Here are updates on the school construction and bond and interest bills from KASB:
House Education makes significant changes to construction bill
The House Education Committee recommended a heavily amended HB 2486 Tuesday [March 15].
Here is the bill before the amendments. The new bill would cap the amount of money the state would be obligated to pay for school building projects. The new bill would also get rid of any references to “instructional areas” and would also use the Kansas State Board of Education as the final arbitrator in determining which districts would be eligible for state funds if more money was requested than what was allotted and not a new review board.
The Senate Education Committee Tuesday [March 15] continued work on its bond and interest aid bill, SB 356. The committee is considering a new proposal from Sen. Molly Baumgartner, R-Louisburg, to also cap the amount of equalization aid annually, but would create a review committee composed mainly of school administrators to approve state aid for projects if requests exceed that amount.