Three newly elected and two re-elected Kansas State Board of Education members will be honored during a reception at 9 a.m. Tuesday, Jan. 10. 

Newly elected board members are: 

• Danny Zeck, District 1. Zeck was born and raised in Leavenworth. He owned and operated a car dealership for nearly 30 years and served on the Leavenworth Unified School District 453 School Board for 16 years. Zeck and his wife, Dinah, have been married for 52 years and live in Leavenworth. They have two grown sons, five grandchildren and five great-grandchildren. 
• Cathy Hopkins, District 5. Hopkins is a native Kansan who owned a small business for nine years. She also worked for her local chamber of commerce and at a national law firm, where she developed a training program and curriculum for the firm’s administrative staff members. Hopkins and her husband live in Hays and have six children and 13 grandchildren. 
• Dennis Hershberger, District 7. Hershberger spent five years in service work and manufacturing. He graduated from Hesston College in 1974 with a degree in liberal arts. He received a nursing degree in 1984 and spent 30 years in the nursing field. Hershberger worked six years in transportation before retiring in 2021. He and his wife, Carol, have been married for 42 years and live near Hutchinson. They have four children and four grandchildren. 

Re-elected State Board of Education members are: 

• Michelle Dombrosky, District 3. Dombrosky was first elected to the State Board of Education in 2019. She and her husband, along with their two school-aged children, have lived in Olathe since 2000.  
• Jim Porter, District 9. Porter, who currently is the Board chair, was first elected to the State Board of Education in 2015. He is a long-time public school educator. Porter served as a building principal and as a superintendent, too. He and his wife, Charlene, live in Fredonia. They have three grown children and four grandchildren. 

Hopkins was sworn in as a State Board of Education member on Thursday, Jan. 5, in Hays. Zeck, Hershberger, Dombrosky and Porter will be sworn in at noon on Monday, Jan. 9, during Gov. Laura Kelly’s swearing-in ceremony. 

The State Board of Education will meet Tuesday, Jan. 10, and Wednesday, Jan. 11, at the Landon State Office Building, 900 S.W. Jackson, Suite 102, in Topeka. Tuesday’s meeting will begin at 10 a.m. and will include the election of a new State Board chair and vice chair, as well as the election of legislative liaisons and board policy committee members. 

On Tuesday, State Board members also will: 

• Continue a public hearing on licensure regulations. 
• Act on Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER) fund II change requests and ESSER III expenditure plans for use of federal COVID-19 relief funds. 
• Act on the Accreditation Review Council’s (ARC) recommendations for Kansas Education Systems Accreditation (KESA). 
• Receive ARC recommendations for KESA. 
• Hear an annual report from the Special Education Advisory Council (SEAC). 
• Hear a report on the upcoming Kansas legislative session. 

Wednesday’s meeting, which begins at 9 a.m., includes: 

• Presentations from Career and Technical Student Organization (CTSO) representatives. 
• A Kansas mathematics proficiency report. 
• Action on licensure regulations. 
• Action on the 2023 Sunflower Summer proposal. 
• Recognition of Dr. Mike Argabright, the 2023 Superintendent of the Year. Argabright serves as superintendent of Southern Lyon County USD 252. 

State Board of Education members are scheduled to attend a CTSO luncheon at noon at the Topeka and Shawnee County Public Library.