Case Title: Gannon v. State

Citation: 

Docket Number: 

State: kansas

Court: Kansas Supreme Court

Date: 2016-06-28T00:00:00Z

Document:
IN THE SUPREME COURT OF THE STATE OF KANSAS
No. 113,267

LUKE GANNON, by his next friends and guardians, et al,
Appellees,

STATE OF KANSAS,
Appellant

 

‘On May 27, 2016, this court held the legislature had not cured the inequities in the
local option budget (LOB) and supplemental general state aid we had previously affirmed
inthe Classroom Learning Assuring Student Success Act of 2015 (CLASS). See
Gannon v, State, 304 Kan. _,__ P-3d__, 2016 WL. 3063848 (2016) (Gannon IID,

 

On June 7, 2016, as authorized by Anticle 1, § 5 of the Kansas Constitution, the
governor called the legislature into special session beginning June 23 for the purpose of
addressing our Gannon IIT decision.

On June 24, 2016, the legislature passed Substitute for House Bill 2001 (H.B.
2001) in an effort to bring Kansas' K-12 public school funding system into compliance
with the equity requirement of Article 6, § 6 of the Kansas Constitution,

(On June 27, 2016, the governor signed H.B. 2001, which has an effective date of
July 1, 2016. Later that day, the parties filed withthe Clerk of the Kansas Appellate
 

Courts a Joint §

 

ipulation of Constitutionally Equitable Compliance, Among other things,

 

the Joint Stipulation states that the parties

“jointly request thatthe Court enter an order acknowledging that the Legislature has
currently satisfied the Cours orders in Gammon [Ganon v. State, 298 Kan, 1107, 319
P.3d 1196 (2014)], Gannon I {Gannon v, uae, 303 Kan, 682, 368 P-3d 1024 (2016)),
and Gannon I

  

ing equity, that Kansas schools are currently funded in compliance
ith the equity requirements of Article 6, § 6, and therefore that no remedy is necessary
‘or appropriate a this time.” J Stipulation Const. Equitable Compliance p.2, June 27,
2016,

‘The parties attached a copy of H.B. 2001 to their

 

Stipulation.

June 30, 2016, was previously established as the date for the State to satisfactorily
dlemonstrate to this court that the legislature had complied with the equity requirement of
Article 6, §6(b) through remedial legislation or otherwise. See Gannon If, 303 Kan. at
TAL. The fiscal year for school districts begins the next day: July 1

‘The court acknowledges the timely responses to our recent Gannon decisions by
‘our sister branches of Kansas government. Against this backdrop, and after (1)
‘considering the partis’ stipulations and other facts through legislative history, judicial
notice or otherwise (see Gannon IIT, 2016 WL 3063848, at *6); (2) reviewing the record
‘on appeal; and (3) analyzing the legal issues, the court now makes the following
conclusions:

1. H.B, 2001 revives the structure of the prior School District Finance
‘and Quality Performance Act (SDFQPA) formula for supplemental
general state aid that we previously approved as constitutional in
Gannon 1, 298 Kan, at 1198-99, and Gannon II, 303 Kan. at 743
The planned implementation of H.B, 2001 and full funding of that
formula for fiscal year 2017 would be in compliance with the equity
‘component of Article 6, § 6 of the Kansas Constitution,

2. Our ruling about the issue of supplemental general state aid, coupled
with our decision in Gannon IIT regarding the constitutionality of the
capital outlay state aid formula contained in H.B. 2655, means that
the equity issues on appeal are presently resolved. In short, the
legislature has currently satisfied the court's orders in Gannon J,

Therefore, no judicial

 

 

Gannon Il, and Gannon III regarding equi
remedy is necessary at tis time.

 

ral arguments to address the adequacy portion of this litigation will be set by
future court order.

We retain jurisdiction of this case and all issues.

BY ORDER OF THE COURT this 28th day of June, 2016.

FOR THE COURT

tt Ph

awton R. Nuss
Chief Justice