House K-12 Education Committee Schedules More Bills Just Ahead Of Crossover Deadline
We anticipate a very busy week ahead of the policy bill crossover deadline on Thursday,May 8. The House K-12 Education Committee already has scheduled its next meeting for
2 p.m. Tuesday, May 6, to debate the slate of bills listed below:
- H878: Increased Academic Transparency – NCASA thanks all member school leaders who reached out to legislators this week about challenges this bill would pose for teachers and schools. Your feedback is helping the sponsors and other legislators to understand the logistical and cost concerns with the proposed legislation, which would require governing bodies of public schools to ensure that certain information is always clearly displayed on the school website, including:
- All lesson plans (no later than 10 days after the lesson was given),
- Procedures for the approval of lesson plans,
- Procedures for requesting an in-person review of course materials not made available to the public, and
- A list of teacher and staff training materials and activities used at each school.
- H981: Local Schools Open Enrollment – Allows a parent or guardian to request that a student be enrolled at any school within the same local education agency. Requires local boards of education to adopt an open enrollment plan to allow students to apply to attend a school other than the school in the assignment area the student lives in. Establishes minimum requirements that must be included in the policy. Establishes parameters for open enrollment procedures.
- H556: 2025 Charter Schools Review Board Omnibus – Requires Charter Schools Review Board (CSRB) approval of all state rules related to charter schools. Authorizes the CSRB to hire legal counsel without permission or approval. Exempts charter schools from reporting class rank on student transcripts. Allows charter schools to use alternate teacher evaluations. Requires low-performing charters to report improvement plans to the CSRB only. Allows the CSRB to review decisions related to charter school federal funding. Creates an expedited application process for certain remote charter academies. Directs remote charter academies to be graded separately.
- H945: Reporting of Sexual Assault on School Buses – Requires local schools to report acts of violence within five days and to specify in the reports if the violence occurred on a school bus. Makes failure to submit a report a Class I felony.
- H959: Social Media Literacy in Schools – Requires local boards of education to adopt policies for student internet access and to provide instruction on social media and its impacts, including negative effects on mental health and the spread of misinformation.