Slowly getting back to the session!

The turn-around break has everyone back in Topeka but things were relatively quiet today.

The House K-12 Budget Committee met to receive reports on CTE programs and out of state students. We’ve heard these reports earlier this year in other committees.

At issue is an attempt by some legislators to have CTE programs funded based on the actual costs of such programs. Currently, they are funded with a .5 weighting factor. After much study, the Department of Education continues to recommend the current funding protocol.

Out of state students attend some Kansas schools along the borders because their parents might work in Kansas or the Kansas school is significantly closer to their homes than the school in Nebraska or Oklahoma. Some legislators are quite frustrated that these children receive state funding to attend our schools and yet sometimes come from families that don’t pay Kansas taxes.

School Lunch Issues Discussed

The Senate Education Committee met to discuss school lunch programs. Some parents in Senator Baumgardner’s district contacted her about a practice they called “lunch shaming.” Under this program students who have expended their lunch accounts can be provided an alternative lunch until the account is paid. These lunches might be a cheese or peanut butter sandwich and a piece of fruit.

The parents report that a child can get a lunch, take it to check out only to have it taken away and thrown in the trash with the child sent back to the alternative lunch line. Baumgardner had issues with the throwing away of this food as well as the disposal of food left over at the end of the day.

Staff from the KSDE and from the Kansas City, Kansas and Spring Hill School Districts led the committee through explanations of how food service is covered by the federal and state governments and the many rules that must be complied with in order to receive meal reimbursements. The two food service directors also noted that their districts do not use an alternative lunch – every child needing a lunch is given the regular meal and the district works to secure reimbursement from parents and guardians. Kansas City noted that at the end of the year, they have to transfer more than $50,000 from other programs to cover the costs of providing the lunches.

We’re not sure where the committee might be going with this information. It’s too late to introduce legislation in the Education Committee.