House and Senate negotiators have reached agreement on a bill that would move city and school board elections in Kansas to November of even-numbered years and keep them non-partisan.

Rep. Mark Kahrs, R-Wichita, who led negotiations for the House, said most groups that had opposed earlier versions were either “on board” with the current bill, or at least had withdrawn their objections.

Notable exceptions, however, include the Kansas National Education Association and the Kansas Association of School Boards, which say the change will still cause logistical problems for schools. Besides moving elections from spring to November, the bill would also change the date when new terms begin, putting new school board members in place in the middle of a school year, just as boards are required by law to begin superintendent reviews and teacher contract talks.

Lawrence school board president Shannon Kimball has expressed those concerns as well.

Kahrs said passage of the bill would have a “dramatic” effect on increasing voter turnout, which was a meager 14 percent in Douglas County in the April 2015 elections. With the change, he said, Kansas can expect to see turnout for those races jump to 30 percent or more.

Some groups had argued the bill was really an attempt to give conservatives a better shot at taking control of school boards and city councils. But Kahrs insisted that his motivation was increasing turnout, and that by leaving the elections non-partisan, it shouldn’t have much of an impact on the ideological bent of local governments.

Two other election-related bills were added into the package: The so-called “Chad Taylor” bill proposed by Republican Secretary of State Kris Kobach to prohibit people from withdrawing from the ballot unless they die before election day (the negotiated bill also allows for medical hardship); and a bill to repeal the law calling for a presidential preference primary in Kansas (parties could decide for themselves how to select delegates to their national conventions).

The conference committee report will go first to the Senate. Kahrs said he expects it will clear both chambers before the end of the week, and he thinks at least a few Democrats will vote for it.