Bill Text: IA HF847 | 2021-2022 | 89th General Assembly | Introduced

NOTE: There are more recent revisions of this legislation. Read Latest Draft

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Bill Title: A bill for an act modifying provisions relating to city and county powers and educational programs, requirements, funding, tax credits and deductions, open enrollment, supplementary weighting, and including effective date, applicability, and retroactive applicability provisions. (Formerly HF 808, HSB 240.) Effective date: Enactment, 07/01/2021. Applicability date: 07/01/2021, 07/01/2020, 01/01/2021.

Spectrum: Committee Bill

Status: (Passed) 2021-05-20 - Signed by Governor. H.J. 1211. [HF847 Detail]

Download: Iowa-2021-HF847-Introduced.html

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House File 847 - Introduced
HOUSE FILE 847
BY COMMITTEE ON WAYS AND MEANS
(SUCCESSOR TO HF 808)
(SUCCESSOR TO HSB 240)
A BILL FOR
An Act relating to educational programs, funding, tax credits
and deductions, open enrollment, supplementary weighting,
and including effective date, applicability, and retroactive
applicability provisions.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF IOWA:
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DIVISION I
EDUCATION PROGRAM STANDARDS AND FUNDING
Section 1. Section 256.11, subsection 8, Code 2021, is
amended by striking the subsection and inserting in lieu
thereof the following:
8. a. The state board shall establish a flexible student
and school support program to be administered by the director.
Under the program, upon request of the board of directors of
a public school district or the authorities in charge of an
accredited nonpublic school, the director may, for a period
not to exceed three years, grant the applicable board of
directors or the authority in charge of the nonpublic school
the ability to use the flexible student and school support
program to implement evidence-based practices in innovative
ways to enhance student learning, well-being, and postsecondary
success.
b. Approval to participate in the flexible student and
school support program shall exempt the school district or
nonpublic school from one or more of the requirements of
the educational program specified in subsection 3, 4, or 5,
subsection 6, paragraph “b” or “c” , subsection 7, paragraph “b”
or “c” , or the minimum school calendar requirements in section
279.10, subsection 1. An exemption shall be granted only
if the director deems that the request made is an essential
part of an educational program to support student learning,
well-being, and postsecondary success; is necessary for the
success of the program; and is broadly consistent with the
intent of the requirements of the educational program specified
in subsection 3, 4, or 5, subsection 6, paragraph “b” or “c” ,
subsection 7, paragraph “b” or “c” , or the minimum school
calendar requirements in section 279.10, subsection 1.
c. Approval to participate in the flexible student and
school support program shall include authority for a school
district to use funds from the school district’s flexibility
account under section 298A.2, subsection 2, to implement all or
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part of the flexible student and school support program.
d. The application for the flexible student and school
support program shall include all of the following and
be submitted on forms and in a format prescribed by the
department:
(1) A description of the proposed educational program,
including evidence used to design the program and evidence of
involvement of board members, parents, students, community
members, and staff in development of the program.
(2) Program goals and measures of program effectiveness and
success, including student success and performance.
(3) A plan for program administration, including the use of
personnel, facilities, and funding.
(4) A plan for evaluation of the proposed program on at
least an annual basis, including a plan for program revisions,
if necessary.
(5) The estimated financial impact of the program on the
school district or nonpublic school.
e. Approval to participate in the program does not exempt
the school district or nonpublic school from federal law or
any other requirements of state law that are not specifically
exempted by the director.
f. Each school district or nonpublic school approved to
participate in the flexible student and school support program
shall file an annual report with the department on the status
of the program on forms and in a format prescribed by the
department.
g. Participation in the flexible student and school support
program may be renewed for additional periods of years, each
not to exceed three years. The director may revoke approval of
all or part of any application or approved education program
if the annual report or any other information available to
the department indicates that conditions no longer warrant
use of an exemption or funding from the school district’s
flexibility account under section 298A.2, subsection 2. Notice
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of revocation must be provided by the director to the school
district or nonpublic school prior to the beginning of the
school year for which participation is revoked.
