House File 2557 - Introduced
HOUSE FILE
BY COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION
(SUCCESSOR TO HSB 534)
Passed House, Date Passed Senate, Date
Vote: Ayes Nays Vote: Ayes Nays
Approved
A BILL FOR
1 An Act relating to the elimination of reporting or data
2 collection requirements related to the department of
3 education.
4 BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF IOWA:
5 TLSB 5428HV 82
6 ak/rj/8
PAG LIN
1 1 Section 1. Section 256.7, subsection 21, paragraph c, Code
1 2 Supplement 2007, is amended to read as follows:
1 3 c. A requirement that all school districts and accredited
1 4 nonpublic schools annually report to the department and the
1 5 local community the district=wide progress made in attaining
1 6 student achievement goals on the academic and other core
1 7 indicators and the district=wide progress made in attaining
1 8 locally established student learning goals. The school
1 9 districts and accredited nonpublic schools shall demonstrate
1 10 the use of multiple assessment measures in determining student
1 11 achievement levels. The school districts and accredited
1 12 nonpublic schools shall also report the number of students who
1 13 graduate, utilizing the definition of graduation rate
1 14 specified by the national governors association; the number of
1 15 students who drop out of school; the number of students
1 16 pursuing a high school equivalency diploma pursuant to chapter
1 17 259A; the number of students who were enrolled in the district
1 18 within the past five years and who received a high school
1 19 equivalency diploma; the percentage of students who receive a
1 20 high school diploma and who were not proficient in reading,
1 21 mathematics, and science in grade eleven; the number of
1 22 students in the prior year who were enrolled as high school
1 23 juniors who are within four units of meeting the district's
1 24 graduation requirements; the number of students who are tested
1 25 and the percentage of students who are so tested annually; and
1 26 the percentage of students who graduated during the prior
1 27 school year and who completed a core curriculum. The board
1 28 shall develop and adopt uniform definitions consistent with
1 29 the federal No Child Left Behind Act of 2001, Pub. L. No.
1 30 107=110 and any federal regulations adopted pursuant to the
1 31 federal Act. The school districts and accredited nonpublic
1 32 schools may report on other locally determined factors
1 33 influencing student achievement. The school districts and
1 34 accredited nonpublic schools shall also report to the local
1 35 community their results by individual attendance center.
2 1 Sec. 2. Section 257.30, unnumbered paragraph 1, Code 2007,
2 2 is amended to read as follows:
2 3 A school budget review committee is established in the
2 4 department of education and consists of the director of the
2 5 department of education, the director of the department of
2 6 management, and three members who are knowledgeable in the
2 7 areas of Iowa school finance or public finance issues
2 8 appointed by the governor to represent the public. At least
2 9 one of the public members shall possess a master's or doctoral
2 10 degree in which areas of school finance, economics, or
2 11 statistics are an integral component, or shall have equivalent
2 12 experience in an executive administrative or senior research
2 13 position in the education or public administration field. The
2 14 members appointed by the governor shall serve staggered
2 15 three=year terms beginning and ending as provided in section
2 16 69.19 and are subject to senate confirmation as provided in
2 17 section 2.32. The committee shall meet and hold hearings each
2 18 year and shall continue in session until it has reviewed
2 19 budgets of school districts, as provided in section 257.31.
2 20 It may call in school board members and employees as necessary
2 21 for the hearings. Legislators shall be notified of hearings
2 22 concerning school districts in their constituencies. An agenda
2 23 of scheduled hearings and minutes of proceedings shall be
2 24 posted on the department's internet site.
2 25 Sec. 3. Section 257.31, subsection 2, Code Supplement
2 26 2007, is amended to read as follows:
2 27 2. The committee shall report to each session of the
2 28 general assembly, which report shall include any recommended
2 29 changes in laws relating to school districts, and shall
2 30 specify the number of hearings held annually, the reasons for
2 31 the committee's recommendations, information about the amounts
2 32 of property tax levied by school districts for a cash reserve,
2 33 and other information the committee deems advisable.
