2026 KsLeg session: Big Brother bills
- Stand Up Blue Valley
- 1 day ago
- 4 min read
How did BV-area Kansas legislators vote on Big Brother bills that directly impact our neighborhood public schools?
Who knows better what policies and procedures are needed by Blue Valley Schools? Our locally-elected School Board members - who live in our community, have kids and grandkids in our schools, and hold regular community conversations? Or the Kansas Governor and state legislators?
Communities elect local officials who live in their neighborhoods, have a vested interest in the community, and can be responsive year-round to issues that need to be addressed.
How did BV-area KS legislators vote on 2026 Big Brother bills?
(Note: some of these bills started out as one thing and turned into a completely different thing in the end - which is confusing and frustrating. To read the current bill language, you must open the last Bill Version pdf. We’ve linked those here.)
Cell Phone Ban
Most KS school districts, including Blue Valley, already have policies limiting student cell phone use and access. But KsLeg - backed inexplicably by Gov. Laura Kelly - decided THEY know best. As “ban” legislation was rammed through KsLeg with NO opportunity for public comment, parents emailed and called legislators and Gov. Kelly with concerns over the strict, unreasonable limits placed on student cell phone accessibility, which requires cell phones be “securely stored away from the student's person in an inaccessible location during the school day” - NOT just turned off in a backpack or purse. Blue Valley and other Johnson County school district representatives contacted legislators and the Governor to explain how cumbersome and costly such a total ban would be.
Even legislators didn’t seem to be on the same page about details; some said students could keep phones in their backpacks or lockers when the bill CLEARLY prohibits that. Some didn’t seem to know they voted for millions of dollars in expenditures in staff and equipment to comply with the law.
One BV-area legislator who spoke out AGAINST this legislative overreach - and who supported Local Control policies regarding smart electronics - was state Sen. Cindy Holscher (who is also running for governor this year).
Sen. Cindy Holscher: “Over 90% of Kansas students are already in districts with policies in place, yet this new law overrides local control, imposes an unfunded mandate, and puts a burden on teachers without providing the necessary resources. Unfortunately, school leaders were ignored during the legislative process.”
These area legislators voted NO on the total ban, following the recommendation of Blue Valley and other area school districts (since those districts already have personal electronics policies in place):
Representatives Featherston, Poskin, Meyer, Osman, McDonald
Senator Holscher
Voting YES, which will require schools to lock all personal electronics away from students all day and cost Blue Valley between $3.5-$4 MILLION to implement:
Representatives Croft, VanHouden, Tarwater, Turner
Senators Warren, Rose
Interview with BV Superintendent Gillan Chapman: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YFs9vfNQDMA
Civics test for graduation; high school content dictates
Kansas voters elect a State Board of Education and local school boards to make curriculum decisions for public schools. Yet KsLeg overstepped both in 2026 when they passed a bill requiring a civics test for high school graduation. They further specified that schools must provide education “on the negative impacts of communist, fascist, and socialist regimes and ideologies."
Kansas already requires high schoolers to take a civics class for graduation. Blue Valley students take either AP Government or Government class in senior year.
Proponents of the law were ALL from OUT of state. Legislators did NOT work with Kansas educators on this.
Voting NO, refusing to overstep onto authority of other elected bodies that already oversee education policy in Kansas:
Representatives Featherston, Poskin, Meyer, Osman, McDonald
Senator Holscher
Voting YES, to dictate specific school district curriculum (NOT their job):
Representatives Croft, VanHouden, Tarwater, Turner
Senators Warren, Rose
As of 4/21/2026 this is on Gov. Kelly’s desk for signature or veto.
Recess requirement and requiring annual Physical Fitness Test:
HB 2763 establishes minimum requirements for recess time in public schools and requires the State Board of Education to establish a Kansas State Physical Fitness Test required yearly for ALL students unless they have a disability, and provide awards for certain levels of achievement. This competition-based test may encourage bullying and worsen mental health issues. Of course, KS educators were not consulted.
Voting NO, refusing to implement unnecessary legislative overreach and rejecting the idea that KsLeg should micromanage schools and track kids’ physical abilities:
Representatives Featherston, Poskin, Meyer, Osman, McDonald
Senator Holscher
Voting YES, to tell every K-5 school in Kansas how to manage recess and require state oversight of individual students’ physical fitness:
Representatives Croft, VanHouden, Tarwater, Turner
Senators Warren, Rose
As of 4/21/2026 this is on Gov. Kelly’s desk for signature or veto.
Telling schools and parents how to manage lawful student behavior:
A decades-old US Supreme Court ruling gives high school students first amendment rights to peacefully protest. There have been a handful of reported incidents of Kansas high school student protests. But some KS legislators voted to hold school districts responsible - even FINE them - if high school students make that first-amendment choice. (Also, what are high school administrators and teachers supposed to do to prevent students from protesting, handcuff them?!)
Per the Kansas City Star: “Starting next school year, Kansas public school districts could face steep fines when students participate in walkouts during the school day. The crackdown on student protests, a provision included in next year’s state budget, was adopted by Republican supermajorities in the Legislature over Gov. Laura Kelly’s veto.”
The Star quotes BV-area Rep. Linda Featherston: “The courts have been clear that students do not give up their constitutional rights when they step inside school doors. This clause is unconstitutional.”
Voting NO, recognizing that a US Supreme Court ruling on this subject is already in place:
Representatives Featherston, Poskin, Meyer, Osman, McDonald
Senator Holscher
Voting YES, telling schools and parents that it’s OK to violate students’ first amendment rights:
Representatives Croft, VanHouden, Tarwater, Turner
Senators Warren, Rose
We know this is a long post - and it only covers the highlights of legislative efforts to impose overreach and unfunded mandates on our neighborhood public schools. If you made it to the end, please consider sharing this post on social media and/or talking to your Blue Valley friends and neighbors about what’s happening in Topeka. This is an election year. We have the opportunity to choose some better legislators who can work to undo this damage.
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