Education Committee- House
Video
Transcript
1 document
Bills discussed (46)
| Bill | Title | Sponsor | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
|
SB183
Act 724
· 8 mentions in agenda, chapter, transcript
Matched: “…y'. DURING THE ARKANSAS ACADEMIC STANDARDS REVISION CYCLE. SB183 J. Dotson TO AMEND THE UNIVERSAL ACT ASSESSMENT PROGRAM ACT…”
|
TO AMEND THE UNIVERSAL ACT ASSESSMENT PROGRAM ACT; AND TO AMEND THE TYPES OF ASSESSMENTS … | J. Dotson | Notification that SB183 is now Act 724 |
|
SB504
Act 727
· 6 mentions in chapter, transcript, agenda
Matched: “SB504 Irvin TO ESTABLISH THE ARKANSAS RURAL PRECEPTORSHIP PROGRAM…”
|
TO ESTABLISH THE ARKANSAS RURAL PRECEPTORSHIP PROGRAM ACT. | Irvin | Notification that SB504 is now Act 727 |
|
SB618
Act 731
· 6 mentions in agenda, transcript, chapter
Matched: “…S OF THE ARKANSAS CODE REGARDING THE COURSE CHOICE PROGRAM. SB618 Irvin TO AMEND THE ARKANSAS STUDENT DUE PROCESS AND PROTECT…”
|
TO AMEND THE ARKANSAS STUDENT DUE PROCESS AND PROTECTION ACT. | Irvin | Notification that SB618 is now Act 731 |
|
SB619
Act 919
· 6 mentions in chapter, transcript
Matched: “SB619 Irvin CONCERNING THE FORMATION OF AN ISOLATED SCHOOL DISTRI…”
|
CONCERNING THE FORMATION OF AN ISOLATED SCHOOL DISTRICT. | Irvin | Notification that SB619 is now Act 919 |
|
HB1020
· 2 mentions in chapter, agenda
Matched: “HB1020 A. Collins TO REPEAL THE ARKANSAS CHILDREN'S EDUCATIONAL FR…”
|
TO REPEAL THE ARKANSAS CHILDREN'S EDUCATIONAL FREEDOM ACCOUNT PROGRAM; TO CREATE A NEW EDUCATION FUNDING … | A. Collins | Died in House Committee at Sine Die adjournment. |
|
HB1023
· 2 mentions in agenda, chapter
Matched: “…PUBLIC SCHOOLS AND OPEN-ENROLLMENT PUBLIC CHARTER SCHOOLS. HB1023 A. Collins TO AMEND THE STATE TEACHER EDUCATION PROGRAM; AN…”
|
TO AMEND THE STATE TEACHER EDUCATION PROGRAM; AND TO AMEND THE ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS FOR LOAN … | A. Collins | Died in House Committee at Sine Die adjournment. |
|
HB1025
· 2 mentions in chapter, agenda
Matched: “HB1025 McGruder TO CREATE THE TEACHER FAIR DISMISSAL ACT OF 2025.”
|
TO CREATE THE TEACHER FAIR DISMISSAL ACT OF 2025. | McGruder | Died in House Committee at Sine Die adjournment. |
|
HB1027
· 2 mentions in chapter, agenda
Matched: “HB1027 D. Garner TO CREATE THE BRIGHTER START ACT OF 2025; AND TO…”
|
TO CREATE THE BRIGHTER START ACT OF 2025; AND TO REQUIRE THE TREASURER OF STATE … | D. Garner | Died in House Committee at Sine Die adjournment. |
|
HB1030
· 2 mentions in agenda, chapter
Matched: “…TING AND FUTURE ARKANSAS BRIGHTER FUTURE FUND PLAN ACCOUNT. HB1030 T. Shephard TO REQUIRE A SCHOOL RESOURCE OFFICER OR LAW ENF…”
|
TO REQUIRE A SCHOOL RESOURCE OFFICER OR LAW ENFORCEMENT PERSONNEL TO OBTAIN CERTIFICATION IN YOUTH … | T. Shephard | Died in House Committee at Sine Die adjournment. |
|
HB1031
· 2 mentions in agenda, chapter
Matched: “…OUNSELOR TO RECEIVE YOUTH MENTAL HEALTH FIRST AID TRAINING. HB1031 D. Garner TO CREATE THE ARKANSAS HEALTHY LIFESTYLE EDUCATIO…”
|
TO CREATE THE ARKANSAS HEALTHY LIFESTYLE EDUCATION ACT OF 2025; AND TO ENSURE THE HEALTH … | D. Garner | Died in House Committee at Sine Die adjournment. |
|
HB1081
· 2 mentions in agenda, chapter
Matched: “…D THE FUNDING AVAILABLE TO ADULT EDUCATION CHARTER SCHOOLS. HB1081 B. McKenzie TO REPEAL ADDITIONAL FUNDING FOR THE DEVELOPMEN…”
|
TO REPEAL ADDITIONAL FUNDING FOR THE DEVELOPMENT AND ADMINISTRATION OF PROFESSIONAL LEARNING COMMUNITIES. | B. McKenzie | WITHDRAWN BY AUTHOR |
|
HB1139
· 2 mentions in chapter, agenda
Matched: “HB1139 B. McKenzie TO CREATE THE RELEASED TIME EDUCATION ACT.”
