Education – Week of March 3, 2011

STAFF CONTACT:  Bridget Godes

SF 36 – High school graduation requirements

SF 66 – Expanded PPEL uses

SF 70 – BOEE administrative rules grandfather window

SF 74 – Open enrollment athletic ineligibility

SF 85 –  Iowa Online AP academy

SF 122 – Duties of the college student aid commission

SF 123 – Immunity from civil liability for BOEE

SF 153 – Concussions and student athletes

SF 190 – Deaf and hard of hearing children’s education rights

SF 247 – Modified Allowable Growth funds

SF 310 – Regional academy flexibility

SF 330 – Property tax equity and relief fund appropriations

SF 337 – Student activity fund changes

SF 345 – Educator misconduct policies

SF 382 – AEA opt-out pilot program

SSB 1021 – Student aid  powers and duties

SSB 1106 – Private schools student financial obligations

SSB 1108 – Department of Education’s Code clean-up bill

SSB 1109 – Department of Education’s community college clean-up bill

SSB 1110 – School vehicle inspections

SSB 1114 – Sales tax exemption for textbooks

SSB 1161 – Nicotine products on school grounds

SSB 1162 – Whole grade sharing

SSB 1163 – CIP alternative testing

SSB 1164 – Group PPEL fund allowances

FLOOR ACTION:

SF 122 makes changes relating to data collection by the College Student Aid Commission by striking a provision that requires the Commission to develop and implement a tracking system that maintains a 10-year record of the postsecondary and workforce participation for each person assisted under the All Iowa Opportunity Foster Care Grant Program. The Iowa Department of Human Services also does this data collection, and they will share their information with the Commission as needed. The legislation also changes the teaching requirement from five consecutive years to ten non-consecutive years that teachers may be eligible for the Teacher Shortage Loan Forgiveness Program.  [3/1: 49-0 (Johnson excused)]

SF 123 protects members of the Board of Educational Examiners and other witnesses from civil liability stemming from their actions as part of an investigation or license revocation. This is the same immunity protection offered to other licensing boards in the state. [3/1: 49-0 (Johnson excused)]

COMMITTEE ACTION:

SF 36 relates to high school graduation requirements and, as amended, allows an eighth-grader to take a high school core class and have it count towards graduation. [3/2: Short Form (Johnson excused)]

SF 66 allows the Physical Plant and Equipment Levy (PPEL) to be used for joint community college and school district infrastructure projects. [3/2: Short Form (Johnson excused)]

SF 70 grandfathers in administrators who started an out-of state administrator preparation program under one set of the Board of Educational Examiners (BOEE) administrative rules and then BOEE changed/modified their rules and requirements for this type of program. This is a very short grandfather window. All future applicants will know new rules upfront. [3/2: Short Form (Johnson excused)]

SF 74 extends open enrollment athletic ineligibility from 90 to 180 days. [3/2: Short Form (Johnson excused)]

SF 85 establishes the Iowa Online AP Academy and provides for a standing appropriation of $750,000. A committee amendment strikes the standing appropriation. [3/2: Short Form (Johnson excused)]

SF 153 established minimum standards for schools on dealing with concussions and student athletes. The bill will require a student-athlete suspected of sustaining a concussion in a game to be removed from competition until they have been seen by a licensed healthcare provider and that a parent/guardian and student athlete must read, sign and return a concussion awareness fact sheet prior to enrolling a child in youth sports activities. There were two committee amendments. [2/28: Short Form (Johnson excused)]

SF 190 is a bill relating to the education rights of deaf and hard-of-hearing children. The bill requires relevant state departments to have policies and recommendations on how to best serve the educational and health needs of deaf and ard-of-hearing children in Iowa. These policies will be reviewed every five years. [3/2: Short Form (Johnson excused)]

SF 247 expands the allowable uses for Modified Allowable Growth funds to include guidance counselors, nurses and para-educators. It also allows for professional development for staff working with dropout prevention funds/students. [3/2: Short Form (Johnson excused)]

SF 310 makes changes relating to regional academies. This bill is a work in progress and a floor amendment is planned to address the current language that would allow waiving or modifying any statutory or regulatory provision to provide the regional academy additional flexibility. [3/2: Short Form (Dvorsky, Johnson excused)]

SF 330 establishes an annual appropriation of $18 million to the Property Tax Equity and Relief Fund. [3/2: Short Form (Dvorsky, Johnson excused)]

SF 337 authorizes the establishment of a philanthropy account within a student activity fund. [3/2: Short Form (Johnson excused)]

SF 345 relates to the policy and procedures a school district should follow when dealing with educator misconduct. It provides parallel policies for teachers and administrators and says that an administrator that does not report educator misconduct to the licensing Board of Educational Examiners may face license removal. It also provides whistleblower protection to any school employee who makes a report of misconduct to the Board of Educational Examiners. [3/2: Short Form (Johnson excused)]

SF 382 establishes a pilot program where as many as ten schools, two in each AEA area, may opt out of Area Education Agency services. School would divert school aid funding from AEAs for special education support services, media services, educational services, and AEA professional development and teacher salary supplement. Senator Boettger brought up this bill and the committee passed this bill without recommendation. [3/2: Short Form (Beall, Bowman, Schoenjahn, Sodders and Wilhelm “passed”]

SSB 1021 modifies the Student Aid Commission’s powers and duties to include the College Access Initiative. [3/2: Short Form (Dvorsky, Johnson excused)]

SSB 1106 makes changes to the theft and fraud Code chapter specifically relating to governing business and financial practices of sellers of educational courses. The bill specifies accreditation standards for private business schools and creates a new exemption for private, nonprofit schools eligible for state student financial aid programs. The bill allows students with financial obligations of three or fewer months’ duration to be exempt from standards regarding tuition refund policies and says that certain tuition refunds must be paid directly to students. [3/2: Short Form (Dvorsky, Johnson excused)]

SSB 1108 is the Department of Education’s Code clean-up bill that makes various changes to outdated Code language. [3/2: 7-4 (party-line, Dvorsky and Johnson excused)]

SSB 1109 is the Department of Education’s community college clean-up bill. The bill implements Community College Instructor Hour Taskforce recommendation per SF 2088, which allows an instructor to have additional teaching assignments that are agreed to and do not exceed 22 credit hours. [3/2: Short Form (Dvorsky, Johnson excused)]

SSB 1110 requires all school districts to inspect all vehicles that are used to transport students (e.g., Suburbans). This has a fiscal impact of $279 per district per year. It also clarifies that the AEAs can help settle transportation line disputes. [3/2: 7-4 (party-line, Dvorsky and Johnson excused)]

SSB 1114 provides a sales tax exemption for textbooks. It has a current fiscal impact of $9.3 million. [3/2: Short Form (Johnson excused)]

SSB 1161 prohibits the use of nicotine products by any student on school grounds. [3/2: Short Form (Johnson excused)]

SSB 1162 changes how funding for whole-grade sharing follows students. The bill says all funding follows a student except for any “real costs” to the home district, including transportation and administration. [3/2: Short Form (Johnson excused)]

SSB 1163 allows for other tests of proficiency by students receiving competent private instruction for purposes of Senior Year Plus program eligibility. [3/2: 8-4 (party-line, Johnson excused)]

SSB 1164 allows the Physical Plant and Equipment Levy funds to be used for group purchases of $500. Currently these funds can only be used for products that individually cost more than $500. [3/2: Short Form (Johnson excused)]