The Week In Review and Looking Forward into Next Week
House Select Committee on School Safety
The House Select Committee on School
Safety - Student Health Working Group met Monday, April 9 to
focus on services that address the socio-emotional health of students. A
number of presentations were given that covered a variety of school support
services, all interconnected around the mental health of students.
Tim Hardin, president-elect, North
Carolina School Counselor Association, explained the roles that
school counselors play in the safety of schools. He then recommended staffing
of school counselors at a level that allows for increased preventative care for
mental health. His presentation can be found here.
Heather Lynch Boling, Wake County
Schools, President, North
Carolina School Psychology Association and Lynn Makor, Consultant for School
Psychology NC Department of Public Instruction both presented on the various
roles of school psychologists. Both presenters highlighted the advanced
credentials required of school psychologists that best position them to meet
the needs of students. They also spoke to staffing levels in the schools
and the desire to position school psychologists to play a more robust role in
student mental health. Boling’s presentation on school psychologists can be
found here and Makor’s presentation is here.
Mark Benton, Deputy
Secretary for Health Services, Department
of Health and Human Services highlighted the importance mental health. DHHS
estimates that 250,000 North Carolina residents under the age of 18 struggle
with substance abuse or mental health issues. Poor mental health can lead to
various negative outcomes such as depression, anxiety, suicide, or violence.
After outlining the current role of DHHS in student safety, Benton noted
several ideas that may improve student mental health services. His presentation
can be found here.
Kym Martin, Executive Director, N.C. Center
for Safer Schools noted the importance of school safety and
thanked committee members for their concerns around this pressing issue and for
bringing educators, DPI, and DHHS together to discuss this with legislators.
Finally, Mrs. Martin praised local initiatives across the state that center
around student mental health. Schools have implemented curriculum on this
topic, instituted partnerships between schools and have put in place
psychologist training programs. Her presentation can be viewed here.
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Joint Legislative Program Evaluation Oversight Committee
On Monday, April 9, the Program Evaluation Division Oversight Committee (PED)
covered a full slate of items relating to education including:
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Measurability assessment
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Transforming the Principal
Preparation Program
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Recommendations for the
Principal Preparation Cooperative Agreement
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School nurses
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Potential bill drafts on the
education funding dispute resolution
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Potential bill drafts
pertaining to the North Carolina Education Lottery.
Dr. Kiernan McGorty, PED Principal
Evaluator, introduced and explained measurability assessments and applied it to Transforming
the Principal Preparation (TPP) program. Dr. Gary
VanLandingham, Independent Assessor Agency, further explained modifications to
transforming the Principal Preparation program. Dr. Shirley
Prince, Executive Director of NC Principals and Assistant
Principals’ Association (NCPAPA), provided responses to member inquiries on
this as well. Draft legislation was proposed to change the reporting
requirements for the TPP program by adding additional data in the annual
reports.
Meeting Current Standards for School Nurses was
presented by Sara Nienow, PED Principal Evaluator. The school
nurses report estimates that it could cost an additional $45 million to
$79 million a year to meet current student health needs. Sara informed
the committee that the current ratio of school nurses is one for every 1,086
students. Danny Staley, Director of
Public Health, NC Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) answered
questions raised by the committee. The draft bill recommends the State Board of Education create a new school
nurse staffing standard as well as develop an implementation plan. The bill
also directs DHHS and DPI to consolidate school nurse funding, requires DHHS to
examine Medicaid rates for school-based nursing services, and establishes
Medicaid reimbursement for school-based nursing services documented on 504
plans and Individual Health Plans.
The PED committee amended and voted on two bills from the previous
committee meeting. The first bill would change how local school boards
and county commissioners settle funding disputes. The second bill seeks to increase the benefits of the North
Carolina Education Lottery.
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The Professional Educators Preparation and Standards Commission met on
Thursday, April 12th, to consider the current educator preparation process in
North Carolina. They voted to send three recommendations up to the State Board
of Education (SBE) for consideration of approval at their May meeting
including:
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Elimination of redundancy in teacher
certification testing by accepting either of two new tests in the place of
the Principles of Learning and Teaching test.
- Adjustment of the Career and Technical
Education (CTE) requirement in an effort to give LEAs greater flexibility
in setting standards for CTE teachers.
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Consideration be
given toward measures to increase the efficiency of the Educator Preparation
Program approval process. Currently volunteer peer evaluators consider the
roughly 1000 applications each year.
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Joint Legislative Study Committee on the Division of Local School Administrative Units
The Joint Legislative Study Committee on the Division of Local
School Administrative units held its final meeting on Wednesday, April 11. At this
meeting committee members discussed and approved a draft report. Over the course of this committee's
meetings, they considered all relevant information on the logistics, finances,
and educational benefits of
dividing LEAs. Having examined all this information, they do not
recommend dividing LEAs.
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Youth Legislative Assembly
Youth
Legislative Assembly (YLA) is a mock legislative session for North Carolina high
schools students to voice their opinions, and become familiar with the
legislative process. This event took place this past weekend and included
students coming together to discuss policy questions of local, state, and
national significance.
Active participation in YLA helps to develop skills for our youth to
prepare them for our next generation of political leadership. Any high school student
in good standing at a public, private, charter, or home school in North
Carolina is eligible to participate in YLA. For additional
information and to monitor for future events click here.
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See this link for a complete list of bills impacting K-12 education.
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Monday, April 16, 2018
1:00 p.m.: Committee on Intellectual and Developmental
Disabilities 544 LOB | Audio
Tuesday, April 17, 2018
9:00 a.m.: Select Committee on School Safety (House) 643 LOB | Audio
ONLINE RESOURCES:
STATE BOARD OF EDUCATION CONTACT INFORMATION:
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Cecilia Holden – Director of Legislative Affairs and Special Initiatives | 919-807-3406
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Anne Murtha – Legislative Specialist | 919-807-3403
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David Smith – Legislative Intern | 919-807-3407
To view previous 2018 Weekly Legislative Updates click here.
The NC Department of Public instruction offers a number of topics for subscription.
- To subscribe to the Weekly Legislative Update, click here.
- To subscribe to other NC Department of Public Instruction topics, click here.
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