The civic record
Read. Follow. Verify.Kansas Bill 47 requires school boards to publish member email addresses and guarantees public comment time
Last action · April 10, 2026: Died in House Committee
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What This Bill Proposed
School districts in Kansas must publicly list current board members and their email addresses on their websites and report them to the state department of education under SB 47. The measure also requires all regular school board meetings to include public comment time, authorizes individual board members to add agenda items and question speakers, and permits districts to pay dues to non-profit organizations providing services to member districts.
Local residents gain guaranteed opportunities to address school boards during meetings and direct access to board member contact information. Individual board members receive explicit statutory authority to add items to meeting agendas and engage directly with public speakers, changing how local school board meetings operate across the state.
- SB 47 was introduced in the Kansas Senate during the 2025-2026 legislative session and ultimately failed to pass after dying in the House Committee. context
- Kansas school districts operate under elected local boards of education governed by state statutes regarding open meetings and public records. context
Who It Would Have Affected
Groups the bill's text would have affected, as described in the record. Being affected is not a position for or against it.
School districts
School districts must publish board member email addresses online, submit them to the state, ensure public comment time at meetings, and permit individual board members to access property and add agenda items.
School board members
Board members have guaranteed rights to add discussion items to agendas, question public speakers, access school property, and receive district-funded legal counsel for employment-related lawsuits.
Members of the public
Residents gain guaranteed access to public comment periods at all regular school board meetings and direct email contact information for all board members.
State Department of Education
The department must collect school board member contact lists from every district and maintain and post a public database of those members and email addresses.
Key Facts
You don't have to trust us. Each fact below is taken straight from the official document - click any one to see the exact passage, highlighted in the original.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do regular citizens have a guaranteed right to speak at school board meetings?
Can an individual school board member add items to a meeting agenda?
What else do you want to know?
News Coverage
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Votes, people, money & the original sourceWhere This Stands
This bill did not become law - Died in committee.
Procedural history
21 actions- Apr 10, 2026HouseDied in House Committee
- Mar 21, 2025HouseWithdrawn from Calendar, Rereferred to House Committee on Education
- Mar 14, 2025HouseFloorCommittee Report recommending bill be passed as amended by
- Mar 11, 2025HouseHearing: Tuesday, March 11, 2025, 1:30 PM — Room 218-N
- Feb 25, 2025HouseIntroducedReceived and Introduced
- Feb 25, 2025HouseCommitteeReferred to House Committee on Education
Show 15 earlier actions
- Feb 19, 2025SenateCommittee of the Whole - Now working on
- Feb 19, 2025SenateFloorCommittee of the Whole - Committee Report be adopted
- Feb 19, 2025SenateCommittee of the Whole - Motion to Amend - Offered by
- Feb 19, 2025SenateFloorCommittee of the Whole - Amendment by was adopted
- Feb 19, 2025SenateCommittee of the Whole - Motion to Amend - Offered by
- Feb 19, 2025SenateCommittee of the Whole - Amendment by was withdrawn
- Feb 19, 2025SenateCommittee of the Whole - Motion to Amend - Offered by
- Feb 19, 2025SenateCommittee of the Whole - Amendment by was rejected
- Feb 19, 2025SenateFloorCommittee of the Whole - Be passed as further amended
- Feb 19, 2025Senatefa_fabc_912
- Feb 19, 2025SenateFloorEmergency Final Action - Passed as amended
- Feb 18, 2025SenateFloorCommittee Report recommending bill be passed as amended by
- Feb 11, 2025SenateHearing: Tuesday, February 11, 2025, 1:30 PM — Room 144-S
- Jan 22, 2025SenateCommitteeReferred to Senate Committee on Education
- Jan 21, 2025SenateIntroducedIntroduced
Version history
Only one version on file - nothing to compare yet. As later stages (committee substitute, engrossed, enrolled) are captured, the redline appears here.
View official text →Lobbying Activity
No state lobbying filings in our records match this bill. Federal lobbying reports (LDA) cover Congress, so they are not listed on state bills.
Full breakdown
Who this bill affects and the strongest case for and against it, written only from the bill’s own text.
Connected Entities
Sources
www.kslegislature.gov
Analysis Score
0–100- Significance20Lowered because this bill did not pass (its text scored 65)
- Controversy40Intensity of disagreement among stakeholders
- Entertainment10Compellingness for a non-policy-wonk reader
- Buzz35Current news / social attention level
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