Legislative Update

Whitney Miller-Nichols, CLAS Director of Governmental Relations

Every school year brings with it new programs and regulations, and the 2024-25 school year is no different. This school year will see several recent laws implemented in Alabama’s public schools:

• Schools must post their curriculum on their website and the local board of education must have a procedure for parents to inspect materials or receive information about correlation to standards at a board work session. Teachers must provide a course syllabus that includes all books required for the course and must also provide a detailed summary of instructional materials if a summary is requested by parents. (Act 2024-35)

• Athletic trainer grants for rural and Title I secondary schools, to be awarded by the Alabama Board of Athletic Trainers (Act 2023-341). The grants will be awarded at the end of the 2024-25 school year.

• A 2% education employee pay raise, starting in October 2024 (Act 2024-292)

• A requirement that local boards of education add a policy banning “private, explicit, or pornographic images” generated with AI as well as the possession, publication, or sharing of those images (Act 2024-98)

• Portable athletic eligibility for military dependents with a bona fide move related to change orders (Act 2024-397)

• A cardiac arrest plan in place at every public and private K-12 school as well as updated health curriculum for public secondary schools that includes AED use and hands-on CPR instruction (Act 2024-392, Act 2024-114)

• Students who are 14 or 15 must no longer request a work permit from their school administrator before seeking part-time employment (Act 2024-352)

• It is now illegal for anyone under the age of 21 to purchase, possess, use, or transport any e-liquid/ vape device, regardless of the substance it contains (Act 2024-79). Violation of this law is subject to a citation between $10 and $50 and is under the jurisdiction of the district or municipal court (Code of Alabama 28-11-14).

• Updated minimum requirements for student discipline due process (Act 2024-262; CLAS one-pager)

• Teachers are now required to have and follow an approved classroom management plan and are allowed to exclude students from the classroom for 5 specific misbehaviors if they have first followed the approved classroom management plan. Principals now have a state-defined procedure to follow before returning an excluded student to class and teachers have the right to appeal this return in certain circumstances. (Act 2024-409; CLAS one-pager; ALSDE sample board policy)

Legislators began prefiling bills for the 2025 session on May 21, and out of the 26 bills already filed, five relate directly or indirectly to public education. Legislators are now sending double the number of education bills to the Governor for signature that they did a decade ago, and we expect that trend to continue.

Implementing Legislation as School Leaders

Once a law is signed by the Governor, it is up to the local superintendent and board of education to review legislation and incorporate it into the board’s policies and code of student conduct.

But we all know, policies without procedure are ineffective. Ideally district leadership will convene a team to write procedures and guidance for practitioners and establish a plan to train stakeholders responsible for implementation at each site in the school system.

Consistency is key for effective implementation. All stakeholders need to work from a common set of definitions and processes, and those definitions and processes need to be applied consistently across the school system.

School leaders need to communicate expectations and definitions with students and parents. The average person needs to hear a message between 2 and 7 times before it is committed to memory. In an age of multiple communication streams, we can’t rely on just one mode of communication to reach our stakeholders. School leaders should strategize with their team on how best to get information about changes out to your community.

Advocacy for School Leaders

Over the next several months, reach out to your school’s state legislators (find his/her name and contact information here). Introduce yourself if they don’t already know you and let them know what school and system you represent. Check in with them every few weeks, sharing the successes and shortcomings of your school. You are the expert of your domain, and your legislators need to know you are a trusted resource they can call when they have education questions. And when legislators know that a real need is present in their schools, and that those ETF budget requests aren’t just an abstract dollar amount, they can confidently stand up and fight for funding to meet those needs.

My goal is to be the first (but not the last) voice a legislator hears on an issue of concern to our members. To make that voice effective, it also must have the weight of your support behind it. That means each and every member of CLAS needs to be speaking to legislators about what is best for your students and schools. You’ll get guidance from our advocacy team on the nuts and bolts of an issue, but it will be up to you to fill in the blanks for legislators, explaining how a bill will impact the students and schools in their district. If legislators ask you questions you can’t answer, don’t hesitate to share those questions with me so that I can get them an answer. I’m here as a resource for you, too! If you need more information on a legislative issue or have suggestions for bills, let me know.

We will schedule Advocacy Days in February for each affiliate to engage with legislators here in Montgomery. Each day we’ll have members come in the morning for an issues briefing where we’ll fill you in on what you need to know and equip you with talking points to take to the State House. We’ll walk down the hill and sit in on education committee meetings and walk the halls so that you can talk with your school’s legislators here. Then we’ll reconvene at the office to debrief over lunch about what you and your legislators discussed. These meetings are also an opportunity for the affiliates to weigh in with the CLAS advocacy team on how pending legislation may impact their schools. As a former classroom teacher, I know how hard it can be to get out of the building, but your presence here will make a powerful impression on your legislators.