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Board hears bleak K‑12 budget outlook, warns on voucher and open‑meetings bills
Summary
Board member Shannon Kimball briefed trustees on state legislative activity: the State Board may remove FAFSA from graduation requirements, Senate committee debates left special‑education funding at risk, and two bills — SB87 (voucher expansion) and SB47 (changes to school‑board open‑meetings rules) — drew concern.
Shannon Kimball, a member of the Lawrence Board of Education, updated trustees on state education matters and the legislative session on March 10, saying the board should watch several bills that could affect district operations and funding.
"The state board is expected to approve a regulation change that would remove the completion of the FAFSA from the graduation requirements that were adopted last year," Kimball said, adding the State Board was meeting the next day.
Kimball described a contentious Senate Education Committee budget session in which a bipartisan effort to add more than $80 million for special education did not pass. She said the committee vote was tied and the chair broke the tie against including the special‑education funding. Kimball warned that the chair’s recommended worksheet showed "0 new dollars for special education," and that could put the state at risk of failing federal maintenance‑of‑effort requirements unless the Legislature acts.
She also flagged two bills for public attention: Senate Bill 87, which Kimball said would expand the state’s tax‑credit scholarship voucher program beyond low‑income families; and Senate Bill 47, which she said would "undo a lot of protections that school boards have under the Kansas Open Meetings Act, just for school boards." Kimball urged community members to contact members of the Senate Ways and Means Committee and their legislators.
Board members were told the legislative session is near its end, with all work expected to conclude by the last Friday in March; any veto or revisit activity would occur in the second week of April.
No formal board action was taken on the bills during the meeting. Kimball encouraged members of the public to watch the relevant committee hearings, which were being live streamed, and to contact lawmakers.
