Legislative Update Monday, March 16, 2015

Legislative Update Week of Monday, March 9 – Thursday, March 12, 2015

List of Bills that are engrossed-­‐ they have completely passed the House of Origin and are headed to the opposite house – and a list of bills that failed or did not get heard by the deadline of March 12, and are dormant.

HB 1065 by Rep. Jadine Nollan and Sen. Gary Stanislawski; passed the House on 3/12/15; Requires the SBE to use a reading test and not a language arts test to measure reading skills in accordance with the RSA. HB 1290 by Rep. Ed Cannaday and Sen. Eddie Fields ; passed the House on 3/11/15; Creates the School District Unfunded Mandate Relief Program which would allow local school boards to avoid underfunded (less than 75% funding) and unfunded mandates based upon a list of mandates and the cost published by the SDE. HB 1321 by Rep. Jadine Nollan and Sen. John Ford; passed the House on 3/10/15; exempts students from taking certain EOIs if they have earned business endorsements by Career Tech or have taken the Armed Forces Vocational Aptitude Battery of the Armed Forces Qualification Test.

HB 1498 by Rep. Dennis Casey and Sen. Marty Quinn; passed the House on 3/10/15; defines “per pupil expenditure and provides the categories included in that definition.

HB 1512 by Rep. Sally Kern and Sen. Clark Jolley; passed the House on 3/12/15; would require additional certification requirements on deaf interpreters; Oklahoma is already in need of more interpreters and this bill would further restrict who would qualify as an interpreter. This bill failed on the House floor on 3/12 but, pursuant to certain House procedures, was voted upon again later the same day and passed by only 1 vote.

HB 1622 by Rep. David Derby and Sen. Gary Stanislawski; passed the House on 3/11/15; would replace criterion referenced tests with the Iowa Testing Program as the state required test.

HB 1691 by Rep. Lee Denney and Sen. Clark Jolley; passed the House on 3/9/15; would allow OKC and Tulsa public schools to contract with a public or private nonsectarian entity to provide educational and administrative services for a school within the district; the school would be exempt to the same extent as a charter school and the provider would be exempt from statutes and rules relating to schools.

HB 1693 by Rep. Kevin Calvey and Sen. Kyle Loveless; passed the House on 3/11/15; amends the “Oklahoma Equal Opportunity Education Scholarship Act”.

HB 1696 by Rep. Lee Denney and Sen. Clark Jolley; passed the House on 3/10/15; House version of SB 782 which will be reported on later in this list. Not all of the language agreed upon in SB 782 made it to the House version, but we are still working to remedy that with the authors.

HB 1823 by Rep. Scott Martin and Sen. Clark Jolley; passed the House on 3/11/15; would put a one year “hold” on A-­‐F grades for schools, with schools using the previous year’s grade, while the SBE studies the state’s accountability system.

HJR 1024 by Speaker Jeff Hickman and Sen. Mike Mazzei; passed the House on 3/11/15; would allow county commissioners to grant ad valorem exemptions to manufacturers for 1-­‐5 years and up to 100%; does not provide for reimbursement to local school districts during the period of exemption.

SB 18 by Sen. Kyle Loveless and Rep. Jon Echols; passed the Senate on 3/9/15; creates a task force to study administrative efficiencies.

SB 162 by Sen. Jim Halligan and Rep. Lee Denney; passed the Senate on 3/10/15; requires the SBE to make rules exempting students on IEP’s from taking state mandated tests and replace them with alternative achievement tests.

SB 239 by Sen. Ervin Yen and Rep. Doug Cox; passed the Senate on 3/9/15; creates the Chase Morris Sudden Cardiac Arrest Prevention Act which requires the SDE and the State Department of Health to jointly develop and public post guidelines and informative materials for students wishing to participate in athletics about the risk of cardiac arrest; requires removing students from activity.

