Chester County School Board s Legislative Council

Transcription

1 Chester County School Board s Legislative Council Meeting Notes January 24, 2018 Members in attendance: 1. Ed Sweeney, Tredyffrin-Easttown School District 2. Blake Emmanuel, Phoenixville Area School District 3. John Murphy, Unionville Chadds Ford School District 4. Lisa Bowman, Octorara Area School District 5. Bobbi Albright, Downingtown Area School District 6. Charlie Beatty, Chair, Avon Grove School District Other Board Directors in attendance: 1. David Severino, Oxford Area School District CCIU Staff in Attendance: Mary Jeanne Curley and Tonia Farnum 1. Chairman Charlie Beatty called the meeting to order and welcomed the new and returning members of the Chester County Legislative School Board Council as follows: a. ' Returning members: Bobbi Albright, Lisa Bowman and Ed Sweeney b. New members: Blake Emanuel, and John Murphy c. ' David Severino attending for Bob Tenga, OxASD 2. Blake Emmanuel, PASB, provided the committee with an overview of HB 1308, legislation she is introducing with the assistance of Rep. Warren Kampf. The legislation would provide school districts with greater discretion in school suspensions, notifying law enforcement, and mandatory school suspensions/expulsions. 3. CCSBLC Chairman Charlie Beatty from the Avon Grove School Board polled the council on their preference for visiting the state capital this spring. The council was in favor of the idea. Mary Curley will send around a poll to see who would like to attend and suggestions for possible dates. 4. Mary Jeanne Curley, CCIU Director of Communications and Learning Solutions, gave a broad overview of the PA legislative process for new and returning members, of note was the number of bills introduced 2017 vs. the number of laws enacted: 2,960 vs. 96 (Please see attached presentation) 5. Ms. Curley provided the CCSBLC with a list of important upcoming dates: a. ' Governor s Budget Presentation February 6 (unless the Eagles win then Feb.7). b. Education Budget Hearings i. ' Senate Appropriations Committee: 1. PA Intermediate Units: February 4 pm

2 2. PA Department of Education: March 10 am 3. Budget Secretary: March 1 pm c. ' House Appropriations Committee: i. ' Career and Technical Education: February 10 am ii. ' PA Department of Education: March 10 am iii. ' Budget Secretary: March 10 am d. Next CCSBLC Meeting: Wednesday, February 28, 2018, 7 to 8:30 p.m. i. ' CCIU Educational Service Center, Downingtown, PA or Webinar e. ' Chester County Legislative Breakfast, Friday, April 20, Ms. Curley provided a legislative update. ' Ms. Curley noted that the following legislation is currently being given consideration and is likely to move out of committee and/or be brought up for a vote in the near future. Of significant concern: a. ' Senate Bill 2 Education Savings Accounts (vouchers) SB 2 remains a high priority in the Senate. Under the bill, parents of students in low-achieving schools can receive funds in the form of Education Savings Accounts (ESA) to attend a participating nonpublic school and for other expenses. Low-achieving is defined as the lowest performing 15% of elementary and secondary public schools, based on PSSA and Keystone Exam scores. (However, this does not include charter schools or CTCs.) Those districts with low-performing schools would see their basic and special education subsidies reduced by the amount calculated for each participating student, with that money put into an ESA account for parents to use for qualified education expenses. Outlook: Most likely will be reported out of Senate education committee' Most likely will narrowly pass the Senate Unknown how it will fare in the House Governor has said he will veto If enacted could pave the way for future/expanded voucher legislation b. ' HB 1213 Reverse Appeals Places additional restrictions on when taxing districts have the right to appeal an assessment. Under the bill, a taxing district may not appeal the assessment of a property based on the following: Purchase or sale of the property; Purchase or sale of a partial or total interest in the entity holding the title; Financing or refinancing of the property; Investments in the property. A taxing district has the right to appeal an assessment only when one or more of the following are met: The appeal is from a countywide assessment;

3 A parcel of land is divided and conveyed in smaller parcels; or A change has occurred in the productive use of the property by material alteration. Kampf amendment eliminates dark store provisions. Outlook: Schedule for a vote on February 5 Unclear of its support in the House Backing of commercial property owners Would shift a greater portion of real estate taxes on homeowners Schedule for House Calendar for February 5 c. ' Charter School Bill: HB 97 - extensively revises and adds charter school provisions contained in the Public School Code of 1949 (School Code), including: Changes the cyber charter tuition calculation to save school districts approximately $27 million, Implements transparency and accountability provisions for charter school administrators/trustees, Permits charter schools to form multiple charter organizations with school district/pde approval, Placed in School Code Bill, now part of Act 55 of Expands the Charter Appeal Board Institutes caps on unassigned fund balances for charter schools, Requires the development of academic performance matrix for renewal/revocation decisions, Extends the term of the renewal of a charter from 5 to 10 years Requires an annual independent audit process for charter schools. Creates a separate evaluation system for charter school teachers and principals Creates a Performance Matrix that exclusively compares charter school entities to one another. Positives and Negatives: The bill has some positive features that are of value, including the review of charter school funding and some potential savings of charter school tuition calculations. However, several concerns remain, such as the professional evaluation system for charter school employees, a separate charter school performance evaluation system, and the potential makeup of the Charter Appeal Board. Outlook: Passed the House, 108/84 on 4/25/17; Passed Senate as amended 7/9/17; Received as amended in House and referred House Rules, 7/10/17. Multi-Charter organizations placed in the School Code Bill and is now part of Act 55 of 2017.

