Committee approves amendment to SB 45 and votes to move bill favorably

A legislative committee voted to approve an amendment to SB 45 that clarifies language about student exclusions used to calculate an alternative graduation rate, then voted to move the bill favorably.

The amendment changes paragraph a so that the statute excludes, rather than includes, certain students when calculating an alternative graduation rate. Staff member Jason explained the change would make paragraph a read consistently with paragraph b, clarifying that students who transferred into a district after completing grade 8 and who had not earned sufficient credits to be expected to graduate with their cohort are excluded. Paragraph b would exclude students who subsequently transferred to a nonaccredited private school in Kansas or another state.

The committee accepted the amendment by voice vote after Representative Pichney seconded the motion to adopt it. Representative Hubert moved that the committee report SB 45 favorably; Representative Brantley seconded the motion. The committee approved the motion to move the bill favorably by voice vote. After the voice vote, several members asked to have their votes recorded as opposed: Featherston (recorded as a no), Stagstill (no), Reese (no) and Miller (no). The transcript does not provide a numerical tally of yes votes.

Committee members stated they had consulted stakeholders on the amendment: the chair said she had spoken with Travis Lowe, who brought the bill, and Shannon Kimball, who inspired the amendment; both had reviewed the change and said it did not alter intent.

The votes and recorded requests are reflected in committee minutes. No other amendments were offered before the committee voted to move the bill favorably.