policy committee to prepare recommended clarifying language for review at the next board meeting.