|
TO CREATE THE RELEASED TIME EDUCATION ACT. | B. McKenzie | Died in House Committee at Sine Die adjournment. |
|
HB1144
· 2 mentions in agenda, chapter
Matched: “…McGruder TO CREATE THE TEACHER FAIR DISMISSAL ACT OF 2025. HB1144 Wooten TO REQUIRE A PARTICIPATING SCHOOL UNDER THE ARKANSAS…”
|
TO REQUIRE A PARTICIPATING SCHOOL UNDER THE ARKANSAS CHILDREN'S EDUCATIONAL FREEDOM ACCOUNT PROGRAM TO COMPLY … | Wooten | Died in House Committee at Sine Die adjournment. |
|
HB1197
· 2 mentions in chapter, agenda
Matched: “HB1197 S. Meeks TO PROHIBIT SCHEDULING, HOSTING, OR REQUIRING AN O…”
|
TO PROHIBIT SCHEDULING, HOSTING, OR REQUIRING AN OUTDOOR PRACTICE, SCRIMMAGE, GAME, OR ACTIVITY FOR AN … | S. Meeks | Died in House Committee at Sine Die adjournment. |
|
HB1239
· 2 mentions in chapter, agenda
Matched: “HB1239 A. Collins TO AMEND THE PUBLIC SCHOOL FUNDING ACT OF 2003;…”
|
TO AMEND THE PUBLIC SCHOOL FUNDING ACT OF 2003; AND TO ADD AN ADDITIONAL CATEGORY … | A. Collins | Died in House Committee at Sine Die adjournment. |
|
HB1482
· 2 mentions in chapter, agenda
Matched: “HB1482 Gramlich TO CREATE AN EXCEPTION TO THE SCHOOL ATTENDANCE RE…”
|
TO CREATE AN EXCEPTION TO THE SCHOOL ATTENDANCE REQUIREMENTS FOR A STUDENT WHO TAKES A … | Gramlich | Died in House Committee at Sine Die adjournment. |
|
HB1490
· 2 mentions in chapter, agenda
Matched: “HB1490 Wardlaw TO REPEAL THE REQUIREMENT THAT A PUBLIC SCHOOL STUD…”
|
TO REPEAL THE REQUIREMENT THAT A PUBLIC SCHOOL STUDENT RETURN TEMPORARILY ISSUED ITEMS, RESOURCES, MATERIALS, … | Wardlaw | Died in House Committee at Sine Die adjournment. |
|
HB1492
· 2 mentions in chapter, agenda
Matched: “HB1492 Gramlich TO REQUIRE EACH PUBLIC SCHOOL DISTRICT AND OPEN-EN…”
|
TO REQUIRE EACH PUBLIC SCHOOL DISTRICT AND OPEN-ENROLLMENT PUBLIC CHARTER SCHOOL TO IMPLEMENT A MOBILE … | Gramlich | Recommended for study in the Interim by the … |
|
HB1528
· 2 mentions in agenda, chapter
Matched: “…DITIONAL CATEGORY OF FUNDING FOR SPECIAL EDUCATION FUNDING. HB1528 McGruder TO REQUIRE A REPORT CARD TO INCLUDE A STUDENT'S CU…”
|
TO REQUIRE A REPORT CARD TO INCLUDE A STUDENT'S CURRENT READING GRADE LEVEL. | McGruder | Died in House Committee at Sine Die adjournment. |
|
HB1539
· 2 mentions in agenda, chapter
Matched: “…RT CARD TO INCLUDE A STUDENT'S CURRENT READING GRADE LEVEL. HB1539 A. Collins TO AMEND THE PUBLIC SCHOOL FUNDING ACT OF 2003;…”
|
TO AMEND THE PUBLIC SCHOOL FUNDING ACT OF 2003; AND TO ADD AN ADDITIONAL EDUCATION … | A. Collins | Died in House Committee at Sine Die adjournment. |
|
HB1541
· 2 mentions in chapter, agenda
Matched: “HB1541 Wooten TO REQUIRE A PRIVATE SCHOOL THAT ACCEPTS STATE FUNDI…”
|
TO REQUIRE A PRIVATE SCHOOL THAT ACCEPTS STATE FUNDING OF ANY TYPE TO PROVIDE TRANSPORTATION … | Wooten | Died in House Committee at Sine Die adjournment. |
|
HB1542
· 2 mentions in agenda, chapter
Matched: “…TRANSPORTATION TO CERTAIN STUDENTS ENROLLED IN THE SCHOOL. HB1542 Wooten TO REQUIRE PRIVATE SCHOOLS TO ADMINISTER AN ANNUAL S…”
|
TO REQUIRE PRIVATE SCHOOLS TO ADMINISTER AN ANNUAL STATEWIDE STUDENT ASSESSMENT; AND TO REQUIRE PRIVATE … | Wooten | Died in House Committee at Sine Die adjournment. |
|
HB1709
· 2 mentions in chapter, agenda
Matched: “HB1709 Steele TO AMEND THE HUMAN SERVICES WORKERS IN THE SCHOOLS P…”
|
TO AMEND THE HUMAN SERVICES WORKERS IN THE SCHOOLS PROGRAM; AND TO INCLUDE MENTAL HEALTH … | Steele | Died in House Committee at Sine Die adjournment. |
