Committee confirms procurement language could let schools for the blind and deaf use school-district procurement — may cover pool lift

During presentations on capital improvements for the Kansas State School for the Blind and the Kansas State School for the Deaf, committee members raised procurement as a practical barrier to small but necessary capital projects — notably a mechanical pool lift for student access. Members asked whether language moving the two schools to school-district procurement would cover such items.

Representative Ausley and other members noted a House K-12 recommendation that would permit the two schools to use school-district procurement procedures rather than standard agency procurement. David Weese of the Reviser's Office told the committee he conferred with K-12 drafting staff and that the procurement language, as drafted on the House side, "does apply to construction, reconstruction, remodeling or purchase of goods" and that "I think it would cover capital improvement projects such as the pool elevator." He and other members later suggested calling the device a "pool lift." The Reviser's Office urged checking exact statutory drafting to confirm coverage.

Why it matters: specialized equipment for accessibility (a pool lift) can be costly and may be available from a single vendor. Procurement flexibility could let the schools proceed more quickly and avoid delays caused by three-bid requirements for single-source specialty items.

Committee context and next steps

- Schools’ requests: The School for the Blind presented a roof replacement (Edlund Dorm - about $718,000), and requested a base increase for rehab/repair; the School for the Deaf requested demolition of a decommissioned powerhouse ($1.8M) and dorm/roof work.

- Procurement language: Members requested confirmation from the Reviser's Office about whether the House procurement language would cover pool lifts and similar capital work; Reviser's Office staff indicated the language likely does.

- Follow-up: Committee members asked staff to confirm exact statutory language and implementation details before relying on it in procurement practice.

Quote from the hearing

"I did confer with the preparation staff on some of that language and it does apply to construction, reconstruction, or remodeling or purchase of goods. I think it would cover capital improvement projects such as the pool elevator." — David Weese, Reviser's Office

Ending

Members agreed the language appears to grant needed procurement flexibility but requested staff verification of the exact statutory text; no formal rule change was adopted during this meeting.