SESSION OF 2021
SUPPLEMENTAL NOTE ON SENATE BILL NO. 51
As Recommended by Senate Committee on
Education

Brief*
SB 51 would direct the State Department of Education
(KSDE) and the Department for Children and Families (DCF)
to collaboratively prepare the Kansas Foster Care Children
Annual Academic Report Card (Report Card).
The Report Card would be produced annually and
contain the following information from the previous school
year for students in foster care:
● Graduation rate;
● State standardized assessment scores;
● Total and disaggregated numbers enrolled in a
school district or accredited nonpublic school;
● De-identified disaggregated race and ethnic data
for specific data sets;
● Additional data elements deemed appropriate by
KSDE and DCF; and
● Number and percentage of students in foster care:
○ Promoted to the next grade level;
○ Suspended (including duration);
○ Expelled;
○ Meeting academic standards;
____________________
*Supplemental notes are prepared by the Legislative Research
Department and do not express legislative intent. The supplemental
note and fiscal note for this bill may be accessed on the Internet at
http://www.kslegislature.org
 ○ Enrolled in preschool aged at-risk programs,
preschool pilot program, or early childhood
special education program; and
○ Participated in the mental health intervention
team pilot program or similar mental health
program.
The bill would require the Report Card be completed on
or before January 15 each year and submitted to the Senate
Standing Committee on Education and the House of
Representatives Standing Committee on Education.
The bill would define “school” as any school within a
school district or nonpublic school accredited by the state and
“student in foster care” as an individual within the custody of
DCF while attending school at any point during a school year
in which the Report Card is required to be completed.

Background
The bill was introduced by the Senate Committee on
Education at the request of Senator Baumgardner.
[Note: The bill is identical to Section 7 of 2020 HB 2510
that was vetoed by the Governor and later implemented by
Executive Order 20-53 (July 7, 2020).]

Senate Committee on Education
In the Senate Committee hearing, proponent testimony
was provided by representatives of DCF, Kansas Appleseed
Center for Law and Justice, and Kansas Association of
School Boards. Written-only proponent testimony was
provided by a representative of the Children’s Alliance of
Kansas. The proponents generally stated the Report Card will
help identify academic gaps among students in the foster
care system so that the gaps can be addressed.

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 Written-only neutral testimony was provided by
representatives of the State Board of Education (Board). The
neutral testimony generally stated the Board sees value in the
Report Card for helping students in foster care achieve
greater academic success; however, it is not one of the
Board’s legislative priorities.
No opponent testimony was provided.

Fiscal Information
According to the fiscal note prepared by the Division of
Budget on the bill, the KSDE and DCF state the bill would
have no fiscal impact on the agencies.
Education; foster care; report card; Department for Children and Families; State
Department of Education


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