The Kansas City, Kan., Public Schools district will be exempt from some state laws after receiving approval Tuesday to become part of the Coalition of Innovative Districts.
The action was approved at the Kansas State Board of Education meeting. Three districts, Kansas City, Kan., Public Schools, Blue Valley and Hugoton, joined McPherson and Concordia districts as members of the coalition.
The Kansas Legislature created the Coalition of Innovative Districts in 2013, in order to provide a limited number of districts with exemptions from some state laws and regulations, in order to allow them to function in more innovative ways, according to a school district spokesman.
In their applications, districts were required to specify which state laws and regulations they would seek to have waived. Other state laws will still apply to them.
The Kansas City, Kan., Public Schools applied to be a member of the coalition in order to strengthen its ability to prepare students for college and careers. Specifically, the district is seeking to continue to use alternatives to the state assessment; to have relief from teacher licensure requirements, in order to give high school students access to classes taught by industry experts; to have students taking high school classes in middle school receive state Regents credits; to pay college tuition for high school students; and to allow students to take college classes from higher education institutions in Missouri, the district spokesman stated.