Blue Valley board reviews first draft of attendance policy for people on offender registry

The Blue Valley Board of Education on March 3 held a first reading of a draft policy that would require people listed on the Kansas Public Offender Registry to obtain advance permission from district leaders before attending school events.

The policy, introduced as Policy 22-81, says that "if you are on the Kansas Public Offender Registry, you must have permission of both the superintendent and the director of safety and security to attend an event or be at our schools, unless there's a legal requirement that you would be in the building for some reason," according to Melissa Hillman, the district's school lawyer, who walked the board through the draft.

Hillman told the board there would be a presumption that attendance would not be permitted if an individual remains under parole or other court-ordered supervision, "absent extraordinary life circumstances as determined by the superintendent and the director of safety and security." The draft also allows the superintendent and director to deny or to grant attendance with conditions for people no longer under supervision.

Board members pressed on details. Jim (board member) said some districts he knew had provided one-time notifications to families when a known registry individual would be present; he urged staff to examine whether the policy should include a notification provision. Hillman said she had not found out-of-state policies that included mandatory notification and warned that accessing the registry for non-official purposes could risk accusations of harassment. She also noted a practical limit: "The offender policy is updated every 15 minutes, and we have very busy administrators running school buildings who just simply don't have the time to dedicate to making sure that they are reviewing the offender policy every 15," and that the district must therefore rely on direct knowledge that a patron on the registry will attend.

Other questions from board members included whether the policy should define who counts as a "parent" (Sonya), how broadly the policy should apply to relatives and nonrelatives (Jim and others), and whether juvenile adjudications can carry forward into adult registry status (Hillman said registration durations vary by offense and that some registrants remain on lists for decades in Kansas). Board members and Hillman noted the policy would not apply to public board meetings or to facility rentals where policing attendance is impractical.

Superintendent (Dr. Merrigan) and Hillman said the draft will be posted online for community comment for roughly 30 days, with a follow-up to the board in April; if more review is needed the item could return in May for adoption. No formal action or vote on Policy 22-81 was taken at the March 3 meeting.

Board members requested staff research: examples of notification language used elsewhere, a clear definition of "parent" and other covered categories, and legal limits tied to parole and supervision. Hillman offered to research state statutory history and any comparable policies and return with options.

The discussion took place in the open meeting; the board moved on afterward to contract and consent items.