On February 26 the the House Appropriations Committee held hearings on HB2859. Commenting on this bill Olathe School Board Member Jim Churchman stated:
“In an environment where school districts across Kansas are seeking innovative and responsible ways to minimize disruptions to predictable K-12 educational funding, Rep. Kinzer has introduced a landmark bill that will significantly improve the local control of Kansas school boards. HB 2859 represents one of the single most important pieces of legislation to appear on the Kansas landscape in some time, providing schools districts with increased latitude to more efficiently utilize taxpayer funding earmarked for education. Rep. Kinzer’s bill clearly advances local school boards ability to act in the best interest of the community by eliminating the restrictive covenants on the usage of K-12 educational funding, thereby maximizing the resources necessary for the students of Kansas to meet the competitive needs of the 21st century.”
HB 2859 would reduce the number of separate funds into which K-12 dollars must be placed by local school districts. Under current law K-12 dollars are placed into more than 30 separate accounts. HB 2859 would afford greater control to local boards of education in overseeing the use of funds earmarked for K-12 educational purposes. This bill would reduce the number of inflexible restricted funding accounts thereby removing the inefficient restrictions placed on the efforts of boards of education in working to utilize provided resources for the purpose of funding the K-12 educational needs of the community. Under current law significant excess cash balances are being maintained by local school districts as a result of these statutory account restrictions. By reducing the number of restricted accounts it is the intent of HB2859 to increase local control and flexibility to more efficiently utilize taxpayer dollars.
During testimony on this bill Rep. Kinzer noted that, “As we strive together to bring greater efficiencies to state government it is important that we give careful consideration to current statutory schemes that, however well meaning, ultimately result in the inefficient expenditure of taxpayer dollars. It is my belief that our current statutory scheme creating such a plethora of K-12 accounts is just such an impediment to efficiency and that as such it should be reformed.”
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