4 No meetings scheduled for House Education Committee; most likely will not see until March or April. 7. Other items on the upcoming legislative agenda: a. ' HB 153 House Representatives: Amends the Constitution of the Commonwealth of PA to reduce the size of the House of Representatives from 203 representatives to 151. Passed the last session; if passes in this session, would go to referendum in November b. ' SB CPR Instruction: The bill would add a hands-only, 30-minute CPR instruction to the state education curriculum for high school students. c. ' SB 660 Keystone Exams: Amends the Public School Code, in preliminary provisions, further providing for Keystone Exams adding that in any school year in which a demonstration of proficiency on a Keystone Exam is required for high school graduation, a CTE Concentrator shall be deemed proficient provided that the CTE Concentrator: (1) completes locally established grade-based requirements for academic content areas associated with each Keystone Exam, and (2) either attains an industrybased competency certification. Further, in any school year in which a demonstration of proficiency on a Keystone Exam is required for high school graduation, a student shall be deemed proficient if the student demonstrates competency in standards-based subject matter content through course grades or assessments and through three or more rigorous and compelling pieces of evidence that reflect the student's readiness for meaningful postsecondary engagement consistent with the student's goals and career plans. Effective immediately. Referred to Senate Education on 5/2/17. Removed from SED Committee agenda for January 29, d. ' SB Firefighter Training: The bill establishes a firefighter training pilot program to provide high school students with instruction through a partnership with community colleges. e. ' Senate Resolution Global Education: Approved by the Senate Education Committee. The bill will create a Task Force on Global Education that will be made up of a wide range of key education and business representatives and meet throughout an eighteen-month span researching, reviewing, holding public hearings and meeting with experts on the issue. f. ' Senate Resolution Keystone Exams: The resolution states that that the Senate opposes the use of the Keystone Exams as a single high stakes graduation requirement and urges PDE to develop alternative assessments for Federal accountability purposes that also demonstrate career or college readiness. PASA opposes the use of Keystone Exams

5 for graduation purposes and supports flexibility in the use of assessments to determine student proficiency. 8. ' PA Supreme Court Decisions: The council reviewed the recent (January 22) PA Supreme Court ruling that the current PA Congressional districts are in violation of the PA Constitution and have ordered the PA General Assembly to redraw the lines by February 9. The GOP has requested a stay of the redistricting to the US Supreme Court. However, since the ruling is based on the PA State Constitution and not the US Constitution, it is believed that the US Supreme Court will decline to hear arguments. Stay tuned for more to come. 9. Tracked Legislation Update: Mary Curley provided an update on session legislation to date and reviewed Act 55 of 2017 with the CCSBLC. Please see attached presentation for a more detailed summary. a. ' Act 55 of 2017 Key Provisions: i. ' Extends moratorium on Keystone Exams as a graduation requirement to ii. ' Establishes a requirement that PDE consult with the House and Senate Committees on the proposed ESSA state plan. iii. ' Establishes a requirement for new School Board Director (and charter school trustee) training. iv. ' Extends the PlanCon moratorium for another year (through ) v. ' Superintendent contract notifications and extensions vi. ' Provides for furloughs for economic reasons. vii. ' Instruction on opioid abuse is added to the required instruction on alcohol, chemical and tobacco abuse. viii. ' Creates a requirement for In-service training on opioid abuse starting in ix. ' Establishes a Commission on Agriculture Education. x. ' Includes language to increase EITC expansion by $20 million xi. ' Includes some modest adjustments to the BEF formula: Data used to run the formula will be fixed as of June 1 of the preceding school year (deals with the issue of PDE updating data mid-year); clarifies the term current expenditures ; clarifies the term local tax revenue to include sales and use tax and cigarette tax (primarily issues impacting Philadelphia) b. Property Tax Legislation i. ' SB 76: The Property Tax Independence Act ii. ' SB 586: Reverse Assessments iii. HB 641: Senior Property Tax Freeze iv. ' SB 356: Senior Citizens Property Tax Freeze v. ' SB 406: Property Tax c. ' Keystone Exams/Graduation Requirements

6 i. ' HB 202: Graduation Requirements Passed Act 6 of 2017 ii. ' SB 660: Keystone Exams iii. HB 564: Graduation Requirements d. Charter School Legislation i. ' HB 97: Charter School Bill Passed House/Passed in Senate as amended, sent back to House Rules Committee. ii. ' HB 351: Charter School Fund Balances e. ' Human Resources Legislation i. ' SB 592: Advance Notice of Superintendent Hiring and Terms ii. ' SB 229: Mandated Leave iii. SB 383: Employee Gun Possession in Schools iv. SB 167: Paycheck Protection v. ' SB 494: Union Leave vi. SB 363: Penalties for Child Abuse vii. HB 350: Drug Testing viii. HB 361: Retired Teachers ix. SB 420: Health Benefits f. ' School Finances i. ' SB 412: School District Fund Balances ii. ' HB 16: Tax Collection Fraud Prevention iii. HB 250: EITC Funding iv. HB 648: Emergency Basic Education Subsidy v. ' SB 561: Approval of Regulations vi. HB 758: Property Tax Abatement g. School Safety, Facilities, Transportation i. ' HB 397: Use of School Facilities ii. ' HB 349: Transportation h. Pupil Services/Curriculum/Professional Development i. ' HB 1022 (companion bill SB 725): AP Scores and College Credit ii. ' SB 88: Censorships of Historical Documents iii. SB 93: Homeschoolers and Vo-Tech Access iv. SB 295: Kindergarten Requirements v. ' HB 857: Licensing Online Schools vi. HB 524: Military Recruiter Access vii. HB 679: Clearinghouse of Online Courses viii. HB 1305: Educator Training in Transition Services