|
HB1727
· 2 mentions in chapter, agenda
Matched: “HB1727 L. Johnson TO AMEND THE FUNDING AVAILABLE TO ADULT EDUCATIO…”
|
TO AMEND THE FUNDING AVAILABLE TO ADULT EDUCATION CHARTER SCHOOLS. | L. Johnson | WITHDRAWN BY AUTHOR |
|
HB1755
· 2 mentions in chapter, agenda
Matched: “HB1755 T. Shephard TO REQUIRE EACH PUBLIC SCHOOL TO PARTICIPATE IN…”
|
TO REQUIRE EACH PUBLIC SCHOOL TO PARTICIPATE IN THE ARKANSAS PREVENTION NEEDS ASSESSMENT SURVEY. | T. Shephard | Died in House Committee at Sine Die adjournment. |
|
HB1761
· 2 mentions in chapter, agenda
Matched: “HB1761 D. Garner TO INCREASE FISCAL RESPONSIBILITY THROUGH THE EST…”
|
TO INCREASE FISCAL RESPONSIBILITY THROUGH THE ESTABLISHMENT OF INCOME LIMITS FOR STUDENTS ELIGIBLE FOR EDUCATIONAL … | D. Garner | Died in House Committee at Sine Die adjournment. |
|
HB1924
· 2 mentions in agenda, chapter
Matched: “…ICIPATE IN THE ARKANSAS PREVENTION NEEDS ASSESSMENT SURVEY. HB1924 Puryear TO REPEAL THE REQUIREMENT THAT THE STATE BOARD OF E…”
|
TO REPEAL THE REQUIREMENT THAT THE STATE BOARD OF EDUCATION ESTABLISH RULES REGARDING THE IMPLEMENTATION … | Puryear | Died in House Committee at Sine Die adjournment. |
|
HB1940
· 2 mentions in chapter, agenda
Matched: “HB1940 Walker TO ESTABLISH THE REQUIREMENTS FOR A PUBLIC SCHOOL DI…”
|
TO ESTABLISH THE REQUIREMENTS FOR A PUBLIC SCHOOL DISTRICT THAT INITIATES AND MAINTAINS A FOUR-DAY … | Walker | Died in House Committee at Sine Die adjournment. |
|
HB1962
· 2 mentions in chapter, agenda
Matched: “HB1962 Vaught TO PROHIBIT A SCHOOL FROM SERVING OR SELLING ULTRA-P…”
|
TO PROHIBIT A SCHOOL FROM SERVING OR SELLING ULTRA-PROCESSED FOOD ON THE SCHOOL CAMPUS DURING … | Vaught | Recommended for study in the Interim by the … |
|
HB1990
· 2 mentions in chapter, agenda
Matched: “HB1990 McAlindon TO AMEND THE LAW CONCERNING HIGHER EDUCATION.”
|
TO AMEND THE LAW CONCERNING HIGHER EDUCATION. | McAlindon | Recommended for study in the Interim by the … |
|
HB1999
· 2 mentions in agenda, chapter
Matched: “…ACT OF 2003. PENDING FISCAL IMPACT Number Sponsor Subtitle HB1999 D. Garner TO REQUIRE THE SECRETARY OF THE DEPARTMENT OF EDU…”
|
TO REQUIRE THE SECRETARY OF THE DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION TO PROVIDE INFORMATION REGARDING THE SUPPLEMENTAL … | D. Garner | Died in House Committee at Sine Die adjournment. |
|
HB2000
· 2 mentions in chapter, agenda
Matched: “HB2000 Wardlaw TO AMEND THE LAW CONCERNING EDUCATION SERVICE COOPE…”
|
TO AMEND THE LAW CONCERNING EDUCATION SERVICE COOPERATIVES, PUBLIC SCHOOL DISTRICTS, AND OPEN-ENROLLMENT PUBLIC CHARTER … | Wardlaw | Died in House Committee at Sine Die adjournment. |
|
SB149
· 2 mentions in agenda, chapter
Matched: “AGENDA (Revised 4/10/25 @ 5:50 AM) Added SB149 to Regular Agenda House Committee on Education Thursday, Ap…”
|
TO AMEND PUBLIC SCHOOL FUNDING AMOUNTS UNDER THE PUBLIC SCHOOL FUNDING ACT OF 2003. | J. English | Died in House at Sine Die adjournment. |
|
SB352
Act 721
· 2 mentions in chapter, agenda
Matched: “SB352 Stone TO PROHIBIT ANTISEMITISM IN PUBLIC ELEMENTARY AND SEC…”
|
TO PROHIBIT ANTISEMITISM IN PUBLIC ELEMENTARY AND SECONDARY SCHOOLS; AND TO PROHIBIT ANTISEMITISM IN STATE-SUPPORTED … | Stone | Notification that SB352 is now Act 721 |
|
SB373
· 2 mentions in chapter, agenda
Matched: “SB373 Irvin TO AMEND THE ARKANSAS FINANCIAL EDUCATION COMMISSION.”
