Session of 1999
SENATE BILL No. 204
By Committee on Education
2-2
9 AN ACT concerning school districts; relating to the determination of
10 state aid for the provision of special education services; amending
11 K.S.A. 72-971, 72-973 and 72-979 and K.S.A. 1998 Supp. 72-962 and
12 72-978 and repealing the existing sections; also repealing K.S.A. 1998
13 Supp. 72-983.
14
15 Be it enacted by the Legislature of the State of Kansas:
16 Section 1. K.S.A. 1998 Supp. 72-962 is hereby amended to read as
17 follows: 72-962. As used in this act:
18 (a) "School district" means any public school district.
19 (b) "Board" means the board of education of any school district.
20 (c) "State board" means the state board of education.
21 (d) "Department" means the state department of education.
22 (e) "State institution" means Topeka state hospital, Osawatomie state
23 hospital, Rainbow mental health facility, Larned state hospital, Parsons
24 state hospital and training center, Winfield state hospital and training
25 center, Kansas neurological institute and any juvenile correctional facility
26 as defined by K.S.A. 38-1602, and amendments thereto any institution
27 under the jurisdiction of a state agency.
28 (f) "State agency" means the secretary of social and rehabilitation
29 services, the secretary of corrections, and the commissioner of juvenile
30 justice.
31 (f) (g) "Exceptional children" means persons who: (1) Are school age,
32 to be determined in accordance with rules and regulations adopted by
33 the state board, which age may differ from the ages of children required
34 to attend school under the provisions of K.S.A. 72-1111, and amendments
35 thereto; and (2) differ in physical, mental, social, emotional or educational
36 characteristics to the extent that special education services are necessary
37 to enable them to receive educational benefits in accordance with their
38 abilities or capacities.
39 (g) (h) "Gifted children" means exceptional children who are deter-
40 mined to be within the gifted category of exceptionality as such category
41 is defined in the state plan.
42 (h) (i) "Special education services" means programs for which spe-
43 cialized training, instruction, programming techniques, facilities and
44 equipment may be needed for the education of exceptional children.
45 (i) "Special teacher" means a person employed by a school district or
46 a state institution for special education services who is: (1) A teacher
47 qualified to instruct exceptional children as determined by standards es-
48 tablished by the state board and who is so certified by the state board; or
49 (2) a paraprofessional qualified to assist certificated teachers in the in-
50 struction of exceptional children as determined by standards established
51 by the state board and who is so approved by the state board.
52 (j) "State plan" means the state plan for special education services
53 authorized by this act.
54 (k) "Agency" means boards and the secretary of social and rehabili-
55 tation services state agencies.
56 (l) "Lawful custodian" means a parent or a person acting as parent.
57 If none of the above is known or can be found, an agency shall cause
58 proper proceedings to be instituted pursuant to the Kansas code for care
59 of children to determine whether a child is a child in need of care. For a
60 child whose custodian is the secretary of social and rehabilitation services
61 in the custody of a state agency, the term lawful custodian means the
62 secretary state agency except, when used in K.S.A. 72-972 through 72-
63 975, and amendments to such sections, the term means an education
64 advocate.
65 (m) "Parent" means a natural parent, an adoptive parent, or a
66 stepparent.
67 (n) "Person acting as parent" means: (1) A guardian or conservator;
68 or (2) a person, other than a parent, who is liable by law to maintain, care
69 for, or support the child, or who has actual care and control of the child
70 and is contributing the major portion of the cost of support of the child,
71 or who has actual care and control of the child with the written consent
72 of a person who has legal custody of the child, or who has been granted
73 custody of the child by a court of competent jurisdiction.
74 (o) "Education advocate" means a person appointed by the state
75 board in accordance with the provisions of K.S.A. 38-1513a, and amend-
76 ments thereto. A person appointed as an education advocate for a child
77 shall not be (1) an employee of the agency which is required by law to
78 provide special education services for the child, or (2) an employee of the
79 state board, the department, or any agency which is directly involved in
80 providing educational services for the child, or (3) any person having a
81 professional or personal interest which would conflict with the interests
82 of the child.
83 Sec. 2. K.S.A. 72-971 is hereby amended to read as follows: 72-971.
84 (a) In order to obtain data necessary for review of the progress or lack
85 thereof made in special education services for exceptional children and
86 to assess future needs for providing special education services on a more
87 comprehensive, expert, economic and efficient basis, it shall be the duty
88 of the department to conduct an annual survey of the school districts
89 showing the total number of exceptional children within the various cat-
90 egories of exceptionality in the state.
91 (b) The state crippled children's commission department of health
92 and environment and other state departments and agencies having census
93 data on exceptional children shall from time to time as requested furnish
94 such data to the department.
