Statehouse to tackle school-related issues again in upcoming session

statehouse-to-tackle-school-related-issues-again-in-upcoming-session

When the Indiana General Assembly kicks off the 2024 session, there will be a handful of education-related measures on the docket. 

The session convenes today and several bills have already been filed that could make their way to the governor's desk by the end of the session. 

For the third consecutive year, the Indiana General Assembly is set to take up proposed legislation centered around school boards in the Hoosier State. 

A year ago, a bill that would have let Indiana voters decide if local school board elections should become partisan fell in the Indiana House of Representatives after J.D. Prescott's measure failed to garner a full chamber vote after Prescott (R-Union City) opted not to call the bill for a vote. Indiana is one of 41 states where school board election candidates do not have to claim a party. 

Rep. Alan Morrison, a Republican who represents part of Parke County, has authored HB 1016, which provides a candidate for a school board race may not be an employee or agent for the school corporation. In addition, a candidate must live in the school district for at least a year before the election. 

Other bills that could shape the future of education matters in the House include HB 1017, authored by Vernon Smith (D-Gary). The measure would make it so a school employee or staff member of a school or a third-party vendor used by a school could not provide instruction to a student in grades kindergarten through 12 concerning Christopher Columbus, a President of the United States who owned an enslaved person. However, the instruction is permitted if in the instruction concerns the historical person's involvement in the institution of slavery, harmful effects of colonialism or the decimation of indigenous populations throughout the world. 

House Bill 1035, authored by Republican Michelle Davis, would do away with school improvement plans and repeal the requirement that a public school or state accredited non-public school develop an initial three year strategic and continuous school improvement and achievement plan. 

Cursive writing is back in the Statehouse, as HB 1075, authored by Democrat John Bartlett. It would require each school corporation, charter school and state accredited non-public elementary school to include cursive writing in its curriculum.

House Bill 1104, authored by Davis, is centered on school safety. The measure would provide that a school safety plan be developed by a school corporation or charter and include an armed intruder drill protocol. Furthermore, it requires safe school committees to develop a policy that considers the effect of armed intruder drills on the safety and mental health of students, faculty and staff. In addition, it prohibits a drill that includes sensory components or activities from requiring student participation or taking place during regular school hours if a majority of the student body is present. 

House Bill 1105, authored by Davis, pertains to a student withdrawing from school and provides a specified exception to the information required in an official high school transcript. It provides that if a student is less than 18 years of age, he or she may participate in the Indiana high school equivalency testing program if the individual receives a recommendation from a specified individual and it prohibits the department of education from requiring certain students to attend an exit interview to participate in the testing program. 

Finally, in the House, HB 1173, authored by Democrat Maureen Bauer, includes a plan for school districts to implement a classroom based violence prevention program for students that would promote emotional competencies while reducing aggression and acting out behaviors, as well as increasing self regulation and group regulation, as well as reducing problematic behavior. 

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