|
TO AMEND THE ARKANSAS FINANCIAL EDUCATION COMMISSION. | Irvin | Died in House Committee at Sine Die adjournment. |
|
SB402
Act 725
· 2 mentions in chapter, agenda
Matched: “SB402 C. Penzo TO PROHIBIT A PUBLIC SCHOOL DISTRICT AND AN EDUCAT…”
|
TO PROHIBIT A PUBLIC SCHOOL DISTRICT AND AN EDUCATIONAL SERVICE COOPERATIVE FROM REQUIRING OR TAKING … | C. Penzo | Notification that SB402 is now Act 725 |
|
SB425
Act 722
· 2 mentions in agenda, chapter
Matched: “…MITISM IN STATE-SUPPORTED INSTITUTIONS OF HIGHER EDUCATION. SB425 J. English TO AMEND VARIOUS PROVISIONS OF THE ARKANSAS CODE…”
|
TO AMEND VARIOUS PROVISIONS OF THE ARKANSAS CODE CONCERNING ENHANCED TRANSPORTATION; AND TO DECLARE AN … | J. English | Notification that SB425 is now Act 722 |
|
SB450
Act 915
· 2 mentions in agenda, chapter
Matched: “…THE ARKANSAS MILITARY CHILD SCHOOL TRANSITIONS ACT OF 2021. SB450 B. Davis TO REQUIRE THE DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION TO INCLUDE…”
|
TO REQUIRE THE DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION TO INCLUDE A HUMAN FETAL GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT DISCUSSION … | B. Davis | Notification that SB450 is now Act 915 |
|
SB451
· 2 mentions in agenda, chapter
Matched: “…HOOL DISTRICTS, AND OPEN-ENROLLMENT PUBLIC CHARTER SCHOOLS. SB451 Hester TO REQUIRE THE DEPARTMENT OF HUMAN SERVICES AND THE…”
|
TO REQUIRE THE DEPARTMENT OF HUMAN SERVICES AND THE DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION TO ESTABLISH REGIONAL … | Hester | Died in Senate at Sine Die adjournment. |
|
SB547
Act 728
· 2 mentions in chapter, agenda
Matched: “SB547 D. Sullivan TO REPEAL THE REQUIREMENT THAT A HOMESCHOOLED S…”
|
TO REPEAL THE REQUIREMENT THAT A HOMESCHOOLED STUDENT LIVE WITHIN A CERTAIN RADIUS OF A … | D. Sullivan | Notification that SB547 is now Act 728 |
|
SB604
Act 730
· 2 mentions in chapter, agenda
Matched: “SB604 B. Davis TO AMEND PROVISIONS OF THE ARKANSAS CODE REGARDING…”
|
TO AMEND PROVISIONS OF THE ARKANSAS CODE REGARDING THE COURSE CHOICE PROGRAM. | B. Davis | Notification that SB604 is now Act 730 |
|
SB624
Act 732
· 2 mentions in agenda, chapter
Matched: “…in CONCERNING THE FORMATION OF AN ISOLATED SCHOOL DISTRICT. SB624 B. Davis TO AMEND THE ARKANSAS OPPORTUNITY PUBLIC SCHOOL CH…”
|
TO AMEND THE ARKANSAS OPPORTUNITY PUBLIC SCHOOL CHOICE ACT; TO AMEND THE PUBLIC SCHOOL CHOICE … | B. Davis | Notification that SB624 is now Act 732 |
|
HB1022
· 1 mention in chapter
Matched: “HB1022 A. Collins TO REPEAL PERFORMANCE-BASED INCENTIVE AWARDS FOR…”
|
TO REPEAL PERFORMANCE-BASED INCENTIVE AWARDS FOR PUBLIC SCHOOLS AND OPEN-ENROLLMENT PUBLIC CHARTER SCHOOLS. | A. Collins | Died in House Committee at Sine Die adjournment. |
|
HB1747
· 1 mention in chapter
Matched: “HB1747 Vaught TO CREATE THE BABIES AT SCHOOL ACT; AND TO ALLOW SCH…”
|
TO CREATE THE BABIES AT SCHOOL ACT; AND TO ALLOW SCHOOLS TO PERMIT EMPLOYEES WHO … | Vaught | Recommended for study in the Interim by the … |
|
SB484
Act 726
· 1 mention in chapter
Matched: “SB484 Irvin TO ESTABLISH A PROCESS WHEREBY A VACANCY IS FILLED ON…”
|
TO ESTABLISH A PROCESS WHEREBY A VACANCY IS FILLED ON A SCHOOL DISTRICT BOARD OF … | Irvin | Notification that SB484 is now Act 726 |
|
SB559
Act 729
· 1 mention in chapter
Matched: “SB559 J. English TO AMEND THE ARKANSAS MILITARY CHILD SCHOOL TRAN…”
|
TO AMEND THE ARKANSAS MILITARY CHILD SCHOOL TRANSITIONS ACT OF 2021. | J. English | Notification that SB559 is now Act 729 |
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Good morning, House Education. Welcome, members. Welcome, guests. Thanks for being here. Members, we will start off this morning. I'm going to recognize
Representative Barker to start us off in prayer. If you would, please stand.
