By MIKE COURSON
Great Bend Post
If only there were a way for laws to be written with specific goals. At September's USD 428 Board of Education meeting, Assistant Superintendent JoAnn Blevins discussed Kansas House Bill 2382, which requires school districts to show a video of a developing fetus to students at all grade levels during any course that broaches human growth, development, and sexuality. She updated the board during Monday's board meeting.
"Just in the last week, USD 259 Wichita Public Schools produced their own video and shared that with curriculum leaders across the state," she said. "I shared that video with the team that's been working on this, and we decided to go with theirs. It hits all the requirements in the law, and it's also very much age-appropriate for our children, elementary through high school."
Gov. Laura Kelly originally vetoed the bill, but that veto was later overridden by the Kansas House. The vague law states that the video must be three minutes long and be either a computer-generated animation or a high-definition ultrasound.
"There was some talk that, now that schools are having to implement the law, there's been that, 'Well, that's not exactly what we meant,'" Blevins said. "But that's how it's written. Until they make some of those changes, this is the way it will be."
Blevins is working with principals in each of the Great Bend schools impacted. Information and parental opt-out letters will be disbursed. Those opt-out letters will be part of the enrollment package for the 2026-27 school year.