95 Sec. 3. K.S.A. 72-973 is hereby amended to read as follows: 72-973.
96 (a) The hearing provided for in K.S.A. 72-972, and amendments thereto,
97 shall be held at a time and place reasonably convenient to the lawful
98 custodian of the involved child, shall be a closed hearing unless the lawful
99 custodian requests an open hearing, and shall be conducted in accordance
100 with rules and regulations relating thereto adopted by the agency. Such
101 rules and regulations shall afford procedural due process, including the
102 following:
103 (1) The right of the parties to have counsel or an advisor of their own
104 choice present and to receive the advice of such counsel or other advisor
105 whom they may select;
106 (2) the right of the child and the lawful custodian of the child to be
107 present at the hearing;
108 (3) the right of the child, the lawful custodian of the child and their
109 counsel or advisor to hear or read a full report of the testimony of wit-
110 nesses responsible for recommending the proposed action and of any
111 other material witnesses;
112 (4) the right of the parties and their counsel or advisor to confront
113 and cross-examine witnesses who appear in person at the hearing, either
114 voluntarily or as a result of the issuance of a subpoena;
115 (5) the right of the parties to present witnesses in person or their
116 testimony by affidavit, including expert medical, psychological or educa-
117 tional testimony;
118 (6) the right of the child and the lawful custodian, on behalf of the
119 child, to testify and give reasons in opposition to the proposed action;
120 (7) the right of the parties to prohibit the presentation of any evi-
121 dence at the hearing which has not been disclosed to the opposite party
122 at least five days prior to the hearing;
123 (8) the right of the parties to have an orderly hearing;
124 (9) the right of the child to a fair and impartial decision based on
125 substantial evidence; and
126 (10) the right of the parties to have a record of the hearing made by
127 mechanical or electronic recording or by an official court reporter.
128 (b) The hearing shall be held not later than 30 days from the date on
129 which the request therefor is received or, if no request is received, not
130 later than 30 days from the date by which the request should have been
131 made, or on which objection, or revocation of consent, to the proposed
132 action is received by the agency. The child and the lawful custodian of
133 the child shall be notified in writing of the time and place of the hearing
134 at least five days prior thereto. At any reasonable time prior to the hearing,
135 the lawful custodian and the counsel or advisor of the involved child shall
136 be given access to all records, tests, reports or clinical evaluations relating
137 to the proposed action.
138 (c) Subject to the provisions of K.S.A. 72-973a, and amendments
139 thereto, the agency shall appoint a hearing officer for the purpose of
140 conducting the hearing. Members of the state board, the secretary of
141 social and rehabilitation services, and members of any board involved in
142 the education of the child shall not serve as hearing officers. The secretary
143 of social and rehabilitation services, the secretary of corrections, and the
144 commissioner of juvenile justice shall not serve as hearing officers. No
145 hearing officer shall be any person (1) responsible for recommending the
146 proposed action upon which the hearing is based, (2) having a personal
147 or professional interest which would conflict with objectivity in the hear-
148 ing, or (3) who is an employee of the state board or any agency involved
149 in the education of the child. A person shall not be considered an em-
150 ployee of the agency solely because the person is paid by the agency to
151 serve as a hearing officer. Each agency shall maintain a list of hearing
152 officers. Such list shall include a statement of the qualifications of each
153 hearing officer. Each hearing officer shall be qualified in accordance with
154 standards and requirements established by the state board and shall have
155 satisfactorily completed a training program conducted or approved by the
156 state board. Whenever a hearing officer conducts any hearing, such hear-
157 ing officer shall render a decision on the matter not later than 10 days
158 after the conclusion of the hearing and shall prepare a written report
159 thereon to the agency providing for the hearing. Any action of the hearing
160 officer in accordance with this subsection shall be final, subject to appeal
161 and review in accordance with K.S.A. 72-974, and amendments thereto.
162 Sec. 4. K.S.A. 1998 Supp. 72-978 is hereby amended to read as fol-
163 lows: 72-978. (a) (1) In each school year, in accordance with appropria-
164 tions for special education services provided under this act, each school
165 district which has provided special education services in compliance with
166 the requirements of the state plan and the provisions of this act shall be
167 entitled to receive state aid in an amount which shall be computed by the
168 state board as provided in this section. The state board shall:
169 (A) Reimbursement for actual travel allowances paid to special teach-
170 ers at not to exceed the rate specified under K.S.A. 75-3203, and amend-
171 ments thereto, for each mile actually traveled during the school year in
172 connection with duties in providing special education services for excep-
173 tional children; such reimbursement shall be computed by the state board
174 by ascertaining the actual travel allowances paid to special teachers by
175 the school district for the school year and shall be in an amount equal to
176 80% of such actual travel allowances;
177 (B) reimbursement in an amount equal to 80% of the actual travel
178 expenses incurred for providing transportation for exceptional children to
179 special education services; such reimbursement shall not be paid if such
180 child has been counted in determining the transportation weighting of
181 the district under the provisions of the school district finance and quality
182 performance act;
183 (C) reimbursement in an amount equal to 80% of the actual expenses
184 incurred for the maintenance of an exceptional child at some place other
185 than the residence of such child for the purpose of providing special
186 education services; such reimbursement shall not exceed $600 per excep-
187 tional child per school year; and
188 (D) after subtracting the amounts of reimbursement under (A), (B)
189 and (C) from the total amount appropriated for special education services
190 under this act, an amount which bears the same proportion to the re-
191 maining amount appropriated as the number of full-time equivalent spe-
192 cial teachers employed by the school district for approved special edu-
193 cation services bears to the total number of full-time equivalent special
194 teachers employed by all school districts for approved special education
195 services.
