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Minutes for HB2361 - Committee on Children and Seniors
Short Title
Creating conditions for the administration of certain tests, questionnaires, surveys and examinations.
Minutes Content for Wed, Feb 20, 2019
Kyle Hamilton gave an overview of HB2361. (Attachment 11)
Larry Campbell provided written comment as a fiscal note on the bill (Attachment 12).
Lisa Chaney spoke in support of the bill, giving a history of the survey used in schools and its uses. She explained how they protect student anonymity but the survey information is needed by several state entities. Without good data each year, trends cannot be recognized. (Attachment 13)
Mark Tallman spoke in support of the bill stating that the law as it stands has reduced participation in surveys and made it difficult to assess needs and to serve their students or to get grants.(Attachment 14)
Kyle Kessler spoke in support of the bill explaining that data provided by the Kansas Communities That Care survey provides statistics community mental health centers across the state use to identify and target needs of students. Without reliable data they might miss issues that will affect a wide range of cascading problems, from graduation and employment rates, to unintended pregnancies, health problems, mental health problems and criminal behavior. The present system has dropped participation from 70% to 37% and needs to be corrected. (Attachment 15)
Jerry Henn spoke in support of the bill stating that data is important to schools for making changes in their buildings so they can better serve students. It helps to identify problems. The current law makes it difficult to get information in an opt-in situation because parents get busy and do not return permission slips. This bill lets schools to9 gather data and to help students. (Attachment 16)
Julie Brewer administer surveys and uses the data. She spoke in support of the bill explaining that the Communities That Care surveys identify things that even involved parents may not see in their children. It helps schools to create programs that serve their students. This survey gives the students input into the planning process through their answers on the survey. Kansas needs the information gathered on these surveys. (Attachment 17)
Shanna Burgess gave written support of the bill stating that the Kansas Communities That Care Student Survey identifies trends through analysis of self-reported data from students in the 6th, 8th, 10th and 12th grades. It paints a picture of alcohol, tobacco, and other drug use, prosocial and antisocial behavior as well as key mental health indicators such as depression and suicide risk among Kansas youth. It is imperative to have this data to predict and to be proactive in student services. Participation is down under the present system. She hopes to see it restored to previous levels so they can return to getting quality data. (Attachment 18)
Kristi Pankratz gave written support of the bill stating that the 2014 change in the method of data collection impacted her agency's ability to serve their community. If they implement an evidence-based prevention program in a school, or even deliver an educational presentation, they are unable to measure if the program or presentation had an impact on the students without parents/guardians giving permission for them to complete a program evaluation form. Passing HB2361 would retain parents' abilities to choose what surveys their children take but will reduce the burden on parents, schools and community coalitions by allowing parents to opt-out instead or requiring them to opt-in. It will also increase participation in surveys and improve data collection. (Attachment 19)
Chrissy Mayer gave written support of the bill stating that her organization is committed to data-driven prevention work to address the needs of youth in Kansas. Passage of HB2361 ensures that we can help community coalitions access reliable, comprehensive data points to promote and support behavioral health prevention work. (Attachment 20)
Max Wilson gave written support of the bill stating that HB2361 will assure that participation rates will increase and reliable data will be available statewide. (Attachment 21)
Adrienne Olejnik gave written support of the bill stating accurate surveys are critical for Kansas communities and their children. We must continue to measure how our children are doing to ensure oru state continues to thrive. (Attachment 22)
Desiree Martens gave written support of the bill explaining how they use the data and how the current law has made it difficult for schools to obtain "opt-in" parental consent for participation and how it makes effective measurement of programs challenging. (Attachment 23)
KAAP gave written support of the bill stating that a vote for HB2361 would restore usable data from actions previously taken while protecting student privacy. It would allow the state to provide data needed to justify grant funding and to track progress and provide opportunities for be competitive in applying for and receiving funding to address youth problems in communities. (Attachment 24)
Sondra Borth gave written support of the bill reporting that passing this bill would benefit many coalitions in Kansas and help them to continue making local data-informed decisions and to continue funding to help reduce drug and alcohol use among Kansas youth at the local level. (Attachment 25)
Linda Highland spoke in opposition of the bill explaining that parents are not given enough information to decide if they want their students to take surveys like the Communities That Care survey. They are not provided copies of the tests/questionnaires/surveys/examinations to see what sort of things are asked. She observed that one survey listed the names of medicines that might be at home that could become addictive. Students taking that questionnaire who had never considered experimenting could be tempted to go home and raid the medicine cabinet. She believes that the survey is not asking about possible behaviors but leading students to try time. She wants to protect Kansas students from growing data collection invading their lives. (Attachment 26)
Walt Chappell spoke in opposition of the bill stating that the ultimate use of the data is to justify getting government grants and hiring staff, not in serving students. He says the information collected is shared with other entities without parental permission and is at risk of being stolen. "The questions asked are no one else's business and cannot be verified as accurate -- yet bureaucrats want to keep giving the surveys so they can ask for more funding." (Attachment 27)
Lisa Huesers spoke in opposition of the bill stating that it is another attempt to undermine parent authority and ability to protect their own children and that there is no way to make the survey truly anonymous. (Attachment 28)
After considerable discussion, the meeting was adjourned at 3:07 pm.
Closed at 3:07
