By JOHN HANNA
AP Political Writer 

Kansas board gives 'full support' to top school official

 

January 26, 2018



TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Kansas' elected state school board joined the chorus of supporters Friday for a top education official who came under fire over questions about how some funding has been distributed to the state's schools.

The State Board of Education voted 9-1 to back longtime Deputy Education Commissioner Dale Dennis after dozens of supporters, including four former governors, rallied to his defense. The vote followed closed sessions with Dennis and his and attorneys to discuss a state audit that said a calculation used by Dennis and his staff for decades to allocate transportation funds among school districts was "not authorized" by state law.

The audit, released in December, was led Kansas House Speaker Ron Ryckman Jr. and Senate President Susan Wagle, and it pushed the Department of Education to suspend Dennis and his staff with pay while the issue was investigated further. The two Republicans sent a letter to the board's chairman saying they had "lost faith" in the accuracy of work by Dennis and his staff.

But dozens of other lawmakers, local school superintendents and local school board members packed the board's meeting room to show their support for Dennis. He has worked for the department for 50 years, provides information and advice to local officials, and has been acknowledged for several decades as Kansas' leading expert on the state's school funding formulas.

The former governors — Republicans Bill Graves and Mike Hayden and Democrats John Carlin and Kathleen Sebelius — also sent a letter to the board on Friday, urging a "vote of confidence" in him.

"Mr. Dennis is an essential asset for Kansas schools and ultimately our children," the former governors said in their letter. "Reject the introduction of alternate facts into an already complicated debate over the future of our schools."

The questions about transportation funds and Dennis come as legislators face a Kansas Supreme Court mandate to boost funding for public schools. Legislators in both parties expected to rely on Dennis and his staff for information.

The audit said Dennis and his staff used a calculation that ensured all 286 school districts received some transportation funds, though such a policy hasn't been a part of state law since 1973. Auditors surveyed 16 districts and found that over five years, they received $45 million more than state law required, including nearly $10 million last year.

Dennis was not present at the early public portions of the board's meetings. He has said the calculation was based on instructions from lawmakers years ago and has been discussed in numerous meetings since.

Ryckman, the state House speaker and an Olathe Republican, said during a meeting of GOP House members Friday that it's common in business or government to suspend someone with pay while such financial issues are investigated.

Rep. John Barker, an Abilene Republican and chairman of the committee overseeing auditors' work, added: "When you discover a discrepancy of this nature within government or any business, you know, you don't sweep it under the rug."

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Follow John Hanna on Twitter at https://twitter.com/apjdhanna

 

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