H.F. _____ Section 1. Section 273.2, Code 2014, is amended by adding 1 the following new subsection: 2 NEW SUBSECTION . 10. The area education agency board shall 3 employ a child welfare liaison to provide services and guidance 4 to local school districts to facilitate the efficient and 5 effective transfer and enrollment of a child receiving foster 6 care services to another school district, including but not 7 limited to guidance relating to the transfer of credit earned 8 for coursework taken by the student, enrollment transition 9 planning, facilitating information sharing between education 10 and child welfare agencies, and developing systems designed to 11 ameliorate the transition issues faced by a child receiving 12 foster care services who is transferring to and enrolling in 13 a school district. 14 Sec. 2. Section 280.29, Code 2014, is amended to read as 15 follows: 16 280.29 Enrollment of children in foster care —— transfer of 17 educational records —— services . 18 1. In order to facilitate the educational stability of 19 children in receiving foster care services , a school district, 20 upon notification by an agency of the state that a child 21 in receiving foster care services is transferring into to 22 and enrolling in the school district, shall provide for the 23 immediate and appropriate enrollment of the child. The school 24 district shall do the following: 25 a. Work with an area education agency child welfare liaison 26 in accordance with section 273.2, subsection 10, to develop 27 systems to ease the enrollment transition of a child receiving 28 foster care services to another school. 29 b. Develop procedures for awarding credit for coursework, 30 including electives, completed by a child receiving foster care 31 services while enrolled at another school. 32 (1) Credits and grades earned and offered for acceptance 33 shall be based on official transcripts and shall be accepted 34 without validation unless required under the receiving school 35 -1- LSB 6154YC (1) 85 kh/rj 1/ 4

H.F. _____ district’s accreditation requirements. 1 (2) If the child earned less than a two point on a 2 four-point scale for a unit of coursework, the school district 3 may require the child to retake the class in middle or 4 high school. If the school district determines the child’s 5 proficiencies in an elementary grade are substantially 6 deficient, the child’s parent or guardian shall be notified 7 and intensive instructional services and supports pursuant 8 to section 279.68, or an individualized education plan in 9 accordance with chapter 256B, shall be provided if appropriate. 10 c. Promote practices that facilitate access by a child 11 receiving foster care services to extracurricular programs, 12 summer programs, and credit transfer services. 13 d. Establish procedures to lessen the adverse impact of the 14 enrollment transfer of a child receiving foster care services 15 to another school. 16 e. Enter into a memorandum of understanding with the 17 department of human services regarding the exchange of 18 information as appropriate to facilitate the enrollment 19 transition of children receiving foster care services from one 20 school to another school. 21 f. Provide other assistance as identified by the area 22 education child welfare liaison. 23 2. A school district or an accredited nonpublic school, 24 upon notification by an agency of the state that a child in 25 foster care is transferring enrollment from the school district 26 or accredited nonpublic school to another school district or 27 accredited nonpublic school, shall promptly provide for the 28 transfer of all of the educational records of the child not 29 later than five school days after receiving the notification. 30 Sec. 3. STATE MANDATE FUNDING SPECIFIED. In accordance 31 with section 25B.2, subsection 3, the state cost of requiring 32 compliance with any state mandate included in this Act shall 33 be paid by a school district from state school foundation aid 34 received by the school district under section 257.16. This 35 -2- LSB 6154YC (1) 85 kh/rj 2/ 4

H.F. _____ specification of the payment of the state cost shall be deemed 1 to meet all of the state funding-related requirements of 2 section 25B.2, subsection 3, and no additional state funding 3 shall be necessary for the full implementation of this Act 4 by and enforcement of this Act against all affected school 5 districts. 6 EXPLANATION 7 The inclusion of this explanation does not constitute agreement with 8 the explanation’s substance by the members of the general assembly. 9 This bill relates to continuity of learning for children 10 placed in foster care by requiring every area education 11 agency to employ a child welfare liaison to provide services 12 and guidance to school districts in the area to facilitate 13 the efficient and effective enrollment transfer of a child 14 receiving foster care services. The bill directs school 15 districts to work with the liaison to develop systems to ease 16 the transition of a child receiving foster care services to 17 another school. 18 The services and guidance the liaison must provide to local 19 school districts include but are not limited to guidance 20 relating to the transfer of credit, transition planning, 21 facilitating information sharing between education and child 22 welfare agencies, and developing systems designed to ameliorate 23 the enrollment transition issues faced by a child receiving 24 foster care services who is transferring to and enrolling in 25 a school district. 26 School districts must develop procedures for awarding credit 27 for coursework, including electives, completed by such a child 28 while enrolled at another school. If the child earned less 29 than a 2.0 on a 4.0 scale for a unit of coursework, the school 30 district may require the child to retake the class. If the 31 child’s proficiencies in an elementary grade are substantially 32 deficient, the district must provide intensive instructional 33 services and supports or an individualized education plan if 34 appropriate. 35 -3- LSB 6154YC (1) 85 kh/rj 3/ 4

H.F. _____ School districts must also promote practices that facilitate 1 access by such a child to extracurricular programs, summer 2 programs, and credit transfer services; establish procedures to 3 lessen the adverse impact of enrollment transition to another 4 school; and enter into a memorandum of understanding with 5 the department of human services regarding the exchange of 6 information to facilitate the enrollment transition of foster 7 care children from one school to another school. 8 The bill may include a state mandate as defined in Code 9 section 25B.3. The bill requires that the state cost of 10 any state mandate included in the bill be paid by a school 11 district from state school foundation aid received by the 12 school district under Code section 257.16. The specification 13 is deemed to constitute state compliance with any state mandate 14 funding-related requirements of Code section 25B.2. The 15 inclusion of this specification is intended to reinstate the 16 requirement of political subdivisions to comply with any state 17 mandates included in the bill. 18 -4- LSB 6154YC (1) 85 kh/rj 4/ 4