House File 2546 - Reprinted HOUSE FILE 2546 BY COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION (SUCCESSOR TO HF 2124) (As Amended and Passed by the House March 2, 2026 ) A BILL FOR An Act modifying the duties of the department of education 1 related to electronic systems, and including effective date 2 provisions. 3 BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF IOWA: 4 HF 2546 (3) 91 jda/jh/md

H.F. 2546 DIVISION I 1 PROCUREMENT OF A STATEWIDE DATA COLLECTION SYSTEM 2 Section 1. Section 256.9, subsection 11, Code 2026, is 3 amended by striking the subsection and inserting in lieu 4 thereof the following: 5 11. a. Approve, coordinate, and supervise the use of 6 electronic data and information processing by school districts, 7 area education agencies, and merged areas, including the 8 procurement of a comprehensive, statewide data collection 9 system that must facilitate data collection between the 10 student information systems of all school districts, accredited 11 nonpublic schools, and area education agencies. As soon as is 12 reasonably possible after the effective date of this division 13 of this Act, the director shall procure the comprehensive, 14 statewide data collection system using a process that requires 15 the issuance of requests for proposal. 16 b. The data collection system described in paragraph “a” 17 must satisfy all of the following requirements: 18 (1) Be designed for the purpose of establishing 19 standardized electronic data collections and reporting 20 protocols that facilitate compliance with state and federal 21 reporting requirements. 22 (2) Maintain the confidentiality of student and staff data. 23 (3) Provide for, and improve the process of, the electronic 24 transfer of individual student records between attendance 25 centers, school districts, accredited nonpublic schools, area 26 education agencies, postsecondary institutions, merged areas, 27 and the department. 28 (4) (a) Be designed to ensure compatibility with any 29 student information system utilized by school districts, 30 accredited nonpublic schools, or area education agencies. 31 (b) The department and the developer of the data collection 32 system software must allow a school district, accredited 33 nonpublic school, or area education agency to purchase a 34 student information system from the developer of the school 35 -1- HF 2546 (3) 91 jda/jh/md 1/ 4

H.F. 2546 district’s, accredited nonpublic school’s, or area education 1 agency’s choice that maintains a shared database architecture 2 with the data collection system; provided, however, that use of 3 the data collection system shall not require or depend upon the 4 purchase of any specific student information system. 5 (5) Validate data for accuracy prior to a school district, 6 accredited nonpublic school, or area education agency 7 submitting the data to the department. 8 (6) Allow the department, school districts, accredited 9 nonpublic schools, and area education agencies to communicate 10 regarding state reporting within the data collection system. 11 (7) Be hosted by the developer of the software to reduce 12 the burden on the department, school districts, accredited 13 nonpublic schools, and area education agencies associated with 14 maintaining the data collection system. 15 (8) Support the collection and validation of information 16 required to be maintained under federal and state law, 17 including all of the following: 18 (a) School attendance records. 19 (b) Student enrollment counts and related demographic 20 information. 21 (c) Participation data for federally funded and state 22 funded educational programs. 23 (d) Student and employee demographic information. 24 (e) Student assessment scores for state-required 25 assessments. 26 (f) Special education records and individualized education 27 program information, as required under the federal Individuals 28 with Disabilities Education Act, 20 U.S.C. §1400 et seq. 29 (g) English learner identification, program participation, 30 and progress monitoring data. For purposes of this 31 subparagraph division, “English learner” means the same as 32 defined in section 280.4. 33 (h) Student discipline records and incident reports. 34 (i) Dropout verification and graduation confirmation data. 35 -2- HF 2546 (3) 91 jda/jh/md 2/ 4

H.F. 2546 (j) School and district academic calendar information. 1 (9) Collects and distributes only the data required under 2 federal and state law and the minimum amount of data necessary 3 to enroll and serve new students from another school or 4 educational institution. 5 (10) Ensure that the data maintained in the data collection 6 system is the property of the school district, accredited 7 nonpublic school, or area education agency, as applicable, and 8 is not the property of the department. 9 Sec. 2. EFFECTIVE DATE. This division of this Act, being 10 deemed of immediate importance, takes effect upon enactment. 11 DIVISION II 12 MODERNIZATION OF ELECTRONIC SYSTEMS 13 Sec. 3. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION —— MODERNIZATION OF 14 ELECTRONIC SYSTEMS. 15 1. The department of education shall modernize the 16 department’s electronic systems and procedures in order to 17 ensure all of the following: 18 a. The proper disbursement of moneys in a timely manner by 19 increasing the ease and frequency of reporting submissions and 20 collections throughout the school year. 21 b. That the department’s systems are able to communicate 22 with other state agencies, and with school districts, 23 accredited nonpublic schools, charter schools, and innovation 24 zone schools, to better identify needs for students. 25 2. The modernization described in subsection 1 must include 26 the deployment of a portal, on or before July 1, 2027, which 27 satisfies all of the following requirements: 28 a. Allows school districts, accredited nonpublic schools, 29 charter schools, and innovation zone schools to do all of the 30 following: 31 (1) Validate the prior submission of data to the department. 32 (2) Perform a cross-district enrollment check prior to the 33 submission of information. 34 (3) Embed the communication tools between the department 35 -3- HF 2546 (3) 91 jda/jh/md 3/ 4

H.F. 2546 and other school districts, accredited nonpublic schools, 1 charter schools, and innovation zone schools. 2 b. Provides school districts, accredited nonpublic schools, 3 charter schools, and innovation zone schools with access to a 4 data dictionary that updates automatically. 5 c. Includes a calendar with key dates. 6 d. Is hosted by the developer of the software to reduce 7 the burden on the department associated with maintaining the 8 portal. 9 e. Collects and distributes only the data required under 10 federal and state law and the minimum amount of data necessary 11 to enroll and serve new students from another school or 12 educational institution. 13 f. Ensures that the information maintained in the portal 14 is the property of the school district, accredited nonpublic 15 school, charter school, or innovation zone school that 16 submitted the information and is not the property of the 17 department of education. 18 -4- HF 2546 (3) 91 jda/jh/md 4/ 4