Sec. 2. Section 257.10, subsection 12, paragraph d, Code
2021, is amended to read as follows:
d. For the budget year beginning July 1, 2014, and
succeeding budget years, the use of the funds calculated under
this subsection shall comply with the requirements of chapter
284 and shall be distributed to teachers pursuant to section
284.15 . The funds shall be used only to increase the payment
for a teacher assigned to a leadership role pursuant to a
framework or comparable system approved pursuant to section
284.15 ; to increase the percentages of teachers assigned to
leadership roles; to increase the minimum teacher starting
salary to thirty-three thousand five hundred dollars; to
cover the costs for the time mentor and lead teachers are
not providing instruction to students in a classroom; for
coverage of a classroom when an initial or career teacher
is observing or co-teaching with a teacher assigned to a
leadership role; for professional development time to learn
best practices associated with the career pathways leadership
process; and for other costs associated with a framework or
comparable system approved by the department of education under
section 284.15 with the goals of improving instruction and
elevating the quality of teaching and student learning. If
all requirements for the school district for the use of funds
calculated under this subsection are met and funds received
under this subsection remain unexpended and unobligated at
the end of a fiscal year beginning on or after July 1, 2020,
the school district may transfer all or a portion of such
unexpended and unobligated funds for deposit in the school
district’s flexibility account established under section
298A.2, subsection 2.
Sec. 3. Section 298A.2, subsection 2, paragraph a, Code
2021, is amended by adding the following new subparagraph:
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NEW SUBPARAGRAPH . (4) Teacher leadership supplement funds
received under section 257.10, subsection 12.
Sec. 4. Section 298A.2, subsection 2, paragraph c, Code
2021, is amended by adding the following new subparagraph:
NEW SUBPARAGRAPH . (8) An approved flexible student and
school support program under section 256.11, subsection 8.
DIVISION II
EDUCATION TAX CREDITS AND DEDUCTIONS
Sec. 5. Section 422.7, subsection 55, Code 2021, is amended
to read as follows:
55. A taxpayer who is an eligible educator as defined in
section 62(d)(1) of the Internal Revenue Code is allowed to
take the deduction for certain expenses of elementary and
secondary school teachers allowed under section 62(a)(2)(D) of
the Internal Revenue Code , as amended by the federal Emergency
Economic Stabilization Act of 2008, Pub. L. No. 110-343, in
computing net income for state tax purposes in excess of
the amount of the taxpayer’s deduction for certain expenses
of elementary and secondary school teachers for federal tax
purposes allowed under section 62(a)(2)(D) of the Internal
Revenue Code, but not to exceed five hundred dollars .
Sec. 6. Section 422.12, subsection 1, Code 2021, is amended
by adding the following new paragraph:
NEW PARAGRAPH . 0c. “Private instruction” means independent
private instruction as defined in section 299A.1, subsection
2, paragraph “b” , competent private instruction under section
299A.2, or private instruction provided to a resident of this
state by a nonlicensed person under section 299A.3.
Sec. 7. Section 422.12, subsection 2, paragraph b, Code
2021, is amended to read as follows:
b. A tuition credit equal to twenty-five percent of the
first one two thousand dollars which the taxpayer has paid
to others for each dependent in grades kindergarten through
twelve, for tuition and textbooks of each dependent in who
is receiving private instruction or who is attending an
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elementary or secondary school situated in Iowa, which school
is accredited or approved under section 256.11 , which is not
operated for profit, and which adheres to the provisions
of the federal Civil Rights Act of 1964 and chapter 216 .
Notwithstanding any other provision, all other credits allowed
under this subsection shall be deducted before the tuition
credit under this paragraph. The department, when conducting
an audit of a taxpayer’s return, shall also audit the tuition
tax credit portion of the tax return.
Sec. 8. 2018 Iowa Acts, chapter 1161, section 118, is
amended to read as follows:
SEC. 118. Section 422.7, subsections 3, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 14,
15, 16, 20, 22, 24, 25, 26, 30, 35, 36, 37, 39, 39B, 40, 43, 45,
49, 53, 55, 56, 57, and 58 , Code 2018, are amended by striking
the subsections.
Sec. 9. EFFECTIVE DATE. This division of this Act, being
deemed of immediate importance, takes effect upon enactment.
Sec. 10. RETROACTIVE APPLICABILITY. The following apply
retroactively to January 1, 2021, for tax years beginning on
or after that date:
1. The section of this division of this Act amending section
422.7, subsection 55.
2. The section of this division of this Act amending section
422.12, subsection l.
3. The section of this division of this Act amending section
422.12, subsection 2, paragraph “b”.