SB 262 by Sen. Susan Paddack and Rep. Todd Thomsen; passed the Senate on 3/9/15; allows the SSDE and Oklahoma Department of Labor to collaborate and make information available to school districts to teach workplace safety training, if desired.

SB 301 by Sen. Kyle Loveless and Rep. Scott Biggs; passed the Senate on 3/11/15; allows the SBE to deny or revoke certification of any person that has been convicted/ is under investigation/ is accused of a crime involving a child.

SB 312 by Sen. David Holt and Rep. Jon Echols; passed the Senate on 3/10/15; limits times when a special election may be called to fill a vacancy, including school board elections.

SB 630 by Sen. John Ford and Rep. Dennis Casey; passed the Senate on 3/10/15; provides intensive remediation for students identified any time during the academic year as having a reading deficiency; also provides that for every first and second grader who scores below proficient on an RSA screening instrument, an intensive remediation plan shall be created for that student by the “Student Reading Proficiency Team” composed of the student’s parents, child’s teacher and the subsequent grade level teacher; and a reading specialist if one is available.

SB 668 by Sen. Clark Jolley and Rep. Randy McDaniel; passed the Senate on 3/12/15; adds the Commissioner of Labor and the Superintendent of Public Instruction to the Oklahoma State Pension Commission.

SB 706 by Sen. John Ford and Rep. Dennis Casey; passed the Senate on 3/11/15; delays full implementation of TLE for 2 years.

SB 707 by Sen. John Ford and Rep. Lee Denney; passed the Senate on 3/10/15; passed House Common Education Committee on 3/16/15 with title off; would allow an assessment used by higher education for determination of placement and college readiness to be one factor in determining if a student has earned a high school diploma.

SB 708 by Sen. John Ford and Rep. Dennis Casey; passed the Senate on 3/10/15; passed House Common Education Committee on 3/16/15; removes non-­‐federally mandated tests for grades 3-­‐8.

SB 711 by Sen. John Sparks and Rep. Lee Denney; passed the Senate on 3/11/15; requires letting the SBE know if a teacher is dismissed or not re-­‐employed because of criminal charges.

SB 782 by Sen. Clark Jolley and Rep. Lee Denney; passed the Senate on 3/10/15; expands the Charter Schools Act; requires local board approval for charter applications statewide.

SB 784 by Sen. Clark Jolley and Rep. Lee Denney; passed the Senate on 3/10/15; requires the SBE to review a standards-­‐based system of assessments and provides for the adoption of new assessments if they align 80% or more with new academic standards.

SB 785 by Sen. Clark Jolley and Rep. Lee Denney; passed the Senate on 3/10/15; amends RSA; requires remediation beginning in first grade; extends Reading Proficiency Team; requires being “proficient” for promotion to 4th grade.

SB 786 by Sen. Clark Jolley and Rep. Scott Martin; passed the Senate on 3/10/15; State aid funding bill.

Bills that either failed or did not get heard in their House of Origin before the deadline of March 12, 2015 and are now dormant.

SB 21 by Sen. Mark Allen and Rep. John Bennett-­‐ would have created the Religious Viewpoints Anti-­‐ Discrimination Act. SB 609 by Sen. Clark Jolley and Rep. Jason Nelson-­‐ would have created vouchers under the guise of “education savings accounts” for students wishing to go to private school. As written, in 13 years, all private school students could be paid for courtesy of taxpayer dollars.

SB 783 by Sen. Clark Jolley and Rep. Lee Denney-­‐ would have provided facilities funding for charter schools.

HB 1440 by Rep. Chad Caldwell and Sen. Clark Jolley-­‐ would have created 16 year term limits for school board members.

HB 1553 by Rep. Earl Sears and Sen. Mike Mazzei – would have created a sales tax in lieu of the ad valorem tax on heavy manufacturing/ construction equipment.

List of Bills that are Engrossed as of March 5, 2015 – they have completely passed the Chamber of Origin and are headed to the opposite House, and bills that have failed on the floor.

