Conferees agree SB 114 lets nonpublic and virtual students join district activities, defers waiting period to KSHSAA rules

Members of the Committee on Education, meeting in conference, agreed to adopt language in Senate Bill 114 that would allow students enrolled in nonpublic, nonaccredited or virtual schools to participate in district‑sponsored ancillary activities and to defer post‑withdrawal eligibility windows to the Kansas State High School Activities Association (KSHSAA) rules rather than a fixed nine‑week period.

Tamara, Reviser's Office, told conferees that the Senate version had listed examples of ancillary activities — pep rallies, awards ceremonies, lettering events and yearbook or promotional functions — while the House version described ancillary participation more broadly as “any district sponsored events, ceremonies, programs, or other functions directly related to the primary activity.” Tamara said the bill also authorizes a local board of education to adopt policies regarding participation.

The change to remove a fixed nine‑week wait and instead tie ineligibility to KSHSAA rules drew extended discussion. Jason, committee advisor, said “limited participation” in the draft bill would allow a student to attend practices but would deny full participation in competitive games. Jason and other staff also explained that KSHSAA rules treat different transfer and eligibility cases differently: for transfers without a parental move, grades 9–12 may face a one‑calendar‑year waiting period and grades 7–8 an 18‑week period; scholarship rules treat a semester as at least 18 weeks.

Representatives on the committee said the bill is intended to close a loophole in which parents withdraw students who are academically ineligible, register them as homeschoolers and then allow them to continue competing. Representative Vestas said the intent was to require students who withdraw from a given attendance center to meet the same eligibility standards as they would if they remained. Representative Estes and others pressed for clarity that the change apply to students who have withdrawn to attend nonpublic or virtual schools, not to routine transfers among district schools.

Not all members agreed on the scope. Representative Norton called the bill “a classic example of legislative overreach,” saying the local school board and the State Board of Education could address isolated incidents. The committee discussed definitions and the phrase “limited participation,” and conferees agreed to adopt the Senate language with the modification that the post‑withdrawal ineligibility period be governed by KSHSAA eligibility rules rather than a specified nine weeks.

The committee recorded consensus on Senate Bill 114 with that adjustment; no formal roll‑call vote was recorded in the transcript.

Next steps: conferees said the revised language will be reflected in the final conference text and the parties concurred on the change before proceeding to other items.