Chairman Erickson opened the hearing on SB 491.

Tamera Lawrence, Assistant Revisor, Office of the Revisor of Statutes, gave an overview of the bill. (Attachment 1)

Proponent:

Senator Doug Shane, District 37, said he became aware of the practice where employees of a school district suspected of misconduct or behaviors of concern might be given the opportunity to resign and move on from the district. Employee contracts frequently contain provisions where records of "informal" discipline are kept outside of the employee's file or not kept at all. Because of non-documentation, it is frequently more challenging to fire a staff member for cause. The worst manifestation and outcome of these contracts and practices results in predators being passed from school to school. This bill sets up a framework of oversight to protect children and the teaching profession from sexual predators using public schools to access their victims. (Attachment 2)

Sy Colao, author of this bill, stated what the public does not know and what still shocks many still today, is that there are warning signs present and apparent to many, including surrounding a sexual predictor. In the case of a student at McLouth, Kansas school district who was sexually abused more than 25 times by her high school chemistry teacher, administrators and staff members alike knowingly allowed the girl's victimization to continue through the end of her senior year, leaving her alone in a classroom with her abuser. The purpose of this legislation is to confront and correct these systemic failures and to finally place the safety of Kansas children above institutional convenience, career preservation, and silence. Passing this legislation into law means elected officials are taking a stand in solidarity, a clear and unmistakable stand against molesters, perpetrators, predators, monsters, and their accomplices including those who enabled abuse through silence, inaction, willful blindness, or deliberate failure to intervene, report, or protect children when they had the authority and duty to do so. (Attachment 3)

Erika Sheets, Moms for Liberty Kansas, said Kansas parents need an accessible, effective investigative and enforcement mechanism to defend their children as protecting and defending them from sexual exploitation, abuse and assault is of the utmost urgency because of systemic, institutional failures in schools. The research shows that school cultures, policies, and structures often enable abuse through inaction, poor boundaries, training focused on issues in the home instead of the school, failure to act on red flags, loyalty to staff, or inadequate reporting. Title IX requires sexual assault in K-12 must be investigated. This bill remedies the systemic failures in reporting, investigating, and preventing educator misconduct. (Attachment 4)

Proponent Written:

Faith Colson, Survivor, Policy Expert, Namesake of Faith’s Law (IL) (Attachment 5)

Michelle Stolleis Denault, Survivor, International Keynote Speaker, Creator of the training “Grooming 101 - A Predator’s Playbook” (Attachment 6)

Denise Roberts, Citizen (Attachment 7)

Debbie Detmer, Citizen (Attachment 8)

Rachel Harris, Parent (Attachment 9)

Jami Klenda, Citizen (Attachment 10)

Stephanie Pierce, Homeschooler (Attachment 11)

Discussion followed.

Neutral:

Frank Harwood, Deputy Commission of Fiscal and Administrative Services, Kansas State Department of Education (KSDE), stated that allegations of professional misconduct, including but not limited to the commission of certain delineated crimes, are investigated by the KSDE's office of General Counsel. Established by the Teaching and Administration Professional Practices Act, the Commission is made up of teachers and school administrators across the state. The Commission conducts evidentiary hearings and makes recommendations to the State Board involving the issuance, suspension, revocation, or reinstatement of an educator's license. KSDE would note that the definition of "professional misconduct" as it is used, the bill is unconstitutionally vague. (Attachment 12)

Scott A. Woodruff, Senior Counsel, said the various duties the bill would place on schools are certainly not intended to apply to families. But as written, those duties would indeed fall on families because a family's home school is categorized as a non-accredited nonpublic (or non-accredited private) school, thus coming within the bill's current definition of "educational institution." As written, it would also place duties on out-of-state education providers that many home school families use. Ten amendments were recommended. (Attachment 13)

Neutral Written:

Matt Bingesser, Administrative Counsel, Office of the Attorney General (Attachment 14)

James Franko, President, Kansas Policy Institute (Attachment 15)

Bob Stuart, Executive Officer, Kansas Bureau of Investigation (Attachment 16)

Dr. John Walker, Superintendent, Central Christian School (Attachment 17)

Discussion followed.

Opponent:

Autumn Elkins Faulkner, Director for State Policy Engagement, Association of Christian Schools International, said this bill, as written, raises serious concerns for non-public schools. The Education Inspector General with broad investigative authority over non-public schools represents a significant expansion of state oversight into private education. The bill includes civil penalties for noncompliance, yet it does not clearly distinguish between willful misconduct and good-faith procedural errors. Non-public schools should not face punitive enforcement structures that fail to account for their size, governance model, and religious character. (Attachment 18)

Leah Fliter, Assistant Executive Director of Advocacy, Kansas Association of School Boards, stated this bill undermines the state constitution and the powers of the State Board of Education and locally elected school boards; duplicates or conflicts with existing state law; places unfunded mandates on schools and raises serious concerns about the separation of powers in state government. (Attachment 19)

Jim Karleskint, United School Administrators, has three major concerns regarding this bill including the establishment of the Office of the Education Inspector General, requiring expanded mandatory reporting obligation and a statewide educator misconduct registry tied to criminal history checks, and empowering state officials to intervene in local matters traditionally governed by elected school boards and professional educators. (Attachment 20)

Opponent Written:

Lona Gorman, Kansas Home Educators (Attachment 21)

Timothy R. Graham, Director of Government Relations and Legislative Affairs, Kansas National Education Association (Attachment 22)

Jennifer Laporte, Parent (Attachment 23)

Robert Simmons, President, Midwest Parent Educators (Attachment 24)

Tanner Tempel, Deputy State Director, Americans for Prosperity (Attachment 25)

Chuck Weber, Executive Director, Kansas Catholic Conference (Attachment 26)

Dr. Brent Yeager, Superintendent, Olathe Public Schools (Attachment 27)

Discussion followed.

Chairman Erickson closed the hearing SB 491 and adjourned the meeting at 2:23 pm.

The next meeting of the Senate Education Committee will be March 3, 2026, at 1:30 pm in Room 144-S.