HB 1034 by Rep. Dan Kirby and Sen. Kyle Loveless-­‐ Passed House on 2/16/15; allows a federally recognized Indian tribe to sponsor a charter school when the school is within federally recognized reservation or treaty area boundaries.

HB 1051 by Rep. Dan Kirby and Sen. AJ Griffin-­‐ Passed House on 2/25/15; new law that requires schools to review Safe Sports Criteria guidelines published by a nationwide association of athletic trainers and evaluate how to improve sports safety.

HB 1154 by Rep. John Montgomery and Sen. Don Barrington-­‐ Passed House on 3/3/15; exempts law enforcement officers who are employed in that capacity from a background check for employment with a school district.

HB 1268 by Rep. Dennis Casey and Sen. John Ford-­‐ Passed House on 3/4/15; providing an alternative method of demonstrating financial literacy for students with significant cognitive disabilities who are on an IEP. HB 1275 by Rep. Josh Cockroft and Sen. Clark Jolley-­‐ Passed House on 2/17/15; moves school board election dates; specifically, filing remains in December, and if 3 or more candidates file for a seat, then there is a primary in February-­‐ the 2 candidates with the highest votes move on to a runoff in April-­‐ even if a candidate receives a majority of votes; if only 2 candidates file for a seat in December, the election is held in April.

HB 1330 by Rep. Ann Coody and Sen. Jack Fry-­‐ Passed House on 2/16/15; requires the SBE to adopt rules to require all school districts to waive the Oklahoma History requirement for children of military families who have taken a state history course in another state.

HB 1331 by Rep. Ann Coody and Sen. Frank Simpson-­‐ Passed House on 2/19/15; amends the Student Data Accessibility, Transparency and Accountability Act of 2013 by requiring the SBE to add a “military student identifier” to collected “student data.”

HB 1362 by Rep. Claudia Griffith and Sen. Kay Floyd-­‐ Passed House on 3/3/15; requires the Safe School Committees to recommend the development of a rape or sexual assault program to inform students and school staff on response and treatment following a sexual assault.

HB 1442 by Rep. Chad Caldwell and Sen. Marty Quinn-­‐ Passed House on 2/26/15; allows for appointment of a vacant school board seat if no one has filed for the position, to be filled “at-­‐large” until the next election, at which point the seat would be declared vacant, and only eligible candidates within the boundaries of that seat may file and run.

HB 1521 by Rep. Katie Henke and Sen. Jason Smalley-­‐ Passed House on 3/4/15; allows for one time incentive pay and one time retention bonus for recruiting teachers into a school district and for returning a second year outside of negotiated agreements and collective bargaining.

HB 1604 by Rep. Ben Sherrer and Sen. Marty Quinn-­‐ Passed House on 3/5/15; requires adding the name, address, race and age to be added to the school dropout report.

HB 1684 by Rep. Lee Denney and Sen. AJ Griffin-­‐ Passed House on 3/3/15; creating “Erin’s Law” which requires all schools to offer sexual abuse prevention instructional programs for grades pre-­‐K through 5th grade.

HB 1685 by Rep. Lee Denney and Sen. Jim Halligan-­‐ Passed House on 3/2/15; extending the “Tobacco-­‐ Free Schools Act” to be 24/7, 365 days a year. Does not penalize the school for not being able to stop violators, but does provide for punishment for violators of the policy.

HB 1690 by Rep. Lee Denney, Rep. Chad Caldwell and Sen. John Ford-­‐ Passed House on 3/4/15; students who are receiving long or short-­‐term inpatient rehabilitation services and are provided educational services by a school district, shall be reported separately on the school’s report card.

HB 2014 by Rep. Jeff Coody and Sen. Don Barrington-­‐ Passed House on 3/5/15; allows local boards of education to adopt a policy that would allow for a school employee to take reserve officer training (CLEET) to become eligible to carry a handgun and become a school reserve officer.

