Here's what bills are on scheduled to be heard next week.
The following bills are scheduled to be heard in the House Education Committee on May 17 at 9 am:
HB 468 - Hoffmann - Adds certified school nurses to the list of school employees eligible for sabbatical leave.
HB 905 - Harrison - Increases the minimum Grade Point Average (GPA) necessary to qualify for certain awards under the Taylor Opportunity Program for Students (TOPS), from 2.5 to 3.0. This change would apply to graduating seniors, beginning with the 2014-2015 school year.
HB 1049 - Harrison - Authorizes public school boards to enter into public/private partnerships for the provision of ancillary services, such as cafeteria, custodial, and transportation services.
HB 1411 - Richmond - Requires the Recovery School District to receive Joint Legislative Committee on the Budget approval of capital expenses and change orders in excess of $100,000.
The following bills are scheduled to be heard in the Senate Finance Committee on May 17 at 10 am:
SB 391- Chaisson - Increases the amount of reductions of appropriations/allocations from the state general fund and dedicated funds in any fiscal year in which these two conditions occur: (1) a deficit is projected and (2) reductions of at least s even-tenths of 1 percent in appropriations from the state general fund have already occurred. The proposed constitutional amendment increases the amount of reductions of appropriations or allocations from 5 percent to 10 percent.
SB 392- Chaisson - Increases the amount of reductions of appropriations/allocations from the state general fund and dedicated funds in any fiscal year in which these two conditions occur: (1) a deficit is projected and (2) reductions of at least seven-eighths of 1 percent in appropriations from the state general fund have already occurred. The proposed constitutional amendment increases the amount of reductions of appropriations or allocations from 5 percent up to 10 percent.
SB 509 - Long - Includes the Louisiana School for Math, Science, and the Arts in the Minimum Foundation Program (MFP), classifying it as a public secondary education institution for the purposes of the MFP formula.
The following bills are scheduled to be heard in the Senate Retirement Committee on May 17 at 12:30 pm:
SB 274 - Heitmeier - Requires a charter school teacher, who is an active member of the Teachers' Retirement System of Louisiana (TRSL) to remain an active member of TSSL for the duration of his/her employment at the charter school, under certain circumstances.
SB 729 - Shaw - For members of the Teachers' Retirement Systems of Louisiana (TRSL), a separate fund known as the Experience Account provides cost-of-living adjustments to retiree pensions. If there are sufficient funds in the TRSL Experience Account, a Permanent Benefit Increase is payable to each eligible TRSL retiree or their beneficiary each year on July 1, subject to a recommendation by TRSL's Board and legislative approval. Currently, the Experience Account is funded with up to 50 percent of all TRSL investment earnings in excess of the actuarial rate of 8.25 percent, after the first $200 million of investment returns have been used to pay down retirement system debt. SB 729 seeks to provide that 50% of the net investment experience gain of the TRSL is credited to the TRSL's experience account before the allocation to reduce the unfunded accrued liability. Currently, if TRSL fails to exceed the actuarially assumed rate of return and is less than 80 percent funded, no Permanent Benefit Increase will be granted. SB 729 seeks to allow a Permanent Benefit Increase in years in which the TRSL is below 80% funded and fails to exceed the actuarially assumed rate of return.
The following bills are scheduled for debate by the House of Representatives on May 17 at 2pm:
HB 529 - P. Smith - Requires, rather than authorizes, sex education for public school students in grades 4-12. Requires BESE to prescribe guidelines and suitable curricula.
HB 561 - Baldone - Provides that certain educational diagnosticians who hold a valid Louisiana teaching certificate, state educational diagnostician certification, and the Nationally Certified Educational Diagnostician (NCED) credential are eligible to receive an annual salary supplement of $5,000 (subject to the ap propriation of funds).
The following bills are scheduled for debate by the Senate on May 17 at 3pm:
SB 293 - Donahue - Requires each agency to conduct an annual internal review of employee vacancies and attrition rates. Establishes the goal of attaining strategic reductions in positions of five percent annually for three years and requires annual reports to the Commission on Streamlining Government.
The following bills are scheduled to be heard in the House Education Committee on May 18 at 9 am:
HB 1128 - Leger - Requires the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education (BESE) to develop, by December 31, 2010, a master plan for how charter schools are to administer special education and related services. The bill also requires BESE to provide local school districts with guidelines on reviewing and approving charter school applicants as well as establishing requirements and restrictions for charter schools. The bill also requires BESE to give an annual charter school report to the Governor.
SB 83- Appel - Expands the test type options used for 3rd, 5th, 6th, 7th and 9th grade students with disabilities.
SB 89 - Long - Removes the unnecessary requirement that the administration of Louisiana School of Math, Science, and the Arts be classified within the Louisiana Department of Education
SB 112 - Long - The standardized test scores of students in Office of Juvenile Justice facilities will not be sent to students' home schools or included in the performance score of local districts.
