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Minutes for SB251 - Committee on Senate Select Committee on Education Finance
Short Title
Creating the Kansas school equity and enhancement act.
Minutes Content for Fri, May 19, 2017
Chairperson Denning called the meeting to order.
Tamera Lawrence, Office of Revisor of Statutes, presented the Committee with a revised memorandum including the edits discussed in the previous meeting. (Attachment 1)
Eddie Penner, Legislative Research Department, presented further information on the reasonably calculated BASE aid in SB251. Mr. Penner went over the various columns for these runs and how they are used to compare previous totals to the current estimated totals, noting that once new facilities weighting is included, all districts should receive increased funding under SB251. (Attachment 2)
Senator Baumgardner asked for clarification on the calculation used for kindergarten weightings with Mr. Penner noting that only kindergarten students who attend all-day kindergarten will be counted as a full FTE for school funding purposes. Senator Pettey asked for further clarification on expenditures regarding SB521 and what BASE aid was used in that bill.
Senator Bollier asked for clarification on BASE aid and its impact on State KPERS cost. Mr. Penner responded by describing the process used for estimating future state payments for KPERS. Because the State pays for the districts' employers contributions for KPERS, every fall Legislative Research, the Department of Education and the Division of Budget reviews the actual amount of KPERS-covered salary submitted by the districts along with short-term and historical trends to estimate total KPERS contributions needed. In the spring of 2017, this same group met to determine how much school funding increases as pondered in SB251 and HB2410 would increase the requisite KPERS employment contributions. Relying on historical data and district testimony regarding the amount of any school funding increase that would be applied to staffing and salary increases, the group estimates a roughly $22 million increase in required KPERS payments in 2018 alone from the funding increases suggested in SB251.
With no further questions, Chairperson Denning began hearing oral testimony on SB251:
Senator Mike Peterson, Kansas Senate (Attachment 3)
Senator Bruce Givens, Kansas Senate (Attachment 4) (Attachment 5)
Dr. John Allison, Superintendent, Wichita Schools (Attachment 6) - Dr. Allison emphasized the impact in his school districts of funding levels over the past few years. He applauded the increased at-risk and bilingual, pre-K, and all-day kindergarten funding in the legislative proposals, highlighting the increased ESL and under-performing student challenges faced in Wichita. He also noted the impact to teachers, students, staff and local vendors that would derive from schools closing on June 30th, urging the Legislature to take action to avoid that outcome. In response to a question from Chairperson Denning, Dr. Allison testified that the Wichita Board of Education did not go from 30% to 33% LOB usage because his Board did not feel that voters would approve such a move. Dr. Allison did testify, in response to a question from Senator Hensley, that he would support an overall K-12 funding increase of $894 million.
Dr. Jamie Finkeldei, Associate Superintendent, Catholic Diocese of Wichita (Attachment 7)
Adrienne Runnebaum, Catholic Education Foundation (Attachment 8)
Tom Krebs, Education Consultant (Attachment 9)
Dr. G.A. Buie, United School of Administrators Association (Attachment 10) - Dr. Buie applauded the Legislature for its efforts in SB251 and HB2410 to increase funding for under-performing students and to work with the Kansas State Board of Education's efforts to increase student performance. He testified as the need to increase funding above the level proved in SB251 in order to hire new counselors, social workers, and other staff to address the social and emotional needs of many students, as well as new teachers to reduce class sizes for under-performing students. He further emphasized the need to finalize the school finance formula and resolve at least this phase of the Gannon lawsuit as quickly as possible.
In response to a question from Senator Bollier, he testified that the standards articulated by the State Board exceed the Rose standards. He said that his committee that worked on school finance reform felt the Rose standards were minimal ones, while the State Board guidelines required excellence. In response to a question from Senator Pettey, he expressed concern about expanding the use of capital outlay funds for utility expenditures, fearing that such use would reduce funds available for anticipated emergencies. In response to a question from Senator Baumgardner, he discussed their examination of free lunch as a proxy for under-performing students and, while acknowledging that it was not a perfect proxy, revealed that it was accurate to within 6-7% on average. In response to a question from Senator Hensley, Dr. Buie agreed that the election requirement to exceed 30% utilization for the LOB likely kept many districts from exceeding this amount of spending.