thank you representative so members without objection is the favorite thing you ever hear from me we are going to move around on the agenda
Representative Denise Garner
Unverified
0:50
so primarily we're gonna have senate bills yes so before we do that I'm going to recognize one person then I'm recognize representative Duke for a point
of personal privilege. Members, this morning, we often have lots of guests who come
in and out of here from schools and all other places. But this morning, we have a very special guest, former Chief Justice of the Supreme Court. Justice Dan Kemp is in the room with us. If you would please recognize former Chief Justice Kemp. And I'll recognize Representative Duke for a point of personal privilege. Thank you, Mr. Chair. I just
Representative Hope Duke
Unverified
1:21
wanted to thank my committee members and all the folks. I had to step out on Monday or Tuesday or whatever day it was. I don't
even remember um as many of you all know and i just appreciate all the text my mom is doing well i'm very thankful for that and i just thank you for all the prayers and everyone that reached out
Representative Austin McCollum
Unverified
1:35
thank you mr chair thank you continue continue pray for your mom your family uh so without objection we're going to move to
Representative Denise Garner
Unverified
1:44
representative meeks who's presenting senate bill something exactly uh 5 547
Representative Stephen Meeks
Unverified
1:47
all right thank you colleagues uh this is actually a very special moment for me i've been on
this committee for seven years and this is actually the last time i will be before you to present a bill so I'm hoping you can send me out with with the that well that's true that's true I could could be back so this is actually a pretty simple
straightforward bill under current Arkansas law of a homeschool student wants to participate in sports at a private school they're allowed to if they are within a 25 mile limit that 25 mile limits kind of arbitrary if a The student wanted to go to a private school that was 25.2 miles away. They couldn't. And so what Senator Sullivan is asking for us to do is just do away with that 25-mile limit.
If a parent wants to drive their student 150 miles across the state to attend a school, then this would allow them. It doesn't require the private school to do any transportation or anything like that. It just opens it up for students who want to go beyond that 25-mile limit to do so. It is supported by family council for whatever that might bring to the table. I'm happy to try to answer any questions. Are there questions from members?
Representative Denise Garner
Unverified
3:07
I see no questions from members. No one has signed up to speak for or against the bill. Would anyone like to speak for or against the bill? Seeing none, Representative Meeks, would you like to close for your bill? I'm closed. Make a motion. Do pass. Representative Meeks is closed for his bill. With a motion to do pass on the table, is there a
discussion on that motion? Seeing no discussion, all in favor say aye. All opposed, congratulations to Representative Meeks.
Representative Austin McCollum
Unverified
3:28
You have passed your last bill through House Ed. Members, without objection, I'm going to turn the chair over to Representative Meeks while I present a bill.
Representative Stephen Meeks
Unverified
3:43
Which number? Oh, it didn't say. okay uh sir chairman when you get settled um i might have lost you know the the bill number i do yes sir uh it's senate bill 183 senate bill 183 okay when you
Representative Austin McCollum
Unverified
4:01
get settled then you are recognized to present senate state rep district 78 uh members i'm going to present senate bill 183 this morning so we've actually already presented this
bill uh we just did not uh finalize discussion on it because it showed a fiscal impact but it actually is
revenue neutral, and so I want to bring, if I could, Mr. Chair, with your permission, bring Greg Rogers from the department up. Sure, Mr. Rogers.
Representative Stephen Meeks
Unverified
4:26
And when you get seated, sir, just introduce yourself to the committee, not that you're a stranger
by any means, and then you're recognized. Thank you, Greg
Rogers, Department of Education. So, again, Senate Bill 183, as we looked at it several weeks ago, It just simply broadens the tests.
So we've got the ACT that's been the primary test that's been out there, but just broadens it to allow a couple of the tests, primarily CLT, Classic Learning Test, which is utilized by a number of institutions. It just allows that to be a test that's paid for. So when we talk about the fiscal impact of the bill, there's money that's already allocated within the department. So it shows an impact, but there's not new general revenue because it's money that's already within the department. I'll let Greg address that. Yes, that's
Speaker 37
5:12
correct. So currently we have an assessment, a line item in public school fund that has an appropriation funded at $20.1 million,
and that is used for current assessment tests right now. And with this bill, we'll just be getting new contracts to do different assessments, but it will come out of that existing fund of $20 million.
