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Impact of legislature's curriculum mandate

Can state legislators dictate exactly what curriculum Kansas public school districts must teach? Does this conflict with the State Board of Education’s role, and the authority of local School Boards? If legislators 𝗰𝗮𝗻 mandate curriculum, 𝙬𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙖𝙧𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙡𝙞𝙢𝙞𝙩𝙨 - if any? 


These questions are being asked by SUBV members following the KS Legislature’s passage of S Sub House Bill 2382 earlier this year. 


S Sub HB 2382 provided for a salary increase for members of the State Board of Education (SBOE) - and also 𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘭𝘶𝘥𝘦𝘥 𝘢 𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘱𝘶𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘢 “𝘧𝘦𝘵𝘢𝘭 𝘥𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘭𝘰𝘱𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘷𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘰” 𝘮𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘣𝘦 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘵𝘰 𝘒𝘚 𝘱𝘶𝘣𝘭𝘪𝘤 𝘴𝘤𝘩𝘰𝘰𝘭 𝘴𝘵𝘶𝘥𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘴 𝘦𝘯𝘳𝘰𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘤𝘦𝘳𝘵𝘢𝘪𝘯 𝘩𝘪𝘨𝘩 𝘴𝘤𝘩𝘰𝘰𝘭 𝘤𝘭𝘢𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘴. These two items are unrelated - except for the irony that it’s the job of the SBOE to determine curriculum, not the KSLeg! The combined bill passed, was vetoed by Gov. Kelly - but because the KSLeg currently has a supermajority of legislators who supported mandating this video for student viewing, those legislators overrode Gov. Kelly’s veto.


Last week, SUBV members forwarded an email to us that they’d received from their high school students’ principal. It read, in part:


“This year, the Kansas State Legislature passed a law requiring a video on fetal development be shown to all Kansas students in specific courses or receiving specific lessons.  Kansas House Bill 2382 reads:

“𝘈𝘯𝘺 𝘴𝘤𝘩𝘰𝘰𝘭 𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘪𝘤𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘰𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘺 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘴𝘦 𝘰𝘳 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘢𝘥𝘥𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘴 𝘩𝘶𝘮𝘢𝘯 𝘨𝘳𝘰𝘸𝘵𝘩, 𝘩𝘶𝘮𝘢𝘯 𝘥𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘭𝘰𝘱𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘰𝘳 𝘩𝘶𝘮𝘢𝘯 𝘴𝘦𝘹𝘶𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘴𝘩𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘭𝘶𝘥𝘦, 𝘢𝘴 𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘴𝘶𝘤𝘩 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘴𝘦 𝘰𝘳 𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯, 𝘢 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘰𝘧 𝘢 𝘩𝘪𝘨𝘩-𝘲𝘶𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘺, 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘶𝘵𝘦𝘳-𝘨𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘪𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘰𝘳 𝘩𝘪𝘨𝘩-𝘥𝘦𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘶𝘭𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘴𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘧 𝘢𝘵 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘦𝘦 𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘶𝘵𝘦𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘥𝘶𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘸𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘭𝘰𝘱𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘯, 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘷𝘪𝘵𝘢𝘭 𝘰𝘳𝘨𝘢𝘯𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘭𝘺 𝘩𝘶𝘮𝘢𝘯 𝘧𝘦𝘵𝘢𝘭 𝘥𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘭𝘰𝘱𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵.”  


The email goes on to tell parents what classes will show the video, gives a link to the video that BV students will watch, and a link to an opt-out form.

SUBV members asked: Can state legislators really mandate such a video? What about “local control” by our BV School Board? What other mandates might be coming? Who voted for this?!


In short: 

NO, state legislators are not supposed to mandate curriculum - but they did in this case. 


“Local control” is a catch-phrase often used by certain legislators when running for office, but isn’t typically reflected in how they actually vote on many bills. 


We share our members’ concerns about what other types of curriculum mandates might be coming out of KSLeg. 


Here’s how BV-area legislators voted on S Sub HB 2382:


Voting YES to require specified curriculum of a video showing fetal development:

Kellie Warren - Senate 11

TJ Rose - Senate 35

Chris Croft - House 8

Sean Tarwater - House 27

Carl Turner - House 28


Voting NO, opposing legislative overreach:

Cindy Holscher - Senate 8

Linda Featherston - House 16

Mari-Lynn Poskin - House 20

Heather Meyer - House 29

Dan Osman - House 48

Nikki McDonald - House 49


Remember: Blue Valley voters elected TWO of our three state senators and 3 of our 9 state representatives who are part of the supermajority that will again push through ideologically-based legislation like this in 2026. They have the ability to override a veto by Gov. Kelly if they have to. As the legislative session convenes in January, we’ll be #WatchingTheirVotes and reporting back. In Nov. 2026, ALL state representatives’ seats will be on the ballot; state senators will not be up for election until 2028.






Find your state legislators and see their voting records: ksleglookup.org 


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