Kansas Statutes Chapter 72. Schools § 72-2228. Rights and duties of boards of education reserved; recognition and negotiation required; terms and conditions subject to negotiation; applicability of open meetings law, exceptions; strikes not authorized; adoption of agreements by reference

(a) Nothing in this act, or the act of which this section is amendatory, shall be construed to change or affect any right or duty conferred or imposed by law upon any board of education, except that boards of education are required to comply with this act, and the act of which this section is amendatory, in recognizing professional employees' organizations, and when such an organization is recognized, the board of education and the professional employees' organization shall enter into professional negotiations on request of either party at any time during the school year prior to issuance or renewal of the annual teachers' contracts. Notices to negotiate on new items or to amend an existing contract must be filed on or before March 31 in any school year by either party, such notices shall be in writing and delivered to the chief administrative officer of the board of education or to the representative of the bargaining unit and shall contain in reasonable and understandable detail the purpose of the new or amended items desired.

(c) Except as otherwise expressly provided in this subsection, every meeting, conference, consultation and discussion between a professional employees' organization or its representatives and a board of education or its representatives during the course of professional negotiation and every hearing conducted by the secretary under K.S.A. 72-2231, and amendments thereto, for determination of the question of the existence of impasse is subject to the provisions of the Kansas open meetings law, and any amendments or supplements thereto. Meetings, conferences, consultations and discussions held by the secretary under K.S.A. 72-2231, and amendments thereto, for investigation of the question of the existence of impasse, and meetings, conferences, consultations and discussions held during the course of and in connection with, and the meeting required at the conclusion of, impasse resolution proceedings, as provided for in K.S.A. 72-2232 and 72-2233, and amendments thereto, are specifically made exempt from the provisions of the Kansas open meetings law, and any amendments or supplements thereto.

(d) Nothing in this act, or the act of which this section is amendatory, shall be construed to authorize a strike by professional employees.

(e) Any agreement lawfully made under the provisions of this act, or the act of which this section is amendatory, may be adopted by reference and made a part of the employment contract between any professional employee of the applicable negotiating unit and a board of education for a period of not to exceed three years.

(f) Those individuals selected by the board of education and the professional employees' organization to conduct negotiations pursuant to this act shall complete training on conducting negotiations each year. The content and format of the training for these individuals shall be determined by the respective party each individual represents in negotiations.