Representative Stephen Meeks
Unverified
5:30
Okay. And with that, I'd be happy to take any questions. So would this be each school kind of deciding which way they want to go on this, or would this be a statewide kind of decision on which way we want
to go with this test? So this is up
to the student, so it gives the student the flexibility to choose because different institutions of higher education accept different exams, and there are a number that are now taking the CLT, Classic Learning Test,
just because of the curriculum that the kids have gone through in high school, and so it just allows
Representative Stephen Meeks
Unverified
6:03
them to be a little more clear that's close to
Representative Justin Gonzales
Unverified
6:09
that curriculum. All right. Committee, any
other questions? Okay. Representative Gonzales-Wertham. Yes. I was wondering, just out of curiosity, are there opportunities for schools to have prep classes that the state can pay for, for any of these prep preparatory pre-college program assessments? Just curious.
I don't believe that there's, and you feel free to correct me if I'm wrong, I don't believe that there's a specific line item in the funding that designates funding specifically for prep classes. However, I mean, that point being made, it's probably a pretty good idea that those could be options. Certainly, you know, the schools have discretionary authority with some types of funds that they could certainly choose to do that if they wanted to. Okay, any other questions? Seeing none from committee, no
Representative Stephen Meeks
Unverified
6:59
one signed up to speak for or against, anybody in the audience like to speak for or against this bill?
Seeing none, Mr. Chairman, you're recognized and closed for your bill. Thank you, Mr. Chair, and thank you, committee. I am closed for the bill, and I'd make a motion to do pass. Okay, colleagues, we've got a motion to do pass on the table. Any discussion on the motion? Seeing none, all in favor, please say aye. Any opposed? All right, congratulations, Mr. Chairman. Thank you, Mr. Chair, thank you, committee. Thank you, Representative Meeks.
Representative Austin McCollum
Unverified
7:42
Committee, without objection, we're going to move to Senate
Representative Denise Garner
Unverified
7:44
Bill 373 with Senator Irvin. Senator Irvin has a number of bills on our calendar today, and so I'm going to let her roll right through
all of them if the committee wills. Senator Irvin, you would please introduce yourself, and you're recognized. Thank you, Senator Missy
Senator Missy Irvin
Unverified
7:59
Irvin. Would it be okay if I do 619 first? I'm happy for you to do whichever you want to, as long
as there's no objection from the committee. All right. Thank you so much.
Actually, we do not have the amendment yet on that. It's on the way over.
Senator Missy Irvin
Unverified
8:16
Oh, I thought it was engrossed. No? Give me just a second
to check with staff, if you would, please. Okay. Sorry. Senators, it has not been engrossed. So we're. Okay. Will you call Taylor? Okay. It is on the way
Senator Missy Irvin
Unverified
8:40
over, but it was not engrossed. Oh, gotcha. Okay. Then I'll just go ahead and do 618 first.
Without objection, you're recognized. Thank you. Senator Missy Yervin, District 24. Thank you. Senate Bill 618 is to amend the Arkansas Student Due Process and Protection Act. In 2023, I wrote the Arkansas student due process and protection right to ensure that our students that are on institutions of higher ed campuses are aware of and that their Seventh Amendment U.S. constitutional due process rights are protected.
There are investigations that are occurring on our campuses, and I just wanted to make sure that these institutions would advise these students of their due process rights and follow due process throughout that investigation so that they have the right to be represented by an attorney. I worked with all of the folks of higher ed. We have one change in amendment that's before you in 618, And what this amendment does is make sure that the institution advises those students who are both the subject or the ones that are bringing the complaints of the investigation or disciplinary proceeding so that they may seek representation of an attorney from the onset of the investigation.
And then we are limiting the time frame on when you can file an appeal from 25 days to seven days. The reason why is because we want to make sure these things are wrapped up as quickly as we can and not extend into the next semester. That is a model policy from FIRE, which is the organization that supported me in writing this bill, but that's the foundation for individual rights and expression. They do a lot of great work in this arena, and I actually wrote
the bill and then discovered them,
but I appreciate our institutions engaging with that organization as well so that is what the bill does and I'm happy to take any questions are there questions from the committee thank you see no questions we do not have anyone sign up to
Representative Denise Garner
Unverified
10:51
speak for or against the bill would anyone like speak for or against the bill see none Senator Irvin would you like a close for your bill thank you
Senator Missy Irvin
Unverified
10:59
I want to thank Melissa Rust and Rebecca Haley with you of a systems are here for working with me on this legislation. With that, I'm closed.
Representative Austin McCollum
Unverified
11:06
I'd ask for a good vote. Senator Irvin is closed for Bill SB 618. What's the will of committee? We have a motion to do pass. Is there a discussion on that motion? Seeing no discussion, all in favor
Senator Missy Irvin
Unverified
11:20
say aye. All opposed, congratulations, Senator. You've passed your bill. Thank
Representative Denise Garner
Unverified
11:24
you. I'll go to Senate Bill 504. Members, without objection, go back to the first page, I believe, of the calendar,
Senator Missy Irvin
Unverified
11:30
Senate Bill 504, and you're recognized. Okay, actually, we have some folks in the room that are also supportive of this legislation, and I appreciate their advocacy for this. This is to create the Arkansas Rural Preceptorship Program.