196 (2) Each special teacher who is a paraprofessional shall be counted
197 as 25 full-time equivalent special teacher.
198 (b) (1) No special teacher in excess of the number of special teachers
199 necessary to comply with the ratio of special teacher to exceptional chil-
200 dren prescribed by the state board for the school district shall be counted
201 in making computations under this section.
202 (2) No time spent by a special teacher in connection with duties per-
203 formed under a contract entered into by the Atchison juvenile correc-
204 tional facility, the Beloit juvenile correctional facility, the Larned juvenile
205 correctional facility or the Topeka juvenile correctional facility and a
206 school district for the provision of special education services by such state
207 institution shall be counted in making computations under this section.
208 (a) Determine the total amount budgeted in the general fund of the
209 district in the preceding school year plus the total amount budgeted in
210 the supplemental general fund of the district in the preceding school year
211 if the district adopted a local option budget in such school year;
212 (b) subtract from the amount determined under (a) the total amount
213 attributable in the preceding school year to assignment of transportation
214 weighting, program weighting and at-risk pupil weighting to enrollment
215 of the school district in such school year;
216 (c) divide the remainder obtained under (b) by the total number of
217 pupils enrolled in the school district on September 20 of the preceding
218 school year;
219 (d) determine the total full-time equivalent enrollment of exceptional
220 children in special education services provided by the school district in
221 the preceding school year;
222 (e) multiply the amount of the quotient obtained under (c) by the full-
223 time equivalent enrollment determined under (d);
224 (f) determine the amount of federal funds received by the school dis-
225 trict for the provision of special education services in the preceding school
226 year;
227 (g) determine the amount of revenue received by the school district
228 in the preceding school year for services rendered under a contract en-
229 tered into by the school district with a state institution for the provision
230 of special education services by the state institution;
231 (h) add the amounts determined under (f) and (g) to the amount of
232 the product obtained under (e);
233 (i) determine the total amount of expenditures of the school district
234 in the preceding school year for the provisions of special education serv-
235 ices in such school year;
236 (j) subtract the amount of the sum obtained under (h) from the
237 amount determined under (i);
238 (k) compute 90% of the remainder obtained under (j). The computed
239 amount is the amount of state aid each school district is entitled to receive
240 for the provision of special education services in the current school year.
241
242 Sec. 5. K.S.A. 72-979 is hereby amended to read as follows: 72-979.
243 (a) Payments under this act shall be made in a manner to be determined
244 by the state board. In the event If any district is paid more than it is
245 entitled to receive under any distribution made as state aid for the pro-
246 vision of special education services under this act, the state board shall
247 notify the district of the amount of such overpayment, and such district
248 shall remit the same to the state board. The state board shall remit any
249 moneys so received to the state treasurer, and the state treasurer shall
250 deposit the same in the state treasury to the credit of the general fund.
251 If any such district fails so to remit, the state board shall deduct the excess
252 amounts so paid from future payments becoming due to such district. In
253 the event any district is paid less than If the amount to which it is entitled
254 under any distribution made under this act, the state board shall pay the
255 additional amount due at any time within the school year in which the
256 underpayment was made or within sixty (60) days after the end of such
257 school year of appropriations for special education services is insufficient
258 to pay in full the amount of state aid each school district is entitled to
259 receive for the school year, the state board shall prorate the amount ap-
260 propriated among all school districts.
261 (b) The state board shall prescribe all forms necessary for reporting
262 under this act. Funds shall be distributed to the respective boards as soon
263 as the state board deems practicable.
264 (c) Every board shall make such periodic and special reports of sta-
265 tistical and financial information to the state board as it may request.
266 Sec. 6. K.S.A. 72-971, 72-973 and 72-979 and K.S.A. 1998 Supp. 72-
267 962, 72-978 and 72-983 are hereby repealed.
268 Sec. 7. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after its
269 publication in the statute book.