2 34 Sec. 4. Section 257.31, subsection 9, Code Supplement
2 35 2007, is amended to read as follows:
3 1 9. When the committee makes a decision under subsections 3
3 2 through 8, it shall make all necessary changes in the district
3 3 cost, budget, and tax levy. It shall give written notice of
3 4 its decision, including all such changes, to the school board
3 5 through the department of education.
3 6 Sec. 5. Section 260C.14, subsection 21, Code 2007, is
3 7 amended by striking the subsection.
3 8 Sec. 6. Section 279.63, subsection 2, paragraph e, Code
3 9 2007, is amended by striking the paragraph.
3 10 Sec. 7. Section 279.63, subsection 3, Code 2007, is
3 11 amended to read as follows:
3 12 3. Copies of a school district's financial report for the
3 13 previous school year shall be posted on an internet website
3 14 site maintained by the school district at the beginning of the
3 15 school year by January 1 of each school year. If the school
3 16 district does not maintain or develop a website an internet
3 17 site, the school district shall either distribute or post
3 18 written copies of the financial report at specified locations
3 19 throughout the school district.
3 20 Sec. 8. Section 282.24, subsection 1, unnumbered paragraph
3 21 3, Code 2007, is amended by striking the unnumbered paragraph.
3 22 Sec. 9. Section 298.6, Code 2007, is amended to read as
3 23 follows:
3 24 298.6 PUBLIC DISCLOSURE OF OUTSTANDING LEVIES.
3 25 The board of directors of a school district shall, prior to
3 26 certifying any levy by board approval, or submitting a levy
3 27 for voter approval, facilitate public access to a complete
3 28 listing of all outstanding levies within the school district
3 29 by rate, amount, duration, and the applicable maximum levy
3 30 limitations. The information relating to outstanding levies
3 31 shall be posted on an internet website site maintained by the
3 32 school district at the beginning of the school year by January
3 33 1 of each school year, and updated prior to board approval or
3 34 submission for voter approval of any levy during the school
3 35 year. If the school district does not maintain or develop a
4 1 website an internet site, the school district shall either
4 2 distribute or post written copies of the listing at specified
4 3 locations throughout the school district.
4 4 EXPLANATION
4 5 This bill eliminates reporting or data collection
4 6 requirements related to the department of education.
4 7 The bill eliminates the clauses in Code section 256.7,
4 8 subsection 21, that refer to a formula to calculate a
4 9 graduation rate based on the number of ninth graders that
4 10 actually graduate. The department's statewide student data
4 11 management system will be able to directly determine a
4 12 graduation rate this next school year. The requirement to
4 13 collect the percentage of students who are within four credits
4 14 of graduating at the end of their junior year is eliminated.
4 15 Language is deleted from Code sections 257.30 and 257.31
4 16 that refers to department reports to the legislature. In Code
4 17 section 257.31, subsection 9, language is eliminated that
4 18 requires the school budget review committee to give written
4 19 notice of all its actions under Code section 257.31,
4 20 subsections 3 through 8, to a school board through the
4 21 department of education.
4 22 The bill eliminates Code section 260C.14, subsection 21, as
4 23 the department otherwise reports on high school equivalency
4 24 diploma success rates.
4 25 Code section 279.63, subsection 2, paragraph "e", which
4 26 requires reporting of teacher and administrator health
4 27 insurance benefits and options, is stricken. Reporting dates
4 28 are changed from the beginning of the school year to January 1
4 29 in Code sections 279.63, subsection 3, and 298.6 dealing with
4 30 financial and property tax levy reports posted on the
4 31 internet.
4 32 The provision in Code section 292.24 that requires the
4 33 department to notify districts about maximum tuition rates,
4 34 which are the district costs per pupil, is deleted as the
4 35 districts otherwise receive this information from the
5 1 department of management.
5 2 LSB 5428HV 82
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