Working with Secretary Oliva and a vision of higher ed, what we wanted to do is create this rural preceptorship statewide. Currently, UAMS does this with our medical students to where you can do a preceptorship between your freshman year and your sophomore year during those years. And what it is, it's like a two- to three-week kind of introduction where our medical students go out and work in clinics, hospitals, whatever, out into these communities. This is actually, they get a stipend.
It's not much money, and they are able to get introduced into a rural part of the state of Arkansas. In fact, this is how Missy Irvin and Dawson Irvin got to Mountain View, Arkansas, was my husband, Dr. Irvin Dawson. He came to Mountain View, Stone County, and did a rural preceptorship with Dr. Simpson and Dr. Sutterfield. He loved it and fell in love with the community and everybody in it who wouldn't. And so he was like, you know, and that was before we got married or even started dating.
But it was just a great opportunity for him to kind of get into the community, see what it was like. And then that ended up to us beginning a rural residency program for UAMS in Mountain View, which was highly successful and kept those doctors in the area in Izzard County, Stone County, and Baxter County. So this is really just to have a statewide coordinated effort. Department of Commerce has already identified funding for this, which I'm thrilled about,
because this is a workforce development issue, and it's not much money to really get our professionals out into rural parts of the state of Arkansas. So I'm really excited about this. This would coordinate with all four of our medical schools, the Alice Walton School of Medicine, which I think is the first time this has
appeared in legislation, which I'm really excited about, and then also our two osteopathic schools in Jonesboro, Fort Smith and UAMS. Happy to take any
Representative Austin McCollum
Unverified
13:45
questions. Thank you, Senator Irvin, for the presentation.
So my question will be relative to the fiscal impact on it. So
the fiscal impact statement shows half a million dollars, but you indicated there There are funding sources
outside of an increase in general revenue. Could you go into that
Senator Missy Irvin
Unverified
14:00
a little bit more? Yes. Actually, as it is, it just sets up the program, so there's really no funding attached to it right now at all. That's just an estimate of probably what it would be, but the Department of Commerce and Secretary McDonald reached out to me and said, we love this, we love your bill, and we've found some funding internally without any increase to state GR
to be able to fund it. So I was really
excited to hear that. Representative
Representative Justin Gonzales
Unverified
14:28
Gonzalez-Worthin, you're recognized for a question. Yes. So this would be within the medical school, within their program of study? Yes. Yes,
Representative Justin Gonzales
Unverified
14:39
While they're on, okay. And so I think it's a wonderful, wonderful idea for that to happen. And I was wondering if this would be, once this gets off the ground, Is this something that you foresee medical students
from other medical schools serving in that capacity just to be introduced to rural medicine, practicing rural medicine? Yes, I mean, yes. I mean,
Senator Missy Irvin
Unverified
15:08
I think this takes care of our four medical schools that are in our state, and we are spending a ton of money educating those people and we want to retain them because if not we're kind of like exporting our talent and i want to stop that from happening so this is one really good inexpensive way and a tool
to kind of go hey it's really great down in magnolia it's really great in melbourne you should think about practicing here you know we've got great public schools there uh and we've got great quality of life and so it's really just a great way i'm a big fan of rural residency programs as well but those are harder and more expensive to stand up but yes it's a it's a it's a great recruiting tool oh i also would say i created this to where it could be a public and private partnership so it's not just public money that could be used private institutions could also
put money towards this and i know that like st bernard's health care systems would contribute into the program so that they could host people. In fact, the community in Stone County, when my husband came, they offered free housing for him. I don't think he ever paid for a meal because they were so kind to him. So, you know, communities could actually also participate in this with any of their funding. If they wanted to bring a medical student
into their community, they could be also a part of the program. Thank you for the question.
Representative Denise Garner
Unverified
16:39
Are there additional questions from the committee? Seeing no additional questions, we do not have anyone signed up to speak for or against the bill. Would anyone like to speak for or against the bill? Seeing none, Senator Irvin, would you like to close for your
Speaker 63
16:54
bill? I'm closed. I appreciate a good vote. Thank you. Senator Irvin is
Representative Denise Garner
Unverified
16:56
closed for a bill. We have a motion to do pass on the table. Is there a discussion on that motion? Seeing no discussion, all in favor say aye. Aye. All opposed? Thank you. Congratulations, Senator Irvin. You've passed your bill. Thank you. Without objection, we will move on.
And members, I just want to congratulate you. We've done a really good job in the first 20 minutes of this. We've knocked out like
four or five bills, which I don't want to get too optimistic, but it's going really well. I know. I felt I should say it out loud. I still have like three more bills. Sorry about that. Senator Irvin, you're recognized to represent whichever bill is next.
Senator Missy Irvin
Unverified
17:33
Okay, I really appreciate it. Okay, I think the amendment is here. Is this
619? Yes, 619. Okay, so members, this is Senate Bill 619. It's on the second page, if you would please.