DIVISION III
OPEN ENROLLMENT
Sec. 11. Section 256.46, subsection 1, Code 2021, is amended
by adding the following new paragraph:
NEW PARAGRAPH . i. If the child’s former school or school
district, if located in this state, was unable to participate
in varsity interscholastic sports as the result of a decision
or implementation of a decision of the school board or
superintendent.
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Sec. 12. Section 282.18, subsection 2, paragraph a, Code
2021, is amended to read as follows:
a. By March 1 of the preceding school year for students
entering grades one through twelve, or by September 1 of the
current school year for students entering kindergarten or for
prekindergarten students enrolled in special education programs
and included in the school district’s basic enrollment under
section 257.6, subsection 1, paragraph “a” , subparagraph (1) ,
the parent or guardian shall send notification to the district
of residence and the receiving district, on forms prescribed
by the department of education, that the parent or guardian
intends to enroll the parent’s or guardian’s child in a public
school in another school district. If a parent or guardian
fails to file a notification that the parent intends to enroll
the parent’s or guardian’s child in a public school in another
district by the deadline specified in this subsection , the
procedures of subsection 4 apply.
Sec. 13. Section 282.18, subsection 4, paragraph b, Code
2021, is amended to read as follows:
b. For purposes of this section , “good cause” :
(1) “Good cause” means a change in a child’s residence
due to a change in family residence, a change in a child’s
residence from the residence of one parent or guardian to
the residence of a different parent or guardian, a change
in the state in which the family residence is located, a
change in a child’s parents’ marital status, a guardianship
or custody proceeding, placement in foster care, adoption,
participation in a foreign exchange program, initial placement
of a prekindergarten student in a special education program
requiring specially designed instruction, or participation
in a substance abuse or mental health treatment program, a
change in the status of a child’s resident district such as
removal of accreditation by the state board, surrender of
accreditation, or permanent closure of a nonpublic school,
revocation of a charter school contract as provided in section
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256F.8 , the failure of negotiations for a whole grade sharing,
reorganization, dissolution agreement , or the rejection of a
current whole grade sharing agreement, or reorganization plan ,
or if the child’s assigned attendance center in the district of
residence is identified as in significant need for improvement .
If the good cause relates to a change in status of a child’s
school district of residence, however, action by a parent
or guardian must be taken to file the notification within
forty-five days of the last board action or within thirty days
of the certification of the election, whichever is applicable
to the circumstances.
(2) “Significant need for improvement” means a school
attendance center designated by the department of education
under the priority category under the Iowa school performance
profiles for two or more of the immediately preceding school
years or identified for comprehensive support and improvement
under the federal Every Student Succeeds Act, Pub. L. No.
114-95, or an equivalent objective federal standard, for two or
more of the immediately preceding school years.
Sec. 14. Section 282.18, subsection 5, Code 2021, is amended
to read as follows:
5. Open enrollment applications filed after March 1
of the preceding school year that do not qualify for good
cause as provided in subsection 4 shall be subject to the
approval of the board of the resident district and the board
of the receiving district. The parent or guardian shall send
notification to the district of residence and the receiving
district that the parent or guardian seeks to enroll the
parent’s or guardian’s child in the receiving district. A
decision of either board to deny an application filed under
this subsection involving repeated acts of harassment of the
student that the resident district cannot adequately address,
a consistent failure of the resident district to reasonably
respond to a student’s failure to meet basic academic standards
after notice provided by a parent or guardian, or a serious
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health condition of the student that the resident district
cannot adequately address is subject to appeal under section
290.1 . The state board shall adopt by rule the criteria
for determining a resident district’s consistent failure
to reasonably respond to a student’s failure to meet basic
academic standards and shall exercise broad discretion to
achieve just and equitable results that are in the best
interest of the affected child or children.
Sec. 15. Section 282.18, subsection 9, paragraphs a, b, and
c, Code 2021, are amended to read as follows:
a. If a parent or guardian of a child, who is participating
in open enrollment under this section , moves to a different
school district during the course of either district’s academic
year, the child’s first district of residence as determined on
the date specified in section 257.6, subsection 1, shall be
responsible for payment of the cost per pupil plus weightings
or special education costs to the receiving school district for
the balance of the school year in which the move took place.
