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"
Crossover
"
is Next Thursday
Next Thursday, March 24, is "Crossover": the deadline for any House (Senate) bill to crossover to the Senate (House). Both the House and Senate have scheduled sessions for next Wednesday and/or Thursday to ensure completion of action on necessary bills by the deadline.
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Criminal Background Checks
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SB152
SB152
amends the statute
relative to criminal history records checks for school employees and designated school volunteers. The bill authorizes the release of information regarding the presence or absence of any record of convictions of the applicant of felonies or misdemeanors, rather than the current report indicating the presence or absence of certain felony convictions. NHSBA supports this appropriate expansion of information provided by the criminal history records check. Experience has shown that individuals charged with felonious assault may sometimes plead to a misdemeanor; such plea bargains are not revealed under the current law. The additional information supplied is not included in the hiring prohibitions specified in statute. The additional information is simply provided to the superintendent of the SAU (or ceo of a chartered public school or public academy), to be used for hiring decisions. The superintendent shall maintain the confidentiality of all criminal history information, and if there is no criminal record, shall destroy the information immediately following review. If the information indicates a conviction, the superintendent shall review the information for a hiring decision and destroy the information within 30 days.
The House Education Committee voted Ought to Pass (OTP) 17-2, with the committee recommendation going to the floor of the House next week. School board members should contact their local representatives and urge support of the committee recommendation, and passage of SB152.
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School Assignment in Districts with No Public Schools
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HB1637
HB1637
allows a school district to assign a child to another public school in another school district or to an approved, non-religious private school if there is no public school for the child's grade in the child's resident district
. If a school district does not have its own public school for certain grades, the bill allows the district to tuition students to a non-religious private school approved for attendance by the Department of Education. There is currently pending legal action related to this very issue, with significant implications for local districts.
The House Education Committee voted Ought to Pass as Amended (OTP/A) 12-9, with the committee recommendation going to the floor of the House next week.
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School Lunch Meal Payment Policies
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SB371
SB371
establishes requirements
for implementing a school lunch meal payment policy. The bill requires that any school lunch meal payment policy implemented by the school board shall ensure that all students have access to a healthy school lunch, that the school district make every reasonable effort to inform parents of the policy, and that no student will be subject to different treatment from the standard school lunch meal or school cafeteria procedures.
The House Education Committee voted Ought to Pass (OTP) 19-0, with the committee recommendation going to the floor of the House next week.
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Intervention for Dyslexia
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HB1644
HB1644
adds a new subdivision to the statutes for screening and intervention for dyslexia and related disorders. The bill provides that, "School districts shall screen all public school students using the Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills (DIBELS) or an equivalent cost effective screener for the identification of potential indicators or risk factors of dyslexia and related disorders upon enrollment in public school kindergarten or first grade, and at appropriate times thereafter, to monitor progress
." In addition, the district, "shall provide age-appropriate, evidence-based intervention strategies for any [identified] student." While no additional funding is provided, the bill does establish the position of reading specialist in the Department of Education, to provide school districts with the support and resources necessary to assist students with dyslexia and related disorders.
The House Finance Committee recommended passage of the bill (OTP/A) by a vote of 26-0, to be considered by the House when it meets next week.
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Department of Education
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The State Board and Commissioner
Three bills this session addressed the issue of appointment vs election, or general court approval, of leadership at the Dept. of Education. Yesterday, the Senate tabled this issue, and next week the House considers another proposal.
SB354
requires the commissioner and deputy commissioner of the department of education to be nominated by the governor and confirmed by the members of the general court. Laid on Table
SB355
requires the members of the state board of education to be elected by a majority vote of a joint session of the general court. Laid on Table
HB1484
requires one member of the state board of education to be elected by the voters in each county. House Education Committee voted 13-6 recommending Inexpedient to Legislate (ITL).
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Additional House Considerations Next Week
OTP Ought to Pass - OTP/A Ought to Pass as Amended - ITL Inexpedient to Legislate - Int Study Interim Study
HB1229
, prohibiting the inclusion of statewide assessment results in a student's transcript without consent. OTP 10-8
HB1231
, requiring the school district to adopt a notification policy that alerts parents not less than one week in advance whenever curriculum course material is used for instruction of drug and alcohol education, human sexuality, or human sexual education. OTP/A 13-6
HB1300
amends the requirement for patriotic exercises in public schools to include a discussion of the Pledge of Allegiance and the Star Spangled Banner. OTP 10-8
HB1338
provides that a student exempted from taking the statewide assessment by the student's parent or legal guardian shall not be penalized. The bill also requires a school district to provide an appropriate alternative educational activity for the time period during which the assessment is administered. OTP 10-9
HB1393
requires the department of education to report on the number of students receiving differentiated aid from the state and to compare the statewide assessment results of those students, by category of aid received, with the statewide assessment results of students not receiving differentiated aid, to determine the benefit of additional aid. OTP/A 11-10
HB1497
gives students taking college entrance exams the option to have all their personal information destroyed by the testing entity following the completion and verification of the test. OTP 19-0
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Upcoming Legislative Education Schedule
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Tuesday, March 22, 2016
House EDUCATION, Room 207, LOB
10:00 a.m. SB 320, relative to non-academic surveys administered by a public school to its students.
10:30 a.m. SB 370, establishing a committee to study real time threat notification systems to link school with law enforcement when schools are under direct threat.
11:00 a.m. SB 483, (New Title) establishing a committee to study the necessity of creating a chartered public school program officer position and to study appropriations to chartered public schools for the 2016 and 2017 fiscal years.
Executive session on pending legislation may be held throughout the day, time permitting, from the time the committee is initially convened.
Senate EDUCATION, Room 103, LOB
9:00 a.m. HB 1145, establishing a committee to study suspensions and expulsions in licensed preschools and in kindergarten through grade 3.
9:15 a.m. HB 1408, relative to a school building inventory.
9:35 a.m. HB 231, relative to the criteria for evaluating school building aid applications.
10:05 a.m. HB 242, relative to the statewide improvement and assessment program.
EXECUTIVE SESSION MAY FOLLOW
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Upcoming Legislative Education Schedule
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Wednesday, March 23, 2016
Senate EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENTS AND ADMINISTRATION, Room 101, LOB
9:30 a.m. HB 1418, relative to the minutes of nonpublic sessions of public bodies.
9:50 a.m. HB 1419, relative to voting records in nonpublic sessions of public bodies.