Representative Denise Garner
Unverified
17:43
Staff is gonna pass out an amendment and give us just a moment to review that and then we will discuss adoption of the amendment. okay staff has passed out the amendment if you would please uh review that for us and then we'll
Senator Missy Irvin
Unverified
18:22
adopt it sure senator missy ervin district
Representative Steven Walker
Unverified
18:27
24 steven walker house district 27
Senator Missy Irvin
Unverified
18:30
thank you members this um this amendment actually clarifies some language as to uh the electors who would be voting in the process so that's good cleanup language and then the second language is actually from house legislation to mirror some house legislation that's already been passed as it referred to school board members and terms so we're it's kind of tricky because we were tracking legislation
hasn't been signed by the governor yet we fully anticipate that it probably will so we were just trying to track that at the same time and make sure that it matched so that's what the amendment does. And I'd appreciate a vote to adopt the
Representative Denise Garner
Unverified
19:09
amendment. Senator Irvin has presented the amendment. We have a motion to adopt. Is there a discussion on that motion? See no discussion. All in
favor say aye. Aye. All opposed. Congratulations. You've adopted your amendment. Now you're recognized to present
Senator Missy Irvin
Unverified
19:22
Senate Bill 619 as amended. Thank you so much, Mr. Chair and members of the committee. Senate Bill 619 follows in the vein, I think, of everything that this legislature has
embraced um as it comes to uh preserving
uh the students rights to get educated where they want to be educated and uh and and so our community is struggling with this right now
in stone county but this is one of the most significant pieces of legislation i really think that we could pass as a general assembly because in my opinion and of course when you look at Oh, sorry. Dogs barking.
Roe Rose for the bill, too. Roosevelt. Anyway, when you look at the impact of a school, any size of a school, it's a tremendous economic impact that they have. But it's not just an economic impact that they have in that community. It's also about the spirit of that community. And so this bill is very well crafted, in my opinion. And I had a lot of help from a lot of folks that are in this room on writing this legislation.
I really want to appreciate the Department of Education also that helped on this bill. But this bill creates an isolated school district. And what it does, it's about local governance.
It's about allowing people to stand on their own two feet and be able to support that community and support that school. I can't tell you how important a school is to a community. It is a cornerstone of their economy, of their survival. It is critically important for these people to have the ability to dig in and support that school.
They are loyal to it. I could go on and on and on about these people and these students that graduate from these very small schools. I've got many, actually, in my district. And this would affect any isolated school that's already designated as an isolated school, which are about 11 of them. and so there is no fiscal impact to the state of Arkansas because we're already funding these schools what this bill does it just allows the creation for them to stand on their own two feet govern themselves we as a legislature have supported the idea of home schools of education
freedom of micro schools of the parents and the kids choosing how they want to be educated the same should apply for our public schools absolutely should and so that's what we're here advocating for in this bill is to allow them to create their own isolated school district and to stand on their own two feet and to support that school and that community. And so we've outlined a process for that to occur, and I think that it's a very clear process that's in the legislation, and we can answer questions about that.
But I want to talk about the kids that graduate from some of these schools. And over in the Senate committee, I talked about these two young men, Dustin and Dylan Stewart. And yeah, they got great parents. I mean, they were raised right. Okay. But these kids graduated and their graduating class was six people, a class of six. Dylan works for Arkansas Telephone Company. He has been on the forefront of helping to bring broadband to all of our rural
communities in Van Buren County and Searcy County and Stone County and Cleburne County and Fairfield Bay. He understands that broadband policy better than anybody else. He lives in Clinton, Arkansas. He's a fabulous young man. He works with Lauren Fries, who also graduated from Rural Special. He's also a fabulous young man. These kids have been on the forefront working with the federal government, getting that bead money, writing these huge applications for broadband funding. They graduated from Rural Special School. He's now the preacher at his church in Rushing, Arkansas.
That's awesome. Dustin, his older brother, is a shelter insurance agent that lives in Mountain View, a community leader, an investor, an entrepreneur, a developer, not just a shelter insurance agent but also owns several small businesses of his own, is emerging as a community leader, graduated from Rural Special School. It is a fabulous school. It operates efficiently and effectively with their fiscal situations. I've had Greg Rogers run the numbers. These small campuses actually operate more efficiently sometimes
than our larger campuses when you look at the numbers and you look at their spend. But they're also academically excellent schools. So why? Why would we put these school districts in a situation fiscally where these small schools are constantly threatened to be shut down? It's unnecessary. So what this bill does is just creates that pathway to let these schools come out and then there's last one more example I want to give you this kid right now sitting next to me he's not a kid but representative Stephen Walker graduated from
Isser County Consolidated School it is a really small school and a really really far place to reach I used to represent it and where is he now he's sitting next to me that is a testimony to these small schools, y'all. So let us support them. Let's give them the pathway to get this done.
That's what the bill does. And I'll let Representative Walker talk. I can't really top Senator Irvin on it.
Representative Steven Walker
Unverified
24:55
But the only thing I want to
add is they put in a lot of work to make this
possible. And they were able to figure out a way to do it to
where it has basically no fiscal impact on our state.
Chair
Unverified
25:11
And we're open for questions. Thank you. Any questions from committee? Representative Gardner,
Representative Denise Garner
Unverified
25:16
you're recognized for a question. Thank you, Mr. Chