Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Military Student Enrollment topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Committee hears bill to allow military children to enroll before families move to Kansas
Summary
House Bill 2102 would let military families register children, including those with IEPs or 504 plans, for Kansas schools before the family physically arrives; residency may later be required if no open seats under state open-enrollment rules.
A legislative committee heard testimony on House Bill 2102, a proposal to let military families enroll children in Kansas public schools before the children physically move into the state.
The bill, as explained by the reviser, would add a new statutory section requiring school districts to enroll military students prior to the student’s physical residency in Kansas when a parent or person acting as parent provides evidence they will be stationed at a Kansas military installation during the current or immediately succeeding school year. The provision would apply to students in kindergarten through 12th grade and to pre-K students if the district operates a pre-K program and the child meets that program’s eligibility requirements. The reviser said the bill would take effect July 1 upon publication in the statute book.
The Department of Defense’s Midwest regional liaison, Michelle Reichert, told the committee the bill is intended to prevent gaps in instruction caused by summer moves and other reassignment timing. “Allowing military families to enroll their children, including children eligible to receive special education services, register for classes, and apply for specialized programs the same time as their peers prior to physically arriving to their school location will help facilitate their uninterrupted educational progress and smooth integration into their new communities,” Reichert said.
Reichert said roughly 185,000 U.S. military children move between schools each year and that explicit statutory language is important to ensure advanced-enrollment policies cover students with special education needs. The testimony cited a Partners in Promise study finding that some families with special education needs have been told advanced enrollment was not available to them unless the statute explicitly included special education.
The reviser clarified that the bill does not require proof of a physical Kansas address at the time of advanced enrollment. However, under Kansas’ open-enrollment law, residency within the district may be required for attendance if the district has no open seats and the student is seeking enrollment from out of district. A committee member asked whether the compact language change in the bill was substantive; the reviser said the amendment corrects an incorrect statutory citation (changing a reference from “section” to “chapter”) and is not intended to alter the compact’s substance.
Lieutenant Colonel Keith Marshall of the Kansas Adjutant General’s Department, appearing in person, said the measure would benefit National Guard families as well as active-duty families. “This is a bill that would benefit families like mine when we do have to move around for our National Guard duties,” Marshall said, adding his department worked with stakeholders and the Kansas Department of Education on revisions as the bill moved through the House.
No opponent testimony was taken during the hearing, and the committee closed the record on House Bill 2102 before opening a separate hearing on House Bill 2185.
