Brief⁽¹⁾

H.B. 2191 amends laws pertaining to (A) health certification of school personnel; (B) school safety; and (C), forwarding of pupil records.

A. School Health Certifications. An amendment makes it permissive rather than mandatory for local school boards to require persons who are not district employees but who perform services for the district and who come into regular contact with pupils to submit a health certification such as that required for school district employees. (As under the current law, school districts are authorized to pay for health certifications.)

B. Kansas School Safety and Security Act Amendments. Changes to the Kansas School Safety and Security Act include:

• The process for reporting potentially dangerous students is changed. School administrative employees, as well as professional and paraprofessional employees, are required to make reports to the school district superintendent when they have information (current law refers to "knowledge") that a pupil fits one of the five criteria of a potentially dangerous student. Under current law, reports are made to school administrators.

Upon receiving a report, the superintendent is required to investigate the matter and, upon determining that the identified pupil is a pupil to whom the provisions of the law apply, report information and identify the pupil to all school employees who are directly involved or likely to be directly involved in teaching or providing other school-related services to the pupil. Students covered include those who:

have been expelled for conduct which endangers the safety of others;

have been expelled for commission of a criminal offense;

have been expelled for possession of weapons;

have been adjudged to be a juvenile offender and whose offense, if committed by an adult, would constitute a felony, except a felony theft offense involving no direct threat to human life; and

have been tried and convicted as an adult of any felony, except theft involving no direct threat to human life.

• A report regarding a student is not required if the expulsion, adjudication as a juvenile, or conviction of a felony or conduct occurred more than 365 days prior to the report to the superintendent.



• The Kansas Juvenile Justice Code is amended to require a copy of the court's order in a juvenile adjudication be provided to the school district in which the juvenile offender is enrolled or will enroll.

C. Forwarding of Pupil Records. An amendment prohibits a school district from withholding a student's school records for any reason. School records are declared to be the property of the pupil. Upon the request of a pupil or parent, the school records of the pupil must be provided or, upon transfer of the pupil to another school district or to a nonpublic school, be forwarded to the new school district or nonpublic school. A pupil's records forwarded to another school district due to transfer will include original copies of all the student's records, including transcripts, grade cards, results of tests, assessments or evaluations, and all other personally identifiable records, files, and data directly related to the pupil.

Background

H.B. 2191, as introduced, dealt only with health certification of school personnel. The chief proponent, Representative Adkins, explained that the current law's mandatory health certification requirement serves as a significant impediment to recruiting volunteers to serve in the public schools. Representative Adkins explained that he recognizes the need to address public health issues and has no difficulty with a law that allows each school district to determine the appropriate level of protection. He said also that there is some confusion as to whether the current law requires most school volunteers to submit health certification and that clarification of the law is needed.

The Kansas Association of School Boards also appeared as proponents of the bill. There were no other conferees.

The House Committee on Education amendments did not change the original intent of the proposal.

The Senate Education Committee amended the bill to include the substance of S.B. 203, as passed by the Senate. That bill, which includes the School Safety and Security Act and the pupil records provisions, was assigned to the House Education Committee as of March 24, 1999.

1. *Supplemental notes are prepared by the Legislative Research Department and do not express legislative intent. The supplemental note and fiscal note for this bill may be accessed on the Internet at http://www.ink.org/public/legislative/bill_search.html.