Shawn Sullivan, Director, Kansas Division of the Budget (Attachment 11)
David Smith, Kansas City Public Schools, Chief Public Affairs (Attachment 12)
Beth Johnson, Overland Park Chamber of Commerce and Economic Development Council (Attachment 13)
James P. Zakoura, Esq. Smithyman & Zakoura, Chartered (Attachment 14)
Erik Satorius, Executive Director, League of Municipalities (Attachment 15)
Mich Urban, Kansas Gas Service (Attachment 16)
Trent Armbrust, Kansas Economic Development Alliance Board of Directors (Attachment 17)
Aaron M. Popelka, Kansas Livestock Association (Attachment 18)
Darci Meese, Manager Legal/Government Relations, WaterOne (Attachment 19)
Dorothy Barnett, Executive Director, Climate & Energy Project (Attachment 20)
Judy Bellome, AARP (Attachment 21)
John Donely, State Farm Bureau (Attachment 22)
Chairperson Denning thanked the conferees. He noted that Dodie Welshire, a representative of Blue Valley, had additional information to provide at the Committee's request regarding the number of at-risk and underachieving students in Blue Valley schools and her perceived rationale for the minimum 10% at-risk student count in SB251. (Attachment 23) In 2015-16 school year, Blue Valley had 1215 students on free lunch and 4346 under-performing students that qualified for at-risk services. Her perception is that free lunch qualification is a good proxy for most districts when measuring under-performing students but fails to work as effectively for districts with extremely low numbers of free lunch students.
Senator Hensley submitted a letter for the record from Representative Ward and himself that was written to the Speaker and the President of the Senate. (Attachment 24) Senator Hensley also submitted a document from Dale Dennis, KSDE, for the record. (Attachment 25)
Chairperson Denning stated that Monday the Committee will start working the bill.
Senator Baumgardner cautioned that each set of runs is a draft and does not always include everything and should be used as a guide and not a bottom line. She noted that Monday they will have a new set of numbers with changes. Senator Hensley concurred with Senator Baumgardner and noted even though things change, they were provided as a starting point.
Senator Hensley asked the Chairperson how long testimony could be submitted for. Chairperson Denning responded that the Committee would be taking testimony up until Monday.
The following conferees presented written testimony for SB251:
Stuart Little, Shawnee Mission School District (Attachment 26)
Michael Schuttloffel, Kansas Catholic Conference (Attachment 27)
Denise Sultz, Kansas Parent Teacher Association (Attachment 28)
Dr. Kelly Arnberger, Superintendent, USD 482 (Attachment 29)
Kenneth Harshberger, Superintendent, Meade USD #226 (Attachment 30)
Zeke Rash, Principal of Kansas Connections Academy (Attachment 31)
Ashely Sherard, Lenexa Chamber of Commerce (Attachment 32)
Dr. Mike Slagle, Deputy Superintendent, USD 229 Blue Valley Schools (Attachment 33)
Douglas Powers, Assistant Superintendent of Business & Public Relations, USD 202 (Attachment 34)
David Bleakley, Colt Energy (Attachment 35)
Brandi Fisher, Executive Director, Main Stream Coalition (Attachment 36)
Ken Evans, Strategic Communications Director, City of Wichita (Attachment 37)
Jeff Glendenning, Americans for Prosperity (Attachment 38)
Jason Watkins, Wichita Regional Chamber of Commerce (Attachment 39)
Phil Frick, Eastern Kansas Oil & Gas Association (Attachment 40)
Don Henry, Public Works & Utilities, City of Wichita (Attachment 41)
John Donely, Kansas Corn Growers Association (Attachment 42)
Pam Stranathan, Superintendent, USD 231 (Attachment 43)
Patrick Vogelsberg, Kansas Association of Realtors (Attachment 44)
Gary Harshberger, Kansas Water Authority (Attachment 45)
Damon Ward, Director of Tax, Spirit Aerosystems (Attachment 46)
Donald Roberts, Mayor, City of Edgerton (Attachment 47)
Michael Webb, City Manager, City of Edwardsville (Attachment 48)
Daron Hall, City Manager, City of Pittsburg (Attachment 49)
Edward Cross, President, Ks Independent Oil & Gas Association (Attachment 50)
Bill Brady, Schools For Fair Funding (Attachment 51)
Kirk Heger, President, Southwest Kansas Irrigation Association (Attachment 52)
Doug Smith, City of Garden City, Smith & Associates, Inc. (Attachment 53)
Matt Allen, City Manager, City of Garden City (Attachment 54)
Bishop Wade Moore, Jr., President, Success for Kansas Students (Attachment 55)
Chairperson Denning adjourned the meeting until Monday, May 22nd, 2017 at 1:30pm.
