Education Committee- House

with requests we would like to move house bill eleven ninety two a representative Eubanks we like to move that down to a special order of business for Tuesday February the fourteenth. Any objection to that seeing none. We know that and placed it on the agenda. Members were gonna start today house bill eleven sixty one. Representative Hudson you're recognized to present your bill. Thank you Mr chairman thank you Committee and I'm really excited to run eleven sixty one today and so I wanted to give you a little bit of background on where it came from so when I was growing up in southern Illinois I grew up in a town of about nine thousand people but we had the most teen pregnancies in bars and churches per capita in the entire state and so I grew up with a lot of friends who had children while they were in high school and and so from that experience I saw first hand how difficult it was for those teen moms hi and teens that teen dads to sort of adjust to parenting and trying to finish their educations knowing here in Arkansas we tend to have some the highest teen pregnancy rates in the country and some of the lowest graduation rates in the country I wanted to sort of build on my experience as a high school student and on that knowledge and try to figure out some ways to be a little creative outside the box and trying to help the students it be successful in high school and to get their degrees so from that I started looking into ways we can do that as an employment lawyer I started thinking in terms of FMLA leave and other types of five family leave that employers often often their employees in order to ensure that they have time to go to doctors appointments have bonding time in recovery time after that after labor and and delivery and also to do all the things that you have to do in order to take care of your child that going in for your well baby visits taking care of yourself when you get sick and in some cases for these young moms who may be putting their child up for adoption having the time off in order to go into court and have those hearings in order to get those those items accomplished as well so I started looking around at what other states might be doing in order to tackle this problem and lo and behold our neighbors in Louisiana have have also addressed this so in twenty twenty one at Louisiana passed a bill that's very similar to this one had that was aimed. Towards trying to ensure that teen parents in this position have some additional leave time from high school in order to recover from ad delivery and pregnancy to go to doctors appointments court appearances and so on and so from that I started putting together what is now that parenting and pregnant students ACT what this does is that it allows pregnant and parenting students to have an additional ten days that they can take off in order to care for the baby to recover from the delivery and do all the things that I just listed doctors appointments court appearances in the lake right now in the law in Arkansas is a student is out of school for ten days or more than ten days they can be considered truant so this would allow an additional ten days that those students could take without penalty in order to to care for the baby are said to accomplish some of these things now it's not a get out of school free they can't just declare that they're going to take the day off because they've got stuff to do with their child they do have to get permission from either a doctor's note or a parent or guardian in order to take this additional time off so there are safeguards in place in addition to that this bill also allows and requires that schools provide girls who are breastfeeding us safe and private what place where they can pump for their baby they would be able to bring the baby on campus for for breast feeding during the school day unless of course they happened to be at one of the schools in the state that offers it an in school daycare but it would provide them a private place and in which to to press the to palm and then also a safe place to store the milk after they pop and that place has to not be a bathroom so it would have to be someplace other than a restroom where they were they could to add safely and privately take care of their at pumping needs and it also requires that the school provide some information about where there may be day cares in the area. either in the time leading up to delivery or after and I had a question about how schools might know that information and I checked last night just to ensure that it was easy to find as I thought it was DHS maintains that that that database where you can search by city council you can do a radius search and it will list all of the accredited daycares within a certain area so it could be as simple as providing a link to that to the students so that they can select on their own and and so all of this is is geared towards trying to help the students of become parents and to to be successful and also be able to graduate from high school and we know that outcomes are better for the parent and for the baby if if their parents are able to obtain their high school degree certainly opens up a lot more opportunity for income forgetting jobs in for furthering their education which of course opens up a lot more opportunity for their child and some schools in this state or are you doing this which is great this just creates just a floor a bass line that we want all schools to be able to do because there are certain schools that are not doing this and that when that when that student hits the eleventh or twelfth day of absences there declared truant and so we're trying to make sure that there's some consistent policy in place so that all the schools understand what their obligations might be for these types of students in order to make sure that they can be as successful as possible going forward and happy to answer any questions about the bill I know that you a mass has come out in favor of this bill Arkansas advocates for children also those in favor and and I think that the thing that I've I've liked the most as I've gotten emails from either current teen parents or previous teen parents who have said how much they think that this could help them and for those who