SB 285 - Donahue - States that students educated in secure facilities under the jurisdiction of the Office of Juvenile Justice (OJJ) shall be considered as enrolled in a public school for inclusion by the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education in the Minimum Foundation Program (MFP) formula. Also requires that the MFP funds be transferred from the students' local districts to OJJ to operate such facilities.
SB 297- Donahue - Eliminates the Division of Adult and Family Services w ithin the Louisiana Department of Education and transfers the responsibility for adult and family services programs from the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education to the Louisiana Community Technical College System.
SB 298- Donahue - Requires the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education to broadcast its meetings over the Internet and to archive such broadcasts.
SB 302 - Appel - In addition to current performance labels given to public schools and school districts, the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education will adopt a letter-grade system corresponding to school and district performance scores. For example, a top-performing school would get an "A."
SB 344 - Duplessis - Lengthens and revises the process that guides local districts in the review of charter school proposals.
The following bills are scheduled for debate by the House of Representatives on May 18 at 2pm:
HB 257 - Harrison - Requires local school boards to spend at least 5 percent of their gross proceeds collected from extracurricular athletic activities and programs to fund academic tutoring for student athletes in grades 5-12.
HB 486 - Harrison - Requires school guidance counselors to complete academic profiles for each 9th grade student and specifies certain information, such as college or ca reer planning, to be included in the profiles. The bill also requires students and parents to be involved in completing the profiles and to review them annually.
HB 488 - Harrison - Requires school board members to receive at least six hours of training and instruction annually. The bill also requires that school board members receive a minimum of 16 hours of training and instruction during their first year of service on the board. School board members who complete this training will be given the designation of "Distinguished School Board Member." The bill also requires school superintendents to annually submit to the school system's official news publication information on the trainings completed by each school board member and stipulate each member who has earned the "Distinguished School Board Member" credential.
The following b ills are scheduled for debate by the House of Representatives on May 19 at 2pm:
HB 923 - Leger - Authorizes the Recovery School District to contract with outside legal counsel.
HB 962 - Carter - Requires local school boards to accept charter school proposals until February 28 of each year. Local school boards will also be required to provide written notification of their final decision on approvals no later than May 31. The bill also requires local school boards to publish in print media and web sites the guidelines, the forms required for submission, the timelines for acceptance and review, the process that will be used for review, and a point of contact for all charter school proposals.
HB 1141 - Landry - Establishes guidelines for denying nutrition to students. For example, before a local district can withhold a meal from a student, the school's governing authority must notify parents and obtain confirmation from a school nurse or the student's personal doctor.
The following bills are scheduled for debate by the House of Representatives on May 20 at 1pm:
HB 1376 - Hines - Present law requires local school districts to provide transportation to students who attend and live at least one mile from a Board of Elementary and Secondary Education (BESE) non-public school. Current law also requires that 17 specific school districts provide such transportation to students living within one mile of the school. Proposed law would revise the law to make 1,000 feet the distance specified in those two provisions. Proposed legislation also updates the requirement to provide Louisiana Department of Education-funded reimbursements to families or tutors of such students whose local school boards are granted exceptions to this law for justifiable financial reasons approved by BESE.
HB 1442 - Carmody - Allows any public school employee to report testing irregularities or improprieties directly to the Louisiana Department of Education. This bill also authorizes the Department to investigate allegations. Current Board of Elementary and Secondary (BESE) policy already provides for this reporting and investigation. However this legislation is designed to strengthen that policy. Additionally, the bill makes it a crime to attempt to cover up testing improprieties. And any school governing authority that fires, threatens, or in any other way retaliates against a school employee who reports testing irregularities could be convicted of a misdemeanor. HB1442 also imposes penalties against school employees who file false reports about testing irregularities.
HB 1458 - Labruzzo - Requires a local school board to conduct a review of its student code of conduct and amend the code as may be necessary to assure that the policy prohibiting the harassment, intimidation, and bullying of a student by another student specifically addresses the nature, extent, causes, and consequences of cyber-bullying. Also defines "cyber-bullying" for this purpose.
The following bills are due for final passage in the House, subject to call:
HB 1014 - Norton - Requires local school boards to provide planning time to each teacher -- a minimum of 30 minutes for lunch each day that is duty-free and a minimum of 45 minutes daily or its weekly equivalent. These planning times and lunch periods will not result in a longer school day. Current law states that the availability of state funding for this purpose is a condition for the effectiveness of the present law. This proposed measure removes the funding requirement of present law.
HB 1055 - Richmond - Eliminates the Division of Adult and Family Services within the Louisiana Department of Education and transfers the responsibility for adult and family services programs from the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education to th e Louisiana Community and Technical College System (LCTCS)Share |
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