Kansas Names 3 New Innovative Schools

The Kansas State Board of Education has added three school districts to a program that allows them to operate with less regulation in hopes of boosting student performance.

The board approved innovative-district applications from the Hugoton, Blue Valley and Kansas City, Kansas, districts.

The board previously approved applications from the McPherson and Concordia districts under a 2013 law aimed at allowing districts to pursue creative strategies for improving student achievement.

For example, the Blue Valley district in Johnson County sought an exemption from some teacher licensing requirements.

But it’s still not clear how free of regulation the five districts will be, because the state board and the districts have adopted bylaws for the innovative schools program.

___

Associated Press information from: The Topeka Capital-Journal