HF 2124 (LSB 5619YH (3) 91)

HOUSE FILE 2124

BY  GEHLBACH

A BILL FOR

An Act modifying the duties of the department of education related to electronic systems.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF IOWA:

    Section 1.  Section 256.9, subsection 11, Code 2026, is amended by striking the subsection and inserting in lieu thereof the following:
   11.  a.  Approve, coordinate, and supervise the use of electronic data and information processing by school districts, area education agencies, and merged areas, including the procurement or development of a single, comprehensive, statewide, data collection system that is required to be used by all school districts, accredited nonpublic schools, and area education agencies.
   b.  The data collection system described in paragraph “a” must satisfy all of the following requirements:
   (1)  Be designed for the purpose of establishing standardized electronic data collections and reporting protocols that facilitate compliance with state and federal reporting requirements.
   (2)  Improve school-to-school and district-to-district information exchanges.
   (3)  Maintain the confidentiality of student and staff data.
   (4)  Provide for the electronic transfer of individual student records between attendance centers, school districts, accredited nonpublic schools, area education agencies, postsecondary institutions, merged areas, and the department.
   (5)  (a)  Be designed to ensure compatibility with any student information system utilized by school districts, accredited nonpublic schools, or area education agencies.
   (b)  The developer of the software must allow a school district, accredited nonpublic school, or area education agency to purchase a student information system from the developer that maintains a shared database architecture with the data collection system.
   (6)  Validate data for accuracy prior to a school district, accredited nonpublic school, or area education agency submitting the data to the department.
   (7)  Allow the department, school districts, accredited nonpublic schools, and area education agencies to communicate regarding state reporting within the data collection system.
   (8)  Be hosted by the developer of the software to reduce the burden on the department, school districts, accredited nonpublic schools, and area education agencies associated with maintaining the data collection system.
    Sec. 2.  DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION —— MODERNIZATION OF ELECTRONIC SYSTEMS.
   1.  The department of education shall modernize the department’s electronic systems and procedures in order to ensure all of the following:
   a.  The proper disbursement of moneys in a timely manner by increasing the ease and frequency of reporting submissions and collections throughout the school year.
   b.  That the department’s systems are able to communicate with other state agencies, and with school districts, nonpublic schools, charter schools, and innovation zone schools, to better identify needs for students and prepare students for the future workforce.
   2.  The modernization described in subsection 1 must include the deployment of a portal, on or before July 1, 2027, which satisfies all of the following requirements:
   a.  Allows school districts, nonpublic schools, charter schools, and innovation zone schools to do all of the following:
   (1)  Validate the prior submission of data to the department.
   (2)  Perform a cross-district enrollment check prior to the submission of information.
   (3)  Embed the communication tools between the department and other school districts, nonpublic schools, charter schools, and innovation zone schools.
   b.  Provides school districts, nonpublic schools, charter schools, and innovation zone schools with access to a data dictionary that updates automatically.
   c.  Includes a calendar with key dates.
   d.  Is hosted by the developer of the software to reduce the burden on the department associated with maintaining the portal.
EXPLANATION
The inclusion of this explanation does not constitute agreement with
the explanation’s substance by the members of the general assembly.
   This bill modifies the duties of the department of education (DE) related to electronic systems.
   The bill requires the director of DE to approve, coordinate, and supervise the use of electronic data and information processing by school districts, area education agencies, and merged areas, including the procurement or development of a data collection system that is required to be used by all school districts, accredited nonpublic schools, and area education agencies. The bill establishes requirements that the data collection system must satisfy.
   The bill requires that DE modernize its electronic systems and procedures in order to ensure the proper disbursement of moneys in a timely manner and to ensure that DE’s systems are able to communicate with other state agencies, and with school districts, nonpublic schools, charter schools, and innovation zone schools. The modernization must include the deployment of a portal, on or before July 1, 2027, which satisfies requirements established in the bill.