House File 385 - Introduced HOUSE FILE 385 BY COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION (SUCCESSOR TO HSB 109) A BILL FOR An Act relating to open enrollment of certain students and the 1 determination of good cause and including applicability 2 provisions. 3 BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF IOWA: 4 TLSB 1417HV (1) 89 md/jh

H.F. 385 Section 1. Section 282.18, subsection 2, paragraph a, Code 1 2021, is amended to read as follows: 2 a. By March 1 of the preceding school year for students 3 entering grades one through twelve, or by September 1 of the 4 current school year for students entering kindergarten or for 5 prekindergarten students enrolled in special education programs 6 and included in the school district’s basic enrollment under 7 section 257.6, subsection 1, paragraph “a” , subparagraph (1) , 8 the parent or guardian shall send notification to the district 9 of residence and the receiving district, on forms prescribed 10 by the department of education, that the parent or guardian 11 intends to enroll the parent’s or guardian’s child in a public 12 school in another school district. If a parent or guardian 13 fails to file a notification that the parent intends to enroll 14 the parent’s or guardian’s child in a public school in another 15 district by the deadline specified in this subsection , the 16 procedures of subsection 4 apply. 17 Sec. 2. Section 282.18, subsection 4, paragraph b, Code 18 2021, is amended to read as follows: 19 b. For purposes of this section , “good cause” means a change 20 in a child’s residence due to a change in family residence, 21 a change in a child’s residence from the residence of one 22 parent or guardian to the residence of a different parent or 23 guardian, a change in the state in which the family residence 24 is located, a change in a child’s parents’ marital status, 25 a guardianship or custody proceeding, placement in foster 26 care, adoption, participation in a foreign exchange program, 27 initial placement of a prekindergarten student in a special 28 education program requiring specially designed instruction, or 29 participation in a substance abuse or mental health treatment 30 program, a change in the status of a child’s resident district 31 such as removal of accreditation by the state board, surrender 32 of accreditation, or permanent closure of a nonpublic school, 33 revocation of a charter school contract as provided in section 34 256F.8 , the failure of negotiations for a whole grade sharing, 35 -1- LSB 1417HV (1) 89 md/jh 1/ 3

H.F. 385 reorganization, dissolution agreement or the rejection of a 1 current whole grade sharing agreement, or reorganization plan. 2 If the good cause relates to a change in status of a child’s 3 school district of residence, however, action by a parent 4 or guardian must be taken to file the notification within 5 forty-five days of the last board action or within thirty days 6 of the certification of the election, whichever is applicable 7 to the circumstances. 8 Sec. 3. Section 282.18, subsection 9, paragraph b, Code 9 2021, is amended to read as follows: 10 b. If a request to transfer is due to a change in family 11 residence, a change in a child’s residence from the residence 12 of one parent or guardian to the residence of a different 13 parent or guardian, change in the state in which the family 14 residence is located, a change in a child’s parents’ marital 15 status, a guardianship proceeding, placement in foster care, 16 adoption, participation in a foreign exchange program, or 17 participation in a substance abuse or mental health treatment 18 program, and the child who is the subject of the request is 19 enrolled in any grade from kindergarten through grade twelve 20 or who is a prekindergarten student enrolled in a special 21 education program at the time of the request and is not 22 currently using any provision of open enrollment, the parent or 23 guardian of the child shall have the option to have the child 24 remain in the child’s original district of residence under open 25 enrollment with no interruption in the child’s kindergarten 26 through grade twelve educational program. If a parent or 27 guardian exercises this option, the child’s new district of 28 residence is not required to pay the amount calculated in 29 subsection 7 or 8, as applicable, until the start of the first 30 full year of enrollment of the child. 31 Sec. 4. APPLICABILITY. This Act applies to school years 32 beginning on or after July 1, 2021. 33 EXPLANATION 34 The inclusion of this explanation does not constitute agreement with 35 -2- LSB 1417HV (1) 89 md/jh 2/ 3

H.F. 385 the explanation’s substance by the members of the general assembly. 1 This bill modifies several provisions related to Iowa’s open 2 enrollment law. 3 Code section 282.18(2) establishes deadlines for requests 4 to open enroll as March 1 of the preceding school year for 5 students entering grades one through twelve and as September 1 6 of the current school year for students entering kindergarten. 7 The bill adds prekindergarten students enrolled in special 8 education programs to the group of students subject to the 9 September 1 deadline and makes corresponding changes to other 10 provisions of Code section 282.18. 11 The bill also amends the definition of “good cause” for 12 purposes of consideration and approval of open enrollment 13 requests that fail to meet statutory deadlines to include 14 a change in a child’s residence from the residence of one 15 parent or guardian to the residence of a different parent or 16 guardian and the initial placement of a prekindergarten student 17 in a special education program requiring specially designed 18 instruction. The bill also makes corresponding changes 19 to other provisions of Code section 282.18 to reflect the 20 amendment to the definition of good cause. 21 The bill applies to school years beginning on or after July 22 1, 2021. 23 -3- LSB 1417HV (1) 89 md/jh 3/ 3