House File 228 - Introduced HOUSE FILE 228 BY COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION (SUCCESSOR TO HSB 64) A BILL FOR An Act relating to voluntary diversity plans under the state’s 1 open enrollment law. 2 BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF IOWA: 3 TLSB 1045HV (1) 89 kh/jh
H.F. 228 Section 1. Section 256F.4, subsection 2, paragraph a, 1 unnumbered paragraph 1, Code 2021, is amended to read as 2 follows: 3 Meet all applicable federal, state, and local health and 4 safety requirements and laws prohibiting discrimination on 5 the basis of race, creed, color, sex, sexual orientation, 6 gender identity, national origin, religion, ancestry, or 7 disability. A charter school or innovation zone school shall 8 be located within the boundaries of a school district subject 9 to any court-ordered desegregation plan in effect for the 10 school district at the time the charter school or innovation 11 zone school application is approved shall be subject to the 12 desegregation order unless otherwise specifically provided for 13 in the desegregation order . 14 Sec. 2. Section 282.18, subsections 3 and 6, Code 2021, are 15 amended to read as follows: 16 3. a. The superintendent of a district subject to a 17 voluntary diversity or court-ordered desegregation plan, as 18 recognized by rule of the state board of education, may deny a 19 request for transfer under this section if the superintendent 20 finds that enrollment or release of a pupil will adversely 21 affect the district’s implementation of the desegregation 22 order or diversity plan , unless the transfer is requested 23 by a pupil whose sibling is already participating in open 24 enrollment to another district, or unless the request for 25 transfer is submitted to the district in a timely manner as 26 required under subsection 2 prior to implementation of the 27 adoption of a desegregation plan order by the district. If a 28 transfer request would facilitate implementation of a voluntary 29 diversity or court-ordered desegregation plan order , the 30 district shall give priority to granting the request over other 31 requests. 32 b. A parent or guardian , whose request has been denied 33 because of the district’s implementation of a the desegregation 34 order or diversity plan, may appeal the decision of the 35 -1- LSB 1045HV (1) 89 kh/jh 1/ 3
H.F. 228 superintendent to the board of the district in which the 1 request was denied. The board may either uphold or overturn 2 the superintendent’s decision. A decision of the board 3 to uphold the denial of the request is subject to appeal 4 to the district court in the county in which the primary 5 business office of the district is located. The state board 6 of education shall adopt rules establishing definitions, 7 guidelines, and a review process for school districts that 8 adopt voluntary diversity plans. The guidelines shall include 9 criteria and standards that school districts must follow 10 when developing a voluntary diversity plan. The department 11 of education shall provide technical assistance to a school 12 district that is seeking to adopt a voluntary diversity plan. 13 A school district implementing a voluntary diversity plan prior 14 to July 1, 2008, shall have until July 1, 2009, to comply with 15 guidelines adopted by the state board pursuant to this section . 16 c. The board of directors of a school district subject 17 to voluntary diversity or court-ordered desegregation shall 18 develop a policy for implementation of open enrollment in 19 the district. The policy shall contain objective criteria 20 for determining when a request would adversely impact the 21 desegregation order or voluntary diversity plan and criteria 22 for prioritizing requests that do not have an adverse impact on 23 the order or plan . 24 6. A request under this section is for a period of not less 25 than one year. If the request is for more than one year and 26 the parent or guardian desires to have the pupil enroll in a 27 different district, the parent or guardian may petition the 28 current receiving district by March 1 of the previous school 29 year for permission to enroll the pupil in a different district 30 for a period of not less than one year. Upon receipt of such a 31 request, the current receiving district board may act on the 32 request to transfer to the other school district at the next 33 regularly scheduled board meeting after the receipt of the 34 request. The new receiving district shall enroll the pupil in 35 -2- LSB 1045HV (1) 89 kh/jh 2/ 3
H.F. 228 a school in the district unless there is insufficient classroom 1 space in the district or unless the district is subject to 2 court-ordered desegregation and enrollment of the pupil would 3 adversely affect the court-ordered or voluntary implementation 4 of the desegregation plan of the district order . A denial of 5 a request to change district enrollment within the approved 6 period is not subject to appeal. However, a pupil who has been 7 in attendance in another district under this section may return 8 to the district of residence and enroll at any time, once the 9 parent or guardian has notified the district of residence and 10 the receiving district in writing of the decision to enroll the 11 pupil in the district of residence. 12 EXPLANATION 13 The inclusion of this explanation does not constitute agreement with 14 the explanation’s substance by the members of the general assembly. 15 This bill eliminates implementation of a voluntary diversity 16 plan as a reason to deny open enrollment of a pupil. 17 Under current law, a school district subject to a voluntary 18 diversity plan or court-ordered desegregation may deny a 19 request for open enrollment of a pupil from one district to 20 another if the superintendent finds that the enrollment or 21 release of the pupil will adversely affect the district’s 22 implementation of the voluntary diversity plan or court-ordered 23 desegregation. 24 The bill further eliminates provisions directing the state 25 board of education to adopt rules establishing definitions, 26 guidelines, and a review process that school districts must 27 follow when adopting a voluntary diversity plan and provisions 28 requiring the department of education to provide technical 29 assistance to school districts seeking to adopt a voluntary 30 diversity plan. 31 The bill makes conforming changes and strikes obsolete 32 language. 33 -3- LSB 1045HV (1) 89 kh/jh 3/ 3