The new district of residence shall be responsible for the
payments during succeeding years.
b. If a request to transfer is due to a change in family
residence, a change in a child’s residence from the residence
of one parent or guardian to the residence of a different
parent or guardian, a change in the state in which the family
residence is located, a change in a child’s parents’ marital
status, a guardianship proceeding, placement in foster care,
adoption, participation in a foreign exchange program, or
participation in a substance abuse or mental health treatment
program, and the child who is the subject of the request is
enrolled in any grade from kindergarten through grade twelve
or who is a prekindergarten student enrolled in a special
education program at the time of the request and is not
currently using any provision of open enrollment, the parent or
guardian of the child shall have the option to have the child
remain in the child’s original district of residence under open
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enrollment with no interruption in the child’s kindergarten
through grade twelve educational program. If a parent or
guardian exercises this option, the child’s new district of
residence is not required to pay the amount calculated in
subsection 7 or 8, as applicable, until the start of the first
full year of enrollment of the child.
c. The receiving district shall bill the first resident
district determined under paragraph “a” according to the
timeline in section 282.20, subsection 3 . Payments shall be
made to the receiving district in a timely manner.
Sec. 16. Section 282.18, subsection 10, paragraph c, Code
2021, is amended to read as follows:
c. If the pupil meets the economic eligibility requirements
established by the department and state board of education, the
sending district is responsible for providing transportation
or paying the pro rata cost of the transportation to a parent
or guardian for transporting the pupil to and from a point
on a regular school bus route of a contiguous receiving
district unless the cost of providing transportation or the
pro rata cost of the transportation to a parent or guardian
exceeds the average transportation cost per pupil transported
for the previous school year in the district. The economic
eligibility requirements established by the department of
education and state board of education shall minimally include
those pupils with household incomes of two hundred percent
or less of the federal poverty level as defined by the most
recently revised poverty income guidelines published by the
United States department of health and human services. If
the cost exceeds the average transportation cost per pupil
transported for the previous school year, the sending district
shall only be responsible for that average per pupil amount.
A sending district which provides transportation for a pupil
to a contiguous receiving district under this subsection may
withhold, from the district cost per pupil amount that is to
be paid to the receiving district, an amount which represents
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the average or pro rata cost per pupil for transportation,
whichever is less.
Sec. 17. Section 282.18, subsection 11, paragraph a,
unnumbered paragraph 1, Code 2021, is amended to read as
follows:
A pupil who participates in open enrollment for purposes of
attending a grade in grades nine through twelve in a school
district other than the district of residence is ineligible
to participate in varsity interscholastic athletic contests
and athletic competitions during the pupil’s first ninety
school calendar days of following enrollment in the district.
However, a pupil may participate immediately in a varsity
interscholastic sport under any of the following circumstances:
Sec. 18. Section 282.18, subsection 11, paragraph a, Code
2021, is amended by adding the following new subparagraphs:
NEW SUBPARAGRAPH . (8) If the pupil participates in open
enrollment because of circumstances that meet the definition of
good cause under subsection 4, paragraph “b” .
NEW SUBPARAGRAPH . (9) If the board of directors or
superintendent of the district of residence issues or
implements a decision that results in the discontinuance or
suspension of varsity interscholastic sports activities in the
district of residence.
NEW SUBPARAGRAPH . (10) If the board of directors of
the district of residence and the board of directors of the
receiving district both agree to waive the ineligibility
period.
NEW SUBPARAGRAPH . (11) For open enrollment applications
approved for the school year beginning July 1, 2021, if the
pupil’s district of residence had a voluntary diversity plan in
effect on January 1, 2021, and applicable to the school year
beginning July 1, 2021.
Sec. 19. Section 282.18, subsection 11, Code 2021, is
amended by adding the following new paragraph:
NEW PARAGRAPH . 0c. If a pupil is declared ineligible for
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interscholastic athletic contests and athletic competitions in
the pupil’s district of residence due to the pupil’s academic
performance, upon participating in open enrollment, in addition
to any other period of ineligibility under this subsection, the
pupil shall be ineligible in the receiving district for the
remaining period of ineligibility declared by the district of
residence.
Sec. 20. Section 282.18, subsection 11, paragraph c, Code
2021, is amended to read as follows:
c. For purposes of this subsection , “school days of
enrollment” does not include enrollment in summer school. For
purposes of this subsection , “varsity” means the same as defined
in section 256.46, subsection 3 .
Sec. 21. EFFECTIVE DATE. The following, being deemed of
immediate importance, take effect upon enactment:
1. The section of this division of this Act amending section
282.18, subsection 11, paragraph “a”, unnumbered paragraph 1.
