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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 Tue, May 23, 2017
Chairperson Denning called the meeting to order at 11:15am.
Chairperson Denning asked Dave Trabert to testify on BASE aid. Mr. Trabert recommended amending the bill to at a minimum establish that the math, as explained in his written testimony, only requires BASE aid of $3,956. (Attachment 5) Chairperson Denning noted that Mr. Trabert's points provided another comprehensive way to reasonably calculate BASE aid at $3,956 as the threshold for meeting the BASE aid adequacy requirements of Gannon.
Senators Pettey and Estes asked clarifying questions from materials presented earlier in day from Mr. Tallman, and a discussion ensued comparing data from different states.
Senator Bollier introduced her first amendment. Amendment #10 addresses High-Density At-Risk counts, allowing districts to have their "high-density" status measured by school building, while also increasing district accountability on the use of these funds by requiring adherence to best practices as determined by the Kansas State Board of Education unless the local district shows improvement on state assessment scores within three years.
The Committee discussed the amendment in detail with Mr. Penner stating that the amendment would likely increase at-risk funding by about $4 million annually. The Committee supported this additional at-risk funding and agreed that these provisions would add accountability to the bill. Discussion ensued on language and accountability timelines, noting several changes that may need to be included. Senator Bollier asked if the amendment should be withdrawn until changes could be made. Chairperson Denning agreed that it should.
Senator Bollier withdrew amendment #10.
Senator McGinn discussed the career technical education weighting on page 41, noting that the study is at the same time it expires, she would like to move the sunset date out a year later to allow the Legislature the opportunity to consider the study and implement its suggestions before the sunset goes into effect.
Senator McGinn made a motion to adopt a conceptual amendment that places the sunset date of the career technical weighting out a year. Senator Baumgardner seconded the motion. The amendment passed.
Senator McGinn made a motion to adopt a conceptual amendment that adds language on page 53 that pertains to demographics. Senator Pettey seconded the motion.
Senator Pettey asked for clarification on what specific demographics would be used. Senator McGinn stated it would come from KDHE, but did not have specifics. Senator McGinn stated she would supply more details after the Committee returned from recess.
Chairperson Denning adjourned the meeting for a break and asked the Committee to return at 1:30pm.
