School Boards, Overnight Accommodations and Review of Building Closure
Resolutions; Local Broadcasters and KSHSAA; Senate Sub. for HB 2138
Senate Sub. for HB 2138 requires school district boards of education to adopt a policy
regarding separate oversight accommodations for students of each biological sex during school
district sponsored travel, permits local broadcasters to broadcast a school’s regular or
postseason activities under certain criteria, and provides for administrative review by the State
Board of Education (State Board) of resolutions adopted by school district boards to
permanently close a school building.
Effective Date
The bill provides that the provisions relating to a resolution to close a school building,
and the potential subsequent review of such resolution, will go into effect and be in force from
and after January 1, 2024, and publication in the statute book. All other provisions will be in
effect upon publication in the statute book.
Overnight Accommodations
The bill requires each school district’s board of education to adopt a policy requiring that
separate overnight accommodations be provided for students of each biological sex during
school district sponsored travel that requires overnight stays.
Reporting and Retaliation
The bill provides a private cause of action against a school district for any student who is
subject to retaliation or adverse actions by a school district or its employees as a result of
reporting a violation relating to the overnight accommodations policy. The bill requires such civil
actions to be initiated within two years after the harm occurred. Students prevailing in such
action would be entitled to monetary damages, including monetary damages for psychological,
emotional, and physical harm suffered; for reasonable attorney fees and costs; and for other
appropriate relief.
Definitions
The bill establishes definitions for the following terms:
●“Biological sex” means the biological indication of male and female in the context
of reproductive potential or capacity, such as sex chromosomes, naturally
occurring sex hormones, gonads and non-ambiguous internal and external
genitalia present at birth, without regard to an individual’s psychological, chosen,
or subjective experience of gender; and
●“School district sponsored travel” means any travel that is necessary for students
to attend, participate, or compete in any event or activity that is sponsored or
Kansas Legislative Research Department 1 2023 Summary of Legislation sanctioned by a school operated by the school district, including, but not limited
to, any travel that is organized:
○By any club or organization recognized by the school;
○Through any communication facilitated by the school, such as email; or
○Through fundraising activities conducted, in whole or in part, by school
district employees or on school district property.
Local Broadcasters; Postseason Activities; Contracts and Agreements
The bill permits local broadcasters to broadcast a school’s postseason activities,
notwithstanding exclusive contracts entered into by the Kansas State High School Activities
Association (KSHSAA) for the purpose of broadcasting postseason activities. [Note: KSHSAA
has an exclusive broadcast agreement with the National Federation of State High School
Associations. The current agreement has five years remaining, along with an optional extension
if specific performance metrics are met.]
Definitions
The bill defines various terms, including:
●“Activity” and “activities” mean school activities and contests in the fields of
athletics, music, forensics, dramatics, and any other interschool extracurricular
activities by students enrolled in any of the grades from 7 to 12, inclusive;
●“Broadcast” means the live or recorded audio or video transmission of an activity,
play-by-play, or similar accounts of such activity via radio, television, internet, or
other technologies;
●“Exclusive broadcast agreement” means an agreement entered into between
KSHSAA and an organization to broadcast association activities under which
such organization retains:
○Sole rights to broadcast such activities; or
○First right to broadcast such activities; and
●“Local broadcaster” means an organization, located in Kansas, that provides
local broadcast services for any activity of a local school. [Note: “Local
broadcaster” does include a student organization broadcast that is offered as an
educational course or program by the school.]
Applicability
Current law allows KSHSAA to enter into an exclusive broadcast agreement for a
postseason activity. The bill provides that if KSHSAA enters into or renews an exclusive
broadcast agreement to broadcast a regular season activity or postseason activity, local
Kansas Legislative Research Department 2 2023 Summary of Legislation broadcasters would not be prohibited from broadcasting a school’s regular season activity or
postseason activity if the local broadcaster:
●Provides broadcast services for the school that is participating in the postseason
activity;
●Broadcasts at least one-third of the events of such activity during the regular
season; and
●Entered into valid broadcast agreements to broadcast the events of the activity
during the regular season.
The bill will not prohibit KSHSAA from requiring local broadcasters to enter into a
postseason broadcast agreement with stipulations. Stipulations include, but are not be limited
to:
●Reasonable compensation for broadcasts, except that no fee shall be charged
for such broadcasts;
●Approval by the site hosting the event;
●Limitations on organizations that are permitted to sponsor part of the broadcast;
and
●Requirements for competent and professional announcers.
Resolution to Close a School Building
Under current law, a board of education of any unified school district may adopt a
resolution to close any school building at any time the board determines the building should be
closed to improve the school system. Prior to the adoption of the resolution, a public hearing on
the proposal to close a school building must be held. In order for the resolution to be adopted, a
majority of the members of the local board of education must vote to adopt the resolution.
Request for Review
The bill allows citizens to request the State Board to conduct an administrative review of
a resolution to close a school building. The State Board would be required to conduct an
administrative review of a resolution if at least 5.0 percent of registered voters of such school
district sign a request for administrative review.
The bill specifies that a request for administrative review would need to be received by
the State Board no later than 45 days after the adoption of the resolution to close a school
building. If the State Board receives more than one request for review on the same resolution to
close a school building, the request(s) received after the initial request could be dismissed or
could be combined with the initial request. The bill clarifies that a resolution to close a school
Kansas Legislative Research Department 3 2023 Summary of Legislation building would not be effective until the 45-day time period to request a review has lapsed, so
long as no request for review has been received by the State Board.
Administrative Review
The State Board will be required to review the resolution to determine whether it is
reasonable under the totality of the circumstances. The bill requires an advisory determination
to be issued to the school district no later than 45 days after receipt of the request for review.
The advisory determination could include recommendations to modify or to rescind the original
resolution to close the school building.
Reconsideration
Upon receipt of the State Board’s advisory determination, the local board of education
will be required to reconsider the original resolution to close a building. In reconsidering the
resolution, the local board of education is required to hold a public hearing. Upon the conclusion
of a hearing, the local board of education may issue one of the following determinations on the
original resolution:
●Approve the resolution to close the school building;
●Modify and approve the resolution to close the school building; or
●Rescind the resolution to close the school building.
Definitions
The bill defines the term “school building” to mean any building or structure operated or
maintained by the board of education of a unified school district.
Kansas Legislative Research Department 4 2023 Summary of Legislation