2. The portion of the section of this division of this
Act enacting section 282.18, subsection 11, paragraph “a”,
subparagraph (10).
3. The section of this division of this Act amending section
282.18, subsection 11, paragraph “c”.
Sec. 22. RETROACTIVE APPLICABILITY. The following apply
retroactively to January 1, 2021, for open enrollment requests
approved on or after that date:
1. The section of this division of this Act amending section
282.18, subsection 11, paragraph “a”, unnumbered paragraph 1.
2. The section of this division of this Act amending section
282.18, subsection 11, paragraph “c”.
Sec. 23. RETROACTIVE APPLICABILITY. The following apply
retroactively to July 1, 2020:
1. The section of this division of this Act enacting section
256.46, subsection 1, paragraph “i”.
2. The portion of the section of this division of this
Act enacting section 282.18, subsection 11, paragraph “a”,
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subparagraph (9).
DIVISION IV
SCHOOL BOARD POWERS AND DUTIES
Sec. 24. Section 279.1, Code 2021, is amended by adding the
following new subsection:
NEW SUBSECTION . 3. A school corporation is entrusted with
public funds for the purpose of improving student outcomes,
including but not limited to student academic achievement and
skill proficiency, and the board of directors of the school
corporation is responsible for overseeing such improvement.
DIVISION V
SHARED OPERATIONAL FUNCTIONS
Sec. 25. Section 257.11, subsection 5, paragraph a, Code
2021, is amended to read as follows:
a. (1) In order to provide additional funding to
increase student opportunities and redirect more resources
to student programming for school districts that share
operational functions, a district that shares with a
political subdivision one or more operational functions of
a curriculum director, master social worker, independent
social worker, work-based learning coordinator, or school
counselor, or one or more operational functions in the areas
of superintendent management, business management, human
resources, transportation, or operation and maintenance for at
least twenty percent of the school year shall be assigned a
supplementary weighting for each shared operational function.
A school district that shares an operational function in
the area of superintendent management shall be assigned a
supplementary weighting of eight pupils for the function. A
school district that shares an operational function in the area
of business management, human resources, transportation, or
operation and maintenance shall be assigned a supplementary
weighting of five pupils for the function. A school district
that shares the operational functions of a curriculum director,
a master social worker or an independent social worker licensed
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under chapters 147 and 154C , a work-based learning coordinator,
or a school counselor shall be assigned a supplementary
weighting of three pupils for the function. The additional
weighting shall be assigned for each discrete operational
function shared. However, a school district may receive the
additional weighting under this subsection for sharing the
services of an individual with a political subdivision even if
the type of operational function performed by the individual
for the school district and the type of operational function
performed by the individual for the political subdivision are
not the same operational function, so long as both operational
functions are eligible for weighting under this subsection . In
such case, the school district shall be assigned the additional
weighting for the type of operational function that the
individual performs for the school district, and the school
district shall not receive additional weighting for any other
function performed by the individual. The operational function
sharing arrangement does not need to be a newly implemented
sharing arrangement to receive supplementary weighting under
this subsection .
(2) For the purposes of this section, “political
subdivision” paragraph “a” :
(a) “Political subdivision” means a city, township, county,
school corporation, merged area, area education agency,
institution governed by the state board of regents, or any
other governmental subdivision.
(b) “Work-based learning coordinator” means an appropriately
trained individual responsible for facilitating authentic,
engaging work-based learning experiences for learners and
educators in partnership with employers and others to enhance
learning by connecting the content and skills that are
necessary for future careers.
Sec. 26. APPLICABILITY. This division of this Act applies
to school budget years beginning on or after July 1, 2021,
subject to the school budget year limitations of section
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257.11, subsection 5.
EXPLANATION
The inclusion of this explanation does not constitute agreement with
the explanation’s substance by the members of the general assembly.
This bill relates to educational programs, funding, tax
credits and deductions, open enrollment, and supplementary
weighting, and is organized in divisions.
Division I requires the state board of education to
establish a flexible student and school support program to be
administered by the director of the department of education.
