Legislative Update for 03/01/2019
|
Legislative Update for 03/01/2019
The pace at the Capitol definitely reflects that first funnel (the date by which bills need to be voted out of a House or Senate Committee to stay alive) is Friday, March 8. There were several subcommittees held and quite a few bills voted out of a committee. One bill that received a great amount of attention was SSB 1190. The bill includes changes to several sections of Iowa Code that pertain to school district responsibilities and authority. The bill includes three divisions. Division I - Addresses responsibilities related to child health, including the use of environmentally friendly cleaning products, and school districts’ responsibilities and requirements relating to dental, vision and lead screening data collection and reporting, and the requirement of a school nurse. Division II – Addresses area education agency (AEA) budget hearing notifications. The bill strikes the requirement for the AEAs to post notice of a public hearing in the county newspaper where an AEA is located. They can now post on their website. Division III – Addresses items regarding teacher librarian requirements, school bus rules, deposit of proceeds from district sale of schoolhouses and sites, public notice for loan agreements for equipment purchases, collection and reporting related to preschool attendance of kindergarten students, charging of costs for registry checks of school employees, and requirements pertaining to school building energy audits and the requirement that school districts have a teacher librarian. The bill was voted on in the Senate Education Committee and passed 10-5 with an amendment. The amendment restored the requirements of school districts to have a school nurse and a teacher librarian and added community colleges to the list of educational facilities that are no longer required to use green products. The bill is eligible for debate on the Senate floor. Other legislation that received a great deal of attention was the Governor’s bills addressing children’s mental health. SSB 1197 and HSB 206 reflect the Governor’s priority to create a children’s mental health system and the recommendations of the Children’s System State Board. The bills establish a children’s behavioral health system, identify what qualifies a child or adolescent for services, and establishes required core behavioral health services. The bills also codify a children’s behavioral health system state board with specific state agency and community stakeholder representatives. The goal is for the children’s behavioral health system to work in tandem with the current structure for the Adult Mental Health Regions System. Both bills passed in subcommittee making them eligible for a vote in the Human Resources Committee. HSB 130 – Reorganization and Whole Grade Sharing Incentives Extension – Extends certain incentives for whole grade sharing for an additional five years, from July 1, 2019 – July 1, 2024. The bill provides for a reduced uniform levy as an incentive for school districts that reorganize on or before July 1, 2024. The bill passed the House Education Committee unanimously and is eligible for debate on the floor. SF 284 is the companion bill on the Senate side, and it is eligible for a vote in the Senate Education Committee. SF 394 - Offer and Teach Requirements through Distance Learning Courses - Allows school districts and accredited nonpublic schools to offer distance learning courses to meet the state’s educational program “offer and teach” course requirements at the high school level. This can be done by utilizing Iowa Learning Online (ILO) through the Department, or by offering a course through an online platform, if the course is developed by the school district, or by offering such a course through a private provider that meets standards approved by the Department. The bill passed in the Senate Education Committee making it eligible for debate on the floor. SF 376 – Health Education Requirements - Adds mental health awareness, coping skills, and suicide prevention to the subject matter that must be included in the unit of health education, which school districts and accredited nonpublic schools must offer and teach in grades 7-12. The bill is eligible for debate on the Senate floor. SF 29 – English as Second Language (ESL) Supplemental Weighting – Increases the amount of supplementary weighting from .22 to .39 and the number of years from five to seven years for limited English proficient students. It would take effect on July 1, 2019. The bill passed the Senate Education Committee with an amendment that established the supplementary weighting at .295 and maintained the number of years to five. The bill is now eligible for debate on the floor. SF 287 – Scholarship Rule - Requires the Iowa Girls High School Athletic Union (IGHSAU) and the Iowa High School Athletic Association (IHSAA) to develop an eligibility policy for high school students competing in high school sports/extracurricular activities that does not allow multiple suspensions for a single act (double jeopardy). The four organizations: IGHSAU, IHSAA, Iowa High School Speech Association, and Iowa High School Music Association worked with the Department to develop language that prevents multiple periods of ineligibility for a single violation for all school approved activities (double jeopardy). The bill passed the Senate Education Committee making it eligible for debate on the floor. HF 197 – Classroom Assignments for Siblings – Requires school districts to assign siblings who are deemed by the district to be at the same grade level to the same classroom, if the siblings’ parent or guardian submits a written request to the school administration requesting the assignment. The bill passed the House Education Committee with an amendment that requires school administrators, prior to assigning siblings who are enrolled in kindergarten through grade five and deemed by the school district to be at the same grade level, to defer to parents in the placement of siblings in the same classroom. SF 353 – Establishment of Interim Study Committee for Virtual School Days to Count Toward Instructional Days – Requires an interim study be completed on the feasibility of virtual school days held during inclement weather and allowing those virtual days to count as instructional days. The study committee will review and provide an analysis of school districts or accredited nonpublic schools in Iowa currently offering virtual instructional days, other states’ practices, potential barriers, opportunities to overcome such barriers without the need for new state funding, and best practices for utilizing virtual days as minimum school days. The committee will submit their findings and recommendations to the General Assembly by December 20, 2019. The bill passed in subcommittee making it eligible for a vote in the Senate Education Committee. SSB 1214 – Establishment of an Interim Study Committee to review Fine Arts Education - The committee will review and provide recommendations on the funding, staffing and professional development, course offerings, including arts integration courses, parental, family, and community engagement measures, procurement of and access to instructional materials, and state priorities for fine arts education in broader school-improvement efforts. The bill establishes provisions for the membership of the study committee. The committee will submit their findings and recommendations to the General Assembly by December 20, 2019. The bill passed in subcommittee making it eligible for a vote in the Senate Education Committee. SF 372 – Education Savings Grants - Establishes education savings grants for students receiving private instruction. The bill requires that the grant is to be equal to regular per-pupil state aid or half of the state aid for preschoolers. It also requires that the student previously attended a public school the prior year or attended a private school the prior year and been eligible for a grant. It allows any of the unused grant money to be used for college by the student, until age 25 and would take effect for the 2020-21 school year. The bill passed in subcommittee and is eligible for a vote in the Senate Education Committee. There are two charter school bills in the House. HF 160 eliminates a school district’s authority to deny an application to convert an existing school district attendance center to a charter school. Instead, it requires that the school board review and submit to the State Board of Education an application that meets current Iowa Code requirements, and allows the applicant to appeal to the State Board a school board’s failure to submit the application to the State Board. The other bill is HSB 213, which establishes a new charter school program within the state under new Iowa Code chapter 256E and prohibits new charter schools from being established on or after July 1, 2019, under the existing charter school program, Iowa Code chapter 256F. The bill creates three ways to establish a charter school:
The bill defines “founding group,” identifies funding sources, establishes requirements for applications to be a charter school, exempts charter schools from all state statutes and rules and any local rule, regulation, or policy applicable to a noncharter school, but provides a list of exceptions, and requires each charter school to prepare and file an annual report with the Department, the contents of which shall be determined by the Department through the administrative rules process. There is a subcommittee scheduled for this bill next week. With funnel week blowing in next week, there will be several subcommittees and bills receiving votes in either a committee or on the floor. I have provided the links to the Senate Education Committee meeting schedule here and the House here. This page will show the agenda and what bills will receive a vote in committee. Floor debates will increase as bills are voted out of committee, so I’m again providing you with the links to the Senate and House chambers so you can watch the debates at your convenience. Until next week... Shan Seivert |
| Stay Connected with Iowa Department of Education: | |||||
|
|||||
| Manage Subscriptions Help |
