Senate approves requirement for 3-minute human-growth video in courses, gives State Board authority to set pay

The Kansas Senate on March 26, 2025 adopted the conference committee report on the Senate substitute for House Bill 2382, a package that requires a three-minute video showing fetal growth to be included in any course the district offers on human growth and development and that removes the statutory tie between State Board of Education member pay and legislative pay. The measure passed on final action by a vote of 31 in favor and 9 opposed.

Supporters said the video requirement creates a uniform baseline of material for courses addressing human growth and development. Senator Sedgwick, who presented the conference report, said the provision requires a three-minute video "whether AI generated or that shows the growth of a fetus" as part of any course offered on the subject and that the bill also resolves the State Board pay question raised by separate recent legislative pay changes.

Opponents and some members sought clarity on implementation. Senator Douglas asked whether a student taking multiple courses in the same year (for example, biology, health and physical education) would be required to view the three-minute video for each course offering. Senator Sedgwick replied that the bill does not preclude local boards of education from making those determinations and that nothing in the bill explicitly prevents a board from limiting repetition.

Senator Douglas also questioned the practical effect of giving the State Board authority to set its own pay, noting that higher pay would require either reallocating operating funds or a legislative appropriation. Sedgwick told the chamber the board "can either take it out of the operating funds" or "come to the legislature and ask for additional appropriation." Douglas warned that the change effectively asks board members to prioritize pay against other operating needs unless the legislature appropriates funds.

The conference committee report also incorporated language discussed in committee about course content and local control. The bill leaves to local boards decisions about activities and the frequency with which a qualifying student must be shown the video, while granting the State Board autonomy to set its own compensation structure separate from the legislature.

Final passage was announced after the clerk's tally: 31 in favor, 9 opposed. The bill had drawn extended questions on both the educational-content side and the compensation side during floor debate.

The Senate will transmit the conference report to the enrolling process as required by legislative procedure; the bill's timetable for any appropriation requests was not specified in floor remarks.