Committee reviews Kansas State School for the Blind budget, hears capital and pay-parity requests

The Committee on K-12 Education Budget reviewed the Kansas State School for the Blind (KSSB) budget and heard testimony from KLRD fiscal staff and Superintendent John Harding about enrollment, outreach, capital needs and personnel costs. KLRD staff said the agency’s FY26 approved State General Fund (SGF) amount is $8,300,000 and all funds total $14,200,000; the agency’s FY27 request, including enhancements, would raise the all‑funds figure to about $14,607,434.

KLRD senior fiscal analyst Jennifer Light told the committee that shorthand documents before members show the special committee on the state budget removed many agency enhancement requests and that House Bill 2434 is the appropriations bill introduced today. “House Bill 2434 is the appropriations bill,” Light said, explaining the shorthand marks changes relative to the agency request and that items labeled “action reversed” were not added by the special committee.

Why it matters: committee members will recommend whether to restore any of the removed enhancements before the committee reports its budget to appropriations. Light said two KSSB enhancement requests — a SIBF roof replacement of roughly $718,000 and an inflation adjustment for rehab and repair of about $87,272 — were not included in the bill introduced today and would require a committee motion to add them back.

Superintendent John Harding described KSSB’s programs and growth and answered members’ questions about fees, staffing and facilities. “We serve over 800 students in one way or another across the state,” Harding said, noting an expanded outreach program that includes a birth‑to‑3 initiative serving about 225 children and families and roughly 65 residential students on campus. Harding highlighted transition and vocational programming, including student teams that won regional and national competitions and a student‑run coffee‑roasting enterprise used for skills training.

Harding said out‑of‑state day students currently are charged $40,000 per year and boarding adds $20,000; he told the committee the State Board of Education approved raising those rates next year to $50,000 for day students and $25,000 for dorm students. “If they stay in our dorm, then it’s an additional 20,000,” Harding said of the current rate structure.

On personnel costs, Light explained a roughly $441,000 total increase for FY27 includes about $300,000 SGF tied to salaries and wages. She said most of that increase reflects statutory pay parity with USD 233 (Olathe), which by statute requires that teachers employed by the state schools be paid at a rate that is not less than teachers employed by Olathe. Asked whether the schools can pay more than Olathe, Revisor staff cited statute 76‑11a17 (school statutes) indicating the requirement is a minimum; Jennifer Light and subsequent testimony confirmed the parity is a statutory floor, not a cap.

Committee members pressed for detail on components of program increases — for example, the instructional services program shows near a $500,000 increase year over year — and for line‑item clarification. Light acknowledged a coordination typo between the multicolor shorthand sheet and the budget pages, and promised a corrected Page 2 and a breakdown of specific amounts on request: “I will get you a corrected version of page 2” and later gave the full all‑funds FY27 figure as $14,607,434.

Members also questioned the $100,000 vehicle request for a wheelchair‑accessible car to transport students. KLRD noted the agency’s fleet averages roughly 35,914 miles per vehicle and that one vehicle is anticipated to exceed 100,000 miles next year; the agency said adaptations (lifts, ramps) and vehicle type drive higher costs.

On facilities, Harding detailed recent completed projects — gym floor replacement and window upgrades — and described outstanding maintenance and safety concerns in aging buildings, including leaking roofs, gutter failures and hazardous‑material abatement. He said the carriage house is a historic campus building the school hopes to rehabilitate with community donations and phased work rather than a current request for state funding.

State Department of Education legislative coordinator Gabrielle Hall said the State Board of Education supports superintendent Harding’s enhancement requests and retention of statutory pay‑parity items, and offered to take follow‑up questions back to the board.

Next steps: KLRD and agency staff committed to provide the corrected shorthand page, a breakdown of instructional‑services increases and specific dollar allocations behind salary changes. The committee has scheduled report dates to appropriations: January 28 for the schools for the blind and deaf and February 12 for the K‑12 budget.

The committee did not take a formal vote on the KSSB enhancements during the hearing and adjourned after accepting testimony and staff follow‑ups.