Christian Home Educators Confederation of Kansas

SB491 is an education oversight bill that is intended for educational institutions, but the language of the bill applies to nonpublic schools, which also includes homeschooling families. Local homeschool leaders and HSLDA have had productive conversations with legislators about this concern, and are submitting testimony opposing the bill as currently written and requesting the bill be amended to remove nonaccredited private schools. The hearing in the Senate Education committee will take place on Monday, March 2nd at 1:30 pm.

UPDATE: HB2717 passed out of committee and is headed to the full House for a vote. You can contact your state representative about this legislation by using this link:
https://pluralpolicy.com/open/

We want to make you aware of Kansas House bill, HB 2717:
https://www.kslegislature.gov/li/b2025_26/measures/hb2717/
https://www.kslegislature.gov/li/b2025_26/measures/documents/hb2717_00_0000.pdf

In essence, this proposed bill lowers the compulsory attendance age in Kansas from age 7 to age 6. This decreases flexibility as to when a child's formal education starts and broadens the state's educational control. Parents are the better judge of what their children need and when, not the state.

The House Committee on Education is discussing and taking action on HB2717 as part of its agenda on Monday, February 16th, 1:30pm. We encourage you to reach out to members of this committee by either using HSLDA's form https://hslda.org/post/hb-2717 or directly on the committee website here https://www.kslegislature.gov/li/b2025_26/committees/ctte_h_ed_1/

Education | Committees | Kansas State Legislature

Many of you contacted legislators concerning SB338. Hopefully you watched the hearing and heard the discussions. At this point SB338 does not have another hearing date.

We look forward to seeing many of our fellow Kansas homeschool families tomorrow!

Schedule of events and activities for 2026 Capitol Day on Thursday, February 5th is:
Events:
10:00 Led by teen volunteers, drop off provided cards and treats to all legislator offices
11:00 Observe House session in the House Gallery (4th Floor) – if in session
11:45 Senator Michael Murphy speaks in Senate Gallery (4th Floor)
12:20 Cornerstone Choir performs in 2nd Floor Rotunda
1:00 Amy Buchmeyer, HSLDA attorney, speaks (church on West side of Capitol)
2:30 Observe Senate session from the Senate Gallery (4th Floor) – if in session

Activities:
Self-scheduled tours at: 9:00, 10:00, 11:00, 2:00, 3:00 (Capitol) and 9:15, 10:15, 11:15, 12:15, 2:15, 3:15 (Dome); call 785-296-3966 to schedule.
From the Kansas Museum of History, videos on Kansas History in the Auditorium and educational activities in the Classroom (ground floor near Visitor Entrance)
Tour the Capitol Museum (ground floor)
Prior to coming, make an appointment to visit your state legislators.
To find your legislator’s contact information: https://pluralpolicy.com/open/

SB338 has a hearing in Senate Education tomorrow. Leaders of homeschool groups will be testifying in favor of this bill. If you have questions, contact: HSLDA (info below) or [email protected].
Statement from HSLDA on SB338: This bill will protect the status of homeschooling in Kansas by preventing judicial overreach.The Kansas Department of Education says that a home school is a private school. This is commonly understood. This is why home schools file to register as private schools. But the legislature passed two laws recently that use the phrase “home school” without defining or explaining what it means. Because of this, if there is a court case involving one of those two laws, a judge would be free to define “home school” in a way that hurts Kansas home school families. The meaning of “home school” should be established by the legislature, not the courts.This bill will firmly establish what we already know: that a home school is a private school. It will protect homeschool families from the possibility of a judge creating his or her own harmful definition.Because this bill merely protects the status quo, we are not requesting that families take any action right now.
Scott A. Woodruff, Esq., Senior Counsel
Home School Legal Defense Association
540.338.5600 Office / 540.338.2733 Fax

[email protected] / www.hslda.org

HSLDA
Making homeschooling possible

HSLDA - Advocates for Homeschooling Home School Legal Defense Association is a nonprofit advocacy organization established to defend and advance the constitutional right of parents to direct the upbringing and education of their children and to protect family freedoms.

Kansas Homeschoolers please join us for Capitol Day on February 5th, 2026!