Under such program, upon request of the board of directors of
a public school district or the authorities in charge of an
accredited nonpublic school, the director may, for a period
not to exceed three years, grant the applicable board of
directors or the authority in charge of the nonpublic school
the ability to use the flexible student and school support
program to implement evidence-based practices in innovative
ways to enhance student learning, well-being, and postsecondary
success. Approval to participate in the flexible student
and school support program shall exempt the school district
or nonpublic school from one or more requirements of the
educational program specified in the bill or the minimum
school calendar requirements in Code section 279.10. An
exemption shall be granted only if the director deems that the
request made is an essential part of an educational program
to support student learning, well-being, and postsecondary
success; is necessary for the success of the program; and
is broadly consistent with the intent of the requirements
of the educational program or the minimum school calendar
requirements.
Approval to participate in the flexible student and school
support program also includes the authority for a school
district to use funds from the school district’s flexibility
account under Code section 298A.2(2) to implement all or part
of the flexible student and school support program. The bill
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also establishes requirements relating to program applications,
renewal of participation in the program, and revocation of
participation in the program.
Division I of the bill also authorizes school districts to
transfer unexpended and unobligated teacher leadership salary
supplement funding under Code section 257.10(12) to the school
district’s flexibility account under Code section 298A.2(2).
Division II of the bill relates to educational tax credits
and deductions against the individual income tax. Currently,
a taxpayer receives the tuition and textbook tax credit for
each dependent of the taxpayer attending an accredited private
elementary or secondary school equal to 25 percent of the first
$1,000 which the taxpayer has paid to others for the tuition
and textbooks of each dependent in attendance at such a school.
Division II of the bill modifies the tuition and textbook
tax credit to allow a taxpayer to receive the credit for
the tuition and textbooks of each dependent of the taxpayer
receiving private instruction, in addition to dependents
attending an elementary or secondary school situated in Iowa.
The bill defines “private instruction” to mean a student
receiving independent private instruction as defined in Code
section 299A.1(2)(b), competent private instruction under Code
section 299A.2, or private instruction provided to a resident
of this state by a nonlicensed person under Code section
299A.3.
The bill also increases the tuition and textbook tax credit
to equal 25 percent of the first $2,000 for the tuition and
textbooks of each dependent receiving private instruction or in
attendance in grades kindergarten through 12.
Division II also provides that a taxpayer that is an eligible
educator is allowed to take the deduction for certain expenses
of elementary and secondary school teachers allowed under
section 62(a)(2)(D) of the Internal Revenue Code in computing
net income for state tax purposes in excess of the amount of
the taxpayer’s deduction for such expenses for federal tax
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purposes, but not to exceed $500.
Division II of the bill takes effect upon enactment and,
except as provided in division II of the bill, applies
retroactively to January 1, 2021, for tax years beginning on
or after that date.
Division III modifies several provisions relating to
Iowa’s open enrollment law under Code section 282.18 and
provisions relating to participation in certain extracurricular
interscholastic contests and competitions.
Under current law, good cause must be shown for failing to
file an open enrollment request after the statutory deadline.
The bill adds the determination that the child’s assigned
attendance center in the district of residence is identified
as in significant need for improvement, as defined in the
bill, to the definition of “good cause”. The bill also amends
the definition of “good cause” for purposes of consideration
and approval of open enrollment requests that fail to meet
statutory deadlines to include a change in a child’s residence
from the residence of one parent or guardian to the residence
of a different parent or guardian and the initial placement
of a prekindergarten student in a special education program
requiring specially designed instruction.
Division III also makes corresponding changes to other
provisions of Code section 282.18 to reflect the amendment to
the definition of good cause.
Code section 282.18(2) establishes a deadline for requests
to open enroll as September 1 of the current school year for
students entering kindergarten. The bill adds prekindergarten
students enrolled in special education programs to the group of
students subject to the September 1 deadline.
Under Code section 282.18(5), open enrollment applications
filed after March 1 of the preceding school year that do not
qualify for good cause are subject to the approval of the
board of the resident district and the board of the receiving
district. The bill provides that a district’s denial of an
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application that involves a consistent failure of the resident
district to reasonably respond to a student’s failure to meet
basic academic standards is subject to appeal to the state
board of education under Code section 290.1. The bill also
requires the state board of education to adopt by rule the
criteria for determining a consistent failure to respond to a
student’s failure to meet basic academic standards.
Division III of the bill also relates to the determination
of a student’s district of residence for purposes of open
enrollment payments when the parent or guardian of an
open-enrolled student moves to a different school district
during the course of either district’s academic year. Under
the bill, the child’s district of residence as determined on
the date of the basic enrollment count for school districts,
rather than the child’s first district of residence, shall
be responsible for payment of the applicable costs to the
receiving district.
