HF 2546 (LSB 5619HV (3) 91)

HOUSE FILE 2546

BY  COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION

(SUCCESSOR TO HF 2124)

(As Amended and Passed by the House 2026-03-02)

A BILL FOR

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

DIVISION I
PROCUREMENT OF A STATEWIDE DATA COLLECTION SYSTEM
    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 of a comprehensive, statewide data collection system that must facilitate data collection between the student information systems of all school districts, accredited nonpublic schools, and area education agencies. As soon as is reasonably possible after the effective date of this division of this Act, the director shall procure the comprehensive, statewide data collection system using a process that requires the issuance of requests for proposal.
   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)  Maintain the confidentiality of student and staff data.
   (3)  Provide for, and improve the process of, 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.
   (4)  (a)  Be designed to ensure compatibility with any student information system utilized by school districts, accredited nonpublic schools, or area education agencies.
   (b)  The department and the developer of the data collection system software must allow a school district, accredited nonpublic school, or area education agency to purchase a student information system from the developer of the school district’s, accredited nonpublic school’s, or area education agency’s choice that maintains a shared database architecture with the data collection system; provided, however, that use of the data collection system shall not require or depend upon the purchase of any specific student information system.
   (5)  Validate data for accuracy prior to a school district, accredited nonpublic school, or area education agency submitting the data to the department.
   (6)  Allow the department, school districts, accredited nonpublic schools, and area education agencies to communicate regarding state reporting within the data collection system.
   (7)  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.
   (8)  Support the collection and validation of information required to be maintained under federal and state law, including all of the following:
   (a)  School attendance records.
   (b)  Student enrollment counts and related demographic information.
   (c)  Participation data for federally funded and state funded educational programs.
   (d)  Student and employee demographic information.
   (e)  Student assessment scores for state-required assessments.
   (f)  Special education records and individualized education program information, as required under the federal Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, 20 U.S.C. §1400 et seq.
   (g)  English learner identification, program participation, and progress monitoring data. For purposes of this subparagraph division, “English learner” means the same as defined in section 280.4.
   (h)  Student discipline records and incident reports.
   (i)  Dropout verification and graduation confirmation data.
   (j)  School and district academic calendar information.
   (9)  Collects and distributes only the data required under federal and state law and the minimum amount of data necessary to enroll and serve new students from another school or educational institution.
   (10)  Ensure that the data maintained in the data collection system is the property of the school district, accredited nonpublic school, or area education agency, as applicable, and is not the property of the department.
    Sec. 2.  EFFECTIVE DATE.  This division of this Act, being deemed of immediate importance, takes effect upon enactment.
DIVISION II
MODERNIZATION OF ELECTRONIC SYSTEMS
    Sec. 3.  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, accredited nonpublic schools, charter schools, and innovation zone schools, to better identify needs for students.
   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, accredited 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, accredited nonpublic schools, charter schools, and innovation zone schools.
   b.  Provides school districts, accredited 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.
   e.  Collects and distributes only the data required under federal and state law and the minimum amount of data necessary to enroll and serve new students from another school or educational institution.
   f.  Ensures that the information maintained in the portal is the property of the school district, accredited nonpublic school, charter school, or innovation zone school that submitted the information and is not the property of the department of education.