For four straight years, school districts across the state have refused to allow school board members to “conduct” needs assessments in each school, as stated in state law.
According to an article by Dave Trabert, CEO of the Kansas Policy Institute — which owns the Sentinel — “State law says the local school board ‘shall conduct‘ a building needs assessment in each attendance center annually to identify barriers to reading and math proficiency and the budgetary changes necessary to overcome them. When Kansas Policy Institute first discovered districts were not following the law in 2021, it was clear from their responses to our inquiries that some weren’t aware the law existed. That’s not just on school districts, but an indictment of the Department of Education and the Kansas Association of School Boards.”
Both Kansas House and Senate Education committees have been clear that means school board members are to be active participants in the school-level meetings with principals and teachers.
However, many superintendents and KASB insist the law only requires board members to review the reports.
“But regardless of how a court may interpret ‘shall conduct,’ why would superintendents not want board members to hear directly from teachers?” Trabert wrote. “Elected school board members are responsible for improving student outcomes. They are responsible for setting goals, ensuring that the district has an effective plan to meet the goals, and monitoring implementation and progress.”
Moreover, Trabert writes, some school board members are complicit in finding barriers to proficiency.
“A board majority can force the issue by establishing a policy that mandates board participation in meetings with teachers and principals,” Trabert wrote. “Still, the majority in many Kansas districts choose not to force the issue. There are as many students below grade level as are proficient, and the most recent ACT results show only 19% of Kansas graduates are college-ready in English, Reading, Math, and Science, so why would board members not force the issue and take an active role?”
None of the 25 districts surveyed allowed board members to conduct needs assessments
As it has done for the last four years, KPI has conducted a survey of school districts in the state to determine if they are following the law.
Responses to this year’s survey of 25 school districts fall into two broad categories – (1) districts that openly admit board members were not invited to participate in needs assessments with teachers and principals, and (2) districts that claim board members were allowed to participate but have no documentation to support the claim. Gardner-Edgerton, Manhattan, and Louisburg say board members participate in site council meetings to discuss needs assessments.
Gardner-Edgerton Superintendent Brian Huff says the needs assessments were discussed at meetings of the Education Services and Finance Committees. Huff says the minutes of the meetings are not sufficiently “granular” to reflect what was discussed but referred KPI to Item 5 of the Finance Committee meeting on May 29, attended by board member Greg Chapman. The meeting was scheduled for one hour and included a property/casualty presentation, review of the April financial statements, approval of a dozen contracts and purchase proposals, updates on four other items, and six topics under Item 5: FY 2025 Budget Planning Update. One of those six topics is “Building Needs Assessments – completed April 2024, statutorily required for budget planning.”
House K-12 Budget Committee chair Kristey Williams said if boards of education have a better way to assess student needs they should say so.
“If there’s a better way to assess our student needs and a better way to allocate money — the Legislature would be interested in knowing what that is,” Williams said in an email statement. “It’s discouraging when districts are unsuccessfully getting resources where they are needed most. And, if the needs assessment isn’t being used, or made to be too cumbersome for board members, I’d simply ask what are the better methods districts are utilizing for budget preparation other than what is prescribed in State law. Working together should be the goal rather than noncompliance.”
