Week 6 saw the passage of the proposed House and Senate budgets being passed off of their respective chambers. The bills are now in the proper posture for budget conferencing. However, we do not expect budget conferencing to begin until after the end of Passover and Easter weekend. We will keep you posted on budget conferencing once it begins.
Our team at GrayRobinson is once again providing us with our bill tracker. All of the bills we are tracking are listed on the report in numerical order. Bills that align to our platform are highlighted in yellow. A few of the bills to highlight:
- SB 1470 School Safety by Sen. Burgess works to address the concerns from the implementation of last year’s HB 1473 School Safety bill including providing some flexibility regarding the keeping of some doors/gates unlocked. The bill also would create and maintain a list of approved exemptions. The bill passed off the Senate floor unanimously.
- HB 123 Education by Rep. Andrade would change the requirements for how a school could be converted to a charter school, allow a municipality to apply to convert a school to a charter school and would restrict school boards from purchasing or acquiring property when they’ve had declining enrollment for the last 5 years. The bill was amended, which deleted the prohibition of school districts being able to purchase real property if they had declining enrollment in the last five years. Many questions were raised regarding the removal of teacher vote in the conversion of a public school, as well as the authority of municipalities to convert a public school. The bill passed 11 to 4.
- HB 443 Charter Schools by Rep. Snyder revises statutes relating to charter schools by prohibiting sponsors from imposing certain administrative deadlines on charter schools and setting enrollment limits below facility capacity. The bill also grants charter schools the right to develop their own student conduct codes and specifies new guidelines for the disposal of school district real property by ensuring charter schools have the right of first refusal. The bill was amended to clarify that boards could move forward with a proposal after a consideration of a charter school proposal. However, school districts must still provide charter schools with right of first refusal prior to the sale, transfer, lease, or disposal of any land, facilities, or educational plants. After much discussion, the bill passed 13 to 3.
- HB 809 School Social Workers by Rep. Hunschofsky exempts school social workers from specific educator certification requirements. The bill passed its last committee unanimously.
- SB 1702 Education by Sen. Burgess has multiple provisions, including specifying that participation in marching band fulfills the P.E. or performing arts credit for graduation, as well as permitting school district tax revenue to be used for funding liability insurance premiums. The bill passed unanimously.
- HB 1287 School District Personnel and Volunteers by Rep. W. Robinson would authorize background screening of certain volunteers, mandate the temporary removal of instructional personnel following certain arrests, expand offenses that law enforcement are required to report to educational entities, and impose self-reporting requirements on educational employees. Members questioned if the bill prematurely removes teachers who have not been found guilty of a crime and debate focused on balancing the safety of students while respecting the rights of teachers. The bill passed 12 to 4.
