October 25, 2026
By Erika Sheets
Moms for Liberty
Johnson County Chapter Chair
Kansas Legislative Chair
Sitting Board of Education President, Jan Kessinger, is stumping for the US Senate Democrat candidate in a George Soros organization-funded ad.
In February 2013, Blue Valley submitted written testimony to the Kansas House Committee on Elections opposing House Bill 2271. The testimony, signed by then-Board of Education President Tony Thill and dated February 19, 2013, states in part:
“We oppose injecting partisanship into the governance of our schools.”
In 2022, when the board removed then-Vice President from that officer role over personal, non-political activity, social media posts, board members cited district policy language. According to reporting at the time, board policy states that members must:
● “Recognize and respect his/her position as a representative of all stakeholders and as a role model for them,” and
● “Model behavior consistent with expectations for the performance of all staff members.”
Board President Patrick Hurley (still currently seated) referenced these expectations in explaining the decision.
The board noted that while individual members have free-speech rights and may vote their conscience, the board did not want an officer’s public comments to appear to represent official district views when they conflicted with stated mission and policy.(That Board member was ultimately proven correct, interestingly, with no apology from the Board)
Blue Valley BOE policy BH states that board member conduct must conform to the KASB code of ethics, including stating:
It is unethical for a Board member to:
Place the interest of one group or community above the interest of the entire school district
In addition, The policy then sets affirmative expectations. Board members will (among others):
Represent the entire community without fear or favor.
Preserve the obligation of having controversial issues presented fairly and without bias.
Kessinger is currently serving in an officer capacity as the Board President. In that capacity he speaks for the Board as a whole:
Officer Duties (BBA / BBABA and K.S.A. 72-8202a)
Serve (in coordination with the superintendent) as an official spokesman for the board.
His overt, political campaigning can be understood by the public as speaking for the BV BOE as a whole. At the very least, Kessinger is leaning on his position to influence voters. Neither of which is in compliance with policies. It turns out Mr. Kessinger is also a Board Trustee of COR, which is the church the candidate is senior pastor.
Kessinger is clearly in violation of these board policies, codes and expectations by overtly stumping for a political candidate in a highly-visible public ad. This ad is also paid for by a highly-questionable, George Soros political organization making this behavior even more unbecoming.
Given the multiple areas of violation, the district’s formal position against “injecting partisanship into the governance of our schools and the BOE’s recent precedent for holding members accountable to its policies, the BVBOE should both censure Mr. Kessinger and remove him as Board President at the November 9th, 2026 BOE meeting.EMAIL NOW to let The Blue Valley Board know your thoughts:
Clay Norkey cnorkey@bluevalleyk12.org
Jodie Dietz jdietz@bluevalleyk12.org
Sonya Evans sevans@bluevalleyk12.org
Gina Knapp gknapp@bluevalleyk12.org
David Benson dbenson@bluevalleyk12.org
Patrick Hurley phurley@bluevalleyk12.org
Jan Kessinger jkessinger@bluevalleyk12.or