Topeka Public Schools Mail - Fwd_ Board action and legislative ...

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KINSCH, TIFFANIE

Fwd: Board action and legislative update for Superintendents from Ann Mah 1 message Tiffany Anderson To: Tiffanie Kinsch

Wed, Mar 15, 2017 at 6:56 PM

Dr. Tiffany Anderson Superintendent Topeka Public Schools Unified District No. 501 624 SW 24th Street Topeka, Kansas  666111294 [email protected] "Students First: Working as a Team for Continuous Improvement!" Sent from my iPhone. Please excuse any errors sent from a cellular device. Begin forwarded message: From: Ann Mah  < [email protected]> Date: March 15, 2017 at 4:46:59 PM CDT To: [email protected] Subject: Board action and legislative update for Superintendents from Ann Mah ReplyTo: [email protected]

State Board News from Ann Mah

Dear Dr. Tiffany Anderson, The State Board had an active meeting this week. With everything going on at the Capitol, we are as anxious as you to find out where things will land. A little update on that below .   FYI, one of the exciting things I get to do is call superintendents about the winners of the Challenge

In This Issue At the capitol School funding Kindergarten readiness Teacher supply My schedule

Quick Links www.annmah.org

Awards for 2017. I will start making those calls tomorrow. Looking forward to coming out to personally deliver the certificates to your schools!

At the capitol.... The good news is that February revenues came in high, reducing the budget gap that has to be fixed by June 30. The unofficial gap sits at about $281 million. The House passed its rescission bill already. Their bill fixed the problem using idle funds from the Pooled Money Investment Board with no cuts to state agencies or schools. The Senate will debate its rescission bill on Thursday. It uses money from the PMIB and delays a $150 million payment to schools. It contains no cuts to K12 or higher ed by June 30. However, it is expected that there will be amendments on the floor to include budget cuts. There are senators who want to go into the 2018 fiscal year with a bigger ending balance, hoping to have a cushion against tax increase bills coming. In fact, Senate President W agle said she wants an across the board cut. More to follow!

School funding Commissioner Watson and Chairman Porter have been quite active at the capitol working both in committee and behind the scenes to help shape a school funding formula. Last July , the State Board recommended a budget that included an increase of $566 million in FY 2018 and $327 million more in FY 2019. We think that is what it will take to fund our KansansCan V ision and respond to the Gannon order concerns. We appreciate that the Legislature is actively seeking our opinions.   The House has had numerous hearings on funding formulas. The one getting the most attention is HB 2270, that mirrors closely our old formula. It needs some "tweaking", especially in regard to calculating at risk students, but people seem to be open to that. K12 Education Budget Chair Larry Campbell seems to be truly interested in getting a good formula that works for all students. The Senate Special Committee starts meeting tomorrow. It is chaired by Senate Majority Leader Jim Denning. He is less inclined to use anything that looks like our old formula. Senator Anthony Hensley, however, introduced a bill for the committee's consideration that looks a lot like HB 2270, with some improvements. So we'll see how things go when the committee starts discussions. While the legislators are under a June 30 deadline to get a constitutional formula before the Kansas Supreme Court, I wouldn't be surprised to see them delay bill passage to the V eto Session in May.

Kindergarten readiness The Board got an update on the pilot program of the Ages and Stages Questionnaire pilot. 37 districts participated to get a snapshot of kindergarten readiness. Four of our District 4 districts (McLouth, Seaman, Atchison Co. Community Schools, and T opeka USD 501) participated in the pilot.

The tool is a snapshot, not a test. It uses parent input to assess their children in a number of cognitive and socialemotional areas. It is a tool to help schools get ready for their new kindergarten students, and not a tool to keep students out of kindergarten. Kindergarten readiness is one of the areas the State Board has included in its KansasCan Vision as a measurable outcome. Today the Board voted to use this tool in all Kansas districts. Now we will do an RFP for bids on the materials, etc., needed to implement the program in schools by the 201819 school year. Overall it is not an expensive program, but the Board's intent is to find a way to fund this for our schools.

Teacher supply You may know that the State Board commissioned a Blue Ribbon Study on teacher supply and retention last year. That report had 65 recommendations for action at all levels including the state board, local boards, and the Legislature. The State Board is focusing on four areas it can impact and created the Teacher Vacancy and Supply Committee to start work on those areas of impact. The first one we are working on is mentoring. Yesterday we got a recommendation for a mentoring model program and we approved that model.

My schedule I had a chance to visit the Perry and Oskaloosa school districts last week with Commissioner Watson. Great stuff going on out there for our students! I also appreciate the hospitality of the McLouth and Oskaloosa school boards this week. Here is my upcoming schedule of visits: April 6: Kansas Advisory Committee on Career and Technical Education meeting in Wichita April 10: Marais Des Cygne school board April 11: Kansas Learning First Alliance meeting in Topeka April 27: USD 437 Foundation breakfast May 8: Mission V alley school board June 12: Wabaunsee school board If you would like for me to make a visit to your school or school board, please let me know!

I am now scheduling meetings with local boards and looking for school activities to attend.  Let me know when would be a good time for me to visit your schools and boards. Sincerely,    Ann Mah www.annmah.org   Paid for by Ann Mah for Kansas, Nancy Grif fin, Treasurer