The Blue Valley school board this week approved a policy intended to keep registered sex offenders off of school property and away from school-sponsored events.
At its meeting Monday, the board unanimously passed a policy that bars from school property anyone 18 or older who is on the Kansas Public Offender Registry as a result of a sex crime against a minor child.
Adult students who are on the registry are excluded from the rule because of requirements for public schools to provide them with an education.
Registered offender attended an elementary dance in February
Monday’s vote came in the wake of an outcry from parents after a registered sex offender was allowed into a February 8 social event at Blue Valley Elementary in Stilwell.
The man, who pleaded guilty in 2011 to the distribution or receipt of child pornography via the internet and was sentenced to eight and a half years in prison, had received advance permission to attend the event because he had a “functioning parental relationship” with children at the school.
His attendance was allowed under district guidelines at the time before the new policy.
According to multiple parents at the event, the man stood briefly on the edge of the dance floor before some parents noticed him and expressed their displeasure to the school principal. He left shortly after being taken aside by the school’s principal.
JoCo senator drafted legislation in response
Before Monday’s vote, those on the offender registry were not expressly banned from district property or school events, but the district required them to obtain advance permission and left some discretion with administrators on whether an offender would be allowed on campus.
Kansas doesn’t restrict whether registered sex offenders may live near a school or visit school property.
State Sen. Kellie Warren, a Republican from Leawood, introduced a bill in Topeka this past session to change that in the wake of the controversy. The bill would have made it illegal for someone 18 or older who is on the registry for a crime against someone younger than 15 to enter school property or attend a school activity.
The measure progressed as far as Senate approval of a conference report, but time in the session ran out before it could get through the House.
Warren said the bill is still alive for the 2026 session, and she expects it will pass then.
Board unanimously approves policy but wants more guidance
In the meantime, Blue Valley school board members this week expressed their preference for getting something on the books to clarify that those convicted of sex crimes against minors would not be allowed on school grounds or at events, regardless of permissions or their familial relationships with students.
The new policy also says school officials and volunteers will not be held liable if an offender does attend an event unbeknownst to them.
In a brief discussion, board member Clay Norkey said he’d like to see that language strengthened in the policy because of a concern that someone uses the policy for “vigilante justice” to remove the offender.
He suggested the policy spell out that a security officer should do the removal.
Board members agreed to ask staff to write administrative guidance to go with the policy. That will be reviewed at the May meeting.
Ultimately, the board voted 7-0 to approve the policy.