HB 2049 by Rep. Jason Nelson and Sen. Greg Treat-­‐ Passed House on 3/5/15; amending the Student Data Accessibility, Transparency and Accountability Act to require parental consent prior to establishing a student based web account, email etc… as well as adding school districts and any agent or vendor of the SDE to the list of entities that cannot transfer confidential student data.

HB 2088 by Rep. Jason Nelson and Sen. Greg Treat-­‐ Passed House on 3/5/15; requires the new academic standards to be adopted in time to be implemented in the 2016-­‐2017 school year.

SB 5 by Sen. Ron Sharp and Rep. Josh Cockroft-­‐ Passed Senate 2/25/15; provides immunity from liability for volunteers and education employees who use reasonable force in disciplining a student.

SB 18 by Sen. Kyle Loveless and Rep. Jon Echols-­‐ Passed Senate on 3/5/15; creates a 13-­‐member task force to study school administrative efficiencies.

SB 20 by Sen. Ron Sharp and Rep. Katie Henke-­‐ Passed Senate on 2/25/15; would allow teachers holding an out-­‐of-­‐state certificate in a certain subject/ grade level with 5 years of experience to teach in the same subject/ grade level area in Oklahoma without having to take the required competency exams.

SB 29 by Sen. Josh Breechen and Rep. Lee Denney-­‐ Passed Senate on 3/3/15; would allow teachers whose certificates expire to have them back-­‐dated so long as they are renewed within the same year they expire; requires SDE to notify teachers of expiration.

SB 50 by Sen. Jason Smalley and Rep. Scott Biggs-­‐ Passed Senate on 3/2/15; expands agricultural education to 6th and 7th grades.

SB 68 by Sen. David Holt and Rep. Jason Nelson-­‐ Passed Senate on 3/4/15; allows Tulsa or Oklahoma City to sponsor a charter school if the school district has an average daily membership of 5,000 or more and is in a county of more than 300,000.

SB 136 by Rep. Gary Stanislawski and Rep. Jason Nelson-­‐ Passed Senate on 2/18/15; authorizes the Statewide Virtual Charter School Board to review all online curriculum for public schools.

SB 239 by Sen. Ervin Yen and Rep. Doug Cox-­‐ Passed Senate on 3/5/15; creates the Chase Morris Sudden Cardiac Arrest Prevention Act which mandates the SDE and Department of Health to develop guidelines to inform students about the risk of cardiac arrest; requires coaches to remove students from athletics if they exhibit any sign of cardiac arrest.

SB 262 by Sen. Susan Paddack and Rep. Todd Thomsen-­‐ Passed Senate on 3/5/15; not mandatory, but allows for workplace safety training curriculum in 7th through 12th grade.

SB 285 by Sen. John Ford and Rep. Ann Coody– Passed Senate on 2/25/15; mandates aligning early childhood curriculum to Oklahoma’s academic standards when the new ones are adopted.

SB 428 by http://www.oksenate.gov/Senators/biographies/crain_bio.htmlSen. Brian Crain and Rep. John Echols-­‐ Passed Senate on 3/3/15; removes January from the list of months in when special elections may be held (bond elections).

SB 505 by Sen. Gary Stanislawski and Rep. Jason Nelson-­‐ Passed Senate on 3/3/15; creates the Statewide Virtual Charter School Board Revolving Fund.

SB 674 by Sen. Jim Halligan and Rep. Lee Denney-­‐ Passed Senate on 2/26/15; extending the “Tobacco-­‐ Free Schools Act” to be 24/7, 365 days a year. Does not penalize the school for not being able to stop violators, but does provide for punishment for violators of the policy.

FAILED: HB 1589 by Rep. Ann Coody and Sen. Jim Halligan; would have added a 4th math credit requirement for high school students.

HB 1763 by Rep. John Enns and Sen. Ron Sharp; would have required a school district-­‐wide grading policy and would allow students to obtain a “provisional diploma” if they fail to meet the requirements to graduate high school.