have already gotten out of school how much it could have helped them to be more successful while they were parenting their their their child. Thank you representive Hudson representative fight you're recognized for a question thank you Mr chairman I really like your bill thank you I did have one question I talked to the superintendents in my area my areas primarily rural and they tell me that they already do this especially with the remote learning that they can now do with students using the computers at home and so forth so I was wondering if you have any statistics on how many schools do not do this are grant them extraordinary medical leave for needs with pregnancy are with parenting it medically this that information I have is anecdotal and that is that that a lot of schools and I reached out to several in Pulaski County and don't have a policy in place that deals specifically with the students and what that means is that you end up with students who have a different outcome sometimes even within the same school so and a student may be able to get leave in one situation and then the next didn't have maybe talks to a different assistant principal or come through a couple of years later isn't able to get any leave and so do a the in and then I talked to other schools so that that have far more generous policies in place and that allow for for more plaque flexibility so this would just be to create a minimum baseline always always schools can do more and and many do and and so this is just to create that that structure and some guidance for the schools to know what the expectation is when they find themselves in a situation with that with the pregnant or parenting student. Follow up you're recognized for your follow up so this would be thank you Mr chairman this would basically just being standardizing this across the state that's correct I thank you. You know the questions by the committee. Seeing none we do have. Livia Gardner signed up to speak on or before the bill. This is Carter here Sturch if you go the the table and. Identify yourself for the record then you may begin your testimony. Two. Thank you. Good morning Mr chairman and members of the committee my name is Olivia Gardner I'm the director of education Policy Arkansas advocates for children and families were an organization has been advocating for Arkansas's children since nineteen seventy seven I'm here today to speak in support of H. B. eleven sixty one the support for pregnant and parenting students act as opposed representative has been mentioned Arkansas has the tightest teen birth rate in the nation eighty seven percent higher than the national average we all want young people in Arkansas to have every opportunity to thrive but are staggering number of teens giving birth puts young people at risk of not finishing high school we must do everything we can to support pregnant and parenting students in this bill would be a powerful step in that direction by considering time related to appropriate medical appointments labor and delivery in addition to giving students a reasonable amount of time to make up that work out we would be getting pregnant and parenting students the flexibility they need to be successful students and parents. This will lower the chance of a student's falling so far behind academically but they risk dropping out of school altogether unfortunately this is a sad situation that's all too common in our state additionally the provisions of the bill that would allow for a space as we made available for lactating mothers would get the student necessary privacy or reducing any associated stigma acknowledging our teen birth rate we have an obligation to make our schools and encouraging inclusive environment for pregnant and parenting students this bill could have an immediate and positive impact would not have a significant cost associated and I encourage the committee to vote in favor thank you Mr chairman. Members any questions for the witness. Seeing none thank you for your testimony. Sir anyone in the audience that would like to speak against the bill. For the bill. Seeing none. President of Hudson's like clothes for your bill. Thank you Mr chair and I've I've as I said I'm very excited about this bill I think that this is one of those opportunities where we can we can provide some real and meaningful change for some of these these young people learning to be parents and I would really appreciate a good vote thank you all. Members you've heard all the testimony what is will of committee. Representative fight you're recognized. Representive five The motion to pass for house bill eleven sixty one all those in favor say aye opposed nay graduations your bill is passed thank you Committee. Of members at this time want to recognize we have some guests here today very special folks representative warned. Representative warned. The last day. If you go the end of the table believe these find folks are from your district. You are recognized to introduce our guest. Thank you so much Mister chairman and members of the committee I am excited to have a school district from District eighty four here they actually the about four blocks from where I live superintendent Nancy Anderson. Who happened to be my oldest son's Six grade teacher and he had a his thirty third birthday this past Friday and I was asking him what the so the memorable moments wherein he goes you know I remember going to school on my birthday one year and my teacher ms Anderson brought doughnuts that day. So great teacher but now superintendent at cutter Morning Star so and she is brought five students with her you'll just raise your hands when I call you Kyle Kyler case Kaelin Kobe. The rest of the Toader Kelly cash and ruby doesn't Okay whatever she said. So I am so proud of you guys I hope your day at the capitol is great and thank you for being in the Education Committee and did you want to say I do I want. Class education and educators have to share their over here learning about education these are future educators. Well let me just tell you future educators this is a key committee for your future. Thank you Mr chairman and committee thank you representive Warren thank you all for being here today from cutter Morning Star. next on the agenda will go to House