The Kansas House majority leader wants to dissolve school boards. He’s been studying state law to find a way to do that. 

“We can dissolve the school board. You can do it by petition,” Rep. Chris Croft said in a video posted to X, formerly known as Twitter. “I am so stinking excited about the possibility there.” 

The video was a conversation between Croft, an Overland Park Republican, and Johnson County GOP chair Maria Holiday in early 2023. The Beacon’s reporting has been unable to establish why the video was posted to X this fall. After hearing this proposal, Holiday said Croft should “insert an evil laugh.”

“I like that,” Croft said. Then, Holiday mimicked an evil laugh. 

Croft and Holiday didn’t respond to multiple emails and phone calls asking for clarification on what school boards they’d support dissolving or why. Kansas Republican House spokespeople also didn’t comment. 

The video was posted to X account “GRTPowerfulOz.” It was one of a half-dozen videos that featured Croft and other key Republicans talking about banning ballot drop boxes and killing bills that would strengthen LGBTQ rights. The videos were edited down to only a few minutes, and it isn’t clear what other conversations happened. 

Can Chris Croft, Legislature dissolve Kansas school boards?

It isn’t clear what school boards Croft takes issue with, but he was talking about Johnson County to the Johnson County GOP chair in the video.  

Croft and Holiday didn’t start the conversation talking about school boards. Instead, the two were talking about stepping over local control and Mike Kelly, chair of the Johnson County Commission. Kelly’s term isn’t up until 2027, but Croft said in the videos he needs to be removed. 

That’s when Holiday asked if there were any alternatives to get him out earlier. 

“There actually (are) some alternatives to things,” Croft said. “I’m glad you brought that up.” 

Holiday and Croft then start talking about school boards before the video cuts to them talking about dissolving school boards through a petition process. 

Melanie Haas, Kansas State Board of Education member from Overland Park, said she was shocked to hear Croft’s comments on the video because she doesn’t think it’s possible to dissolve school boards. School districts could be dissolved though. 

The Healy Public School Board in western Kansas currently has two students, Haas said. And voters on Nov. 5 decided to dissolve the district. The Healy school board had already agreed to merge with Scott County public schools before the vote, but it was voters’ way of approving the decision. 

When a district dissolves, the dissolved area has to be reworked into another district. Simply put, Haas said, “all of the land in Kansas has to be associated with a public school district.”

Haas said the Healy school board is not merging with the new school board. That’s one avenue to rework boards of education. Croft ignored repeated requests for comment, so it isn’t clear if that was his plan. 

Haas said dissolving local boards of education is a terrible idea. Each community has unique needs and these boards can respond to them individually. For example, some districts may want a ban on phones throughout the school day, others may not. 

“I really had to ask, ‘What problem is he attempting to solve here?’” Haas said. “I don’t think it’s a community problem. I think it’s a political problem.” 

Holiday, the Johnson County GOP chair, told the Johnson County Post the video was deceptively edited together to include two unrelated parts. 

Holiday said she doesn’t remember a conversation about dissolving school boards, even though the video clearly shows Croft discussing the idea. She does support local boards, she said. 

“I was a teacher for 30 years,” Holiday told the Johnson County Post. “I firmly believe in school boards and local control. I’m always going to be for education and educators and kids. That’s what got me into politics in the first place.”

Kansas Legislature hostile to schools, advocates say 

Judith Deedy, executive director for Game On for Kansas Schools, saw the Croft video. She was offended, irritated and frustrated. 

She went to a candidate forum where Croft talked about his support for public schools and mentioned his children went to them. Deedy wonders why Croft projected that support of public schools while calling for the dissolving of school boards. 

“That is absolutely unethical and undemocratic and should not be pursued on any level,” she said. “They need to respect the local elections and not interfere with them.” 

Croft’s comments appear to be from March 2023. There were no discussions about dissolving public schools in the 2023 or 2024 legislative sessions. Kansas House leadership and Croft didn’t comment on whether this would be an issue in 2025. 

Deedy said the Legislature has not been kind to public education. Republicans support voucher programs, which can take away funding from public schools depending on how a bill is written. She also wants more money spent on public schools. 

Rep. Chris Croft on ballot drop boxes, LGBTQ issues

Multiple videos of Croft were posted to X. In one video, he said he wanted to ban ballot drop boxes but needed to keep Republicans in office to pass this proposal. The GOP was able to flip seats in the 2024 election. 

In another video, he said Republicans killed a bill because it strengthened protections for same-sex couples adopting babies. 

Croft said on video that an “unbelievable bill does great work for parents that are foster care parents,” but the bill said adoption agencies cannot discriminate on the basis of marital status or creed. 

Years earlier, the state Legislature passed a law saying religious adoption agencies could deny same-sex couples children because of the couple’s relationship. Republicans argued it protects religious freedom. 

The anti-discrimination wording in the bill represented “the very things that we fought against,” Croft said.