Under Code section 282.18(10)(b), if a pupil meets the
economic eligibility requirements established by the department
of education and state board of education, the sending district
is responsible for providing transportation or paying the
pro rata cost of the transportation to a parent or guardian
for transporting the pupil to and from a point on a regular
school bus route of a contiguous receiving district unless the
cost of providing transportation or the pro rata cost of the
transportation to a parent or guardian exceeds the average
transportation cost per pupil transported for the previous
school year in the district. If the cost exceeds the average
transportation cost per pupil transported for the previous
school year, the sending district shall only be responsible for
that average per pupil amount. The bill establishes minimum
standards for the economic eligibility requirements established
by the department and state board of education.
Code section 282.18(11)(a) generally provides that a pupil
who participates in open enrollment for purposes of attending
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a grade in grades 9 through 12 in a school district other
than the district of residence is ineligible to participate
in varsity interscholastic athletic contests and athletic
competitions during the pupil’s first 90 school days of
enrollment in the district. However, a pupil may participate
immediately in a varsity interscholastic sport if certain
circumstances exist. The bill changes the 90-day period to
be counted using calendar days instead of school days of
enrollment. The bill also adds to the list of circumstances
(1) if the pupil participates in open enrollment because of
circumstances that meet the definition of good cause under
Code section 282.18, as amended in the bill; (2) if the board
of directors or superintendent of the pupil’s district of
residence issues or implements a decision that results in the
discontinuance or suspension of varsity interscholastic sports
activities in the district of residence; (3) if the board
of directors of the district of residence and the board of
directors of the receiving district both agree to waive the
ineligibility period; and (4) for open enrollment applications
for the school year beginning July 1, 2021, if the pupil’s
district of residence had a voluntary diversity plan in effect
on January 1, 2021, and applicable to the school year beginning
July 1, 2021.
The bill also provides that if a pupil is declared ineligible
for interscholastic athletic contests and athletic competitions
in the pupil’s district of residence due to the pupil’s
academic performance, upon participating in open enrollment,
in addition to any other applicable period of ineligibility,
the pupil shall be ineligible in the receiving district for the
remaining period of ineligibility declared by the district of
residence.
Code section 256.46 requires the state board of education
to adopt rules relating to the ability of a child who does
not meet the residence requirements to participate in certain
extracurricular interscholastic contests or competitions.
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The bill adds to the list of circumstances that allow
participation by the child, if the child’s former school or
school district, if located in this state, was unable to
participate in varsity interscholastic sports as a result of a
decision or implementation of a decision of the school board
or superintendent.
The section of division III of the bill amending Code
section 282.18(11), unnumbered paragraph 1, the portion of
the section of division III of the bill enacting Code section
282.18(11)(a)(10), and the section of division III of the
bill amending Code section 282.18(11)(c), take effect upon
enactment.
The section of division III of the bill amending Code section
282.18(11), unnumbered paragraph 1, and the section of division
III of the bill amending Code section 282.18(11)(c), apply
retroactively to January 1, 2021, for open enrollment requests
approved on or after that date.
The section of division III of the bill enacting Code section
256.46(1)(i) and the portion of the sections of division III
of the bill enacting Code section 282.18(11)(a)(9) apply
retroactively to July 1, 2020.
Division IV amends Code section 279.1 to specify that a
school corporation is entrusted with public funds for the
purpose of improving student outcomes, including but not
limited to student academic achievement and skill proficiency,
and the board of directors of the school corporation is
responsible for overseeing such improvement.
Code section 257.11(5) provides supplementary weighting
for school districts and area education agencies that share
specified operational functions for at least 20 percent of the
school year. Supplementary weighting under this provision is
available for school budget years beginning on or after July 1,
2014, through the budget year beginning July 1, 2024.
Division V of the bill adds a work-based learning
coordinator to the list of eligible operational functions and
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positions eligible for a supplementary weighting of three
pupils. The bill defines “work-based learning coordinator”
to mean an appropriately trained individual responsible
for facilitating authentic, engaging work-based learning
experiences for learners and educators in partnership with
employers and others to enhance learning by connecting the
content and skills that are necessary for future careers.
Division V of the bill applies to school budget years
beginning on or after July 1, 2021, subject to the school
budget year limitations of Code section 257.11(5).
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