Bill eleven eighty five representative Mayberry. You are recognized to present your bill I believe you have a guest if you would introduce them or have them introduce themselves for the record and then you may proceed. Hey I'm state representative Julie Mayberry had alleged introduce yourself but. This. I'm develop free and the director of curriculum and federal programs at the southside school district. Of members back in October as chair of a subcommittee from children aging and youth we had a gathering to hear about early childhood education in the state some things that are going on around the state to help improve the quality of our care of early childhood education and we had a bunch of ideas shared during that that meeting one of the presenters was actually novella Humphrey because their school district has on campus from birth all the way to twelfth grade. they have preschool but starting even it at birth and it has been such a phenomenal program they've had such great success with this I just very briefly I think we can consider it we we use sort of this term of a three for because not only does it help the child the baby the infant get good quality education but it also helps students who are juniors seniors there at the school with an opportunity to work in those classrooms and it also has been a great recruiting tool for their teachers because their teachers who are looking for child care so that they can work are able to also put their children there plus a whole bunch of other wonderful things but when when we were discussing we asked what are some complications that you had how can we help other school districts move forward with this idea and so the bill I'm presenting to you today is one of the things that they have said would help not only in their situation but would help other school districts and I'm gonna let develop some free kind of share with the situation is. Thank you. What my day to day responsibilities at southside is in the at preschool programs that we have a separate campus fifteen of us and we serve two hundred and seventy six students from birth to school age on that campus this morning when I look at the waiting list on the drive down we have eighty four infants and toddlers waiting to get in that center we have over fifty two and a half and three year olds waiting to get in that center we have about forty three year old and as of this week we've placed every four year old ensuring they get at least I. you're free school before they enter kindergarten so this center has became a really strong. Child care center throughout the county children that attend there do not necessarily live in the fifty one square miles to the south side school district we're located just outside of Batesville Arkansas for kind of a bedroom community hardworking folks who work in a regional health care centre one of our local manufacturers Dr passes at daycare center every single day this early childhood center and so they choose that center for their child it's convenient it's right off highway one sixty seven there close to work if there shall get sick if they're close to getting medical care because you know the baby only get sick Friday afternoon about four thirty. And so they're they're close to get to one of the clinics there in town to get that care for their child before they return home and so over the and the last fifteen years or so we've grown from twenty five children to this two hundred and seventy six and one of the hurdles we face as that when families choose this early on they register their child even before the baby's born if they put their child in the waiting list early on that use our school for their early childhood needs and then when it comes time to come to kindergarten. If they do not live in our district they may not qualify for kindergarten under the school choice three percent cap so for example if a neighboring district has a cap of fifteen and we have twenty five students apply the last ten even though they might have been it says I preschool since they were two years older three years older four years old is not eligible for kindergarten after returning to the resident school district or appeal to the state board of education and so over the last five years we've had numerous families appeal the three percent cap the state board has and release them to attend our school district but it's just a burden it's a hurdle those families have to go through and one of the immediate family that comes to mind is the young mother she has two children in school district when the first child started to school was born she chose our school district in our early childhood campus to meet her needs she works for a local law enforcement agency and rise directly pass or school each day but to go to the early childhood center in her district she had to drive ten miles out of her way and then back to her job and Basil so she chose our center because is on her way to and from work but then the three percent cap prevented her daughter from attending our school under the school choice rule so she had to take a day off from work go to the state board an appeal that as well as all the paperwork to get to that so we would like to remove that barrier for families they're making a choice early on with their dollars because most families are paying tuition to attend in those in fit and how the rooms are paying tuition. They've chosen with their presence thirty of them with that early application there eighty four on that list many of them babies not even born yet they're making a choice early but it late they're not allowed to attend because of the three percent cap so would like to see the lead way if a student has attended a preschool and a non resident school district that district is already invested in the early stages of that child's education that they're able to retain that student without accounting in the three percent cap. And with that we'll take any questions. Was any questions for. Representative Mayberry or representative Dick you're recognized. Thank you Mr chair quick question. Can you not do board to board transfers to address that situation that is an option if the non repair if the resident school district is willing to do a board a board transferred and some. Districts are not willing to the board of or transfers. The other questions. C. nine by the committee thank you very much for your testimony we have Superintended Dion Stevens here to speak on behalf of the bill. Do you I I think it's going to pass this is a school district okay he's in support of it yes. That's good to know. Yes it's gonna be a long drive back percent. I'm not. There anyone in the audience that would like to speak against house bill eleven eighty five. Seeing none representative Mayberry I appreciate a good vote your clothes for your bill representative Vaught you're recognized. I have a motion do pass by representative vote on house bill eleven eighty five All those in favor say aye opposed nay graduations your bill is passed thank you members. Representative Mayberry. Senator down there to the table would you like to proceed with a house bill twelve fifty four share thank you. I will say that this one starts out with an amendment so that was brought last late last night so. President Mayberry would you like to present to presenter meant certain members we're just if first of all let me introduce who I have with me if you don't mind sharing this is will you go ahead introduce yourself. Thank you Mr chairman committee I'm Karen Walters superintendent right public schools okay and of last night we became aware of just a little clarification that we wanted to make in this amendment it doesn't really change the overall intent of it and I appreciate your support and adding this amendment in there to clear up some language. Representative when you're recognized. We have a motion to pass to adopt the amendment all those in favor say aye opposed nay. Remember his past now you're recognized to present your bill twelve fifty four as amended thank you okay I'm gonna start off with the little analogy here I want to bake a cake. And I have some flowers and I have some sugar. And unfortunately the eggs are just way too expensive nowadays. And the milk too because cost has really gone up And so no matter how much I want to bake a cake and I'm very appreciative that I have this flour and the sugar I still can't bake a cake that's kind of a situation that our school districts are in right now with facilities and they need some help and this is one potential solution I'm gonna let our schools superintendent from Bryant give more explanation we also have a a handout that if representative Evans has approved okay all of you should have that hand out if you can take a look at that because that's in reference to this and all that Karen takeover thank you for. Thank you committee you have a hand out and I think probably that's the best thing for us to look at to start this conversation I want to say how much I appreciate representative may be re I came to her to carry this legislation because of some of the things that she just talk to you about on the side of the page that where it says brought public schools approved facility projects analysis of cost I've made a table there to show you what facilities has has Done over the last few years so it right we have a project that is approved for high school additions it was submitted in the twenty one twenty three cycle and it's forty five thousand square feet you can see that we were funded we were notified by the Division on April twenty eighth of last year that we had received funding for that project it which it should have been forty two point five percent would be the state's portion of that we are we are locked in at three point four million dollars when we submitted that in September of two thousand nineteen the estimated cost of that project was between nineteen million dollars. With what's happened with facilities over the last few years since covid and now with the storm shelter requirement that has been put into place you can see that the cost today is going to be twenty three million dollars. We haven't another project we have a junior high that we opened in two thousand nineteen and it's already full we are needing to add in addition to that some classes in that building was built to be able to add two classes actually was the first first of its kind and we have been notified that that project is approved we will find out in a few months if we are going to receive funding or not. That project was supposed to be between two point seventy three million dollars and it is now six million dollars. So. To give you just a short summary of what the facilities division what it's look like on our costs that we receive per square footage I believe the amount from two thousand eight till two thousand twenty one was a hundred and seventy five dollars a square foot and then in twenty one it was changed to now be two hundred dollars a square foot. The issue is that it it is hard going from two hundred dollars a square foot to actual cost today of five hundred dollars a square foot to be able to build anything. And I want to be very transparent in telling you that if this bill passes there are not going to be as many projects that are going to be funded if there's not additional funding added to the facilities division but the way I see it if we don't add what that cost is per square foot none of us are going to get to build anything there's just that what we're getting today is not enough money if you look at the bottom of that page you can see of the numbers there as I said we are supposed to be getting about forty percent from the state. If you add up now what those costs are if we were to build those two facilities today we're actually gonna be getting fifteen percent would be that the part of what the state gave us for those buildings. I think it's gonna be very difficult for any school district to pass a millage in the next few years with what we're looking at with the economy so that's not gonna be an option for us and the other thing that I want to say is this is not self serving. Right is listed in the space rankings from the facilities division they rank all the districts in the state and of course number one is the highest ranking as far as if you submit a project I want you know that Ron is a hundred and sixty eight on that list so I'm not at the top of the list for brunch gonna get all this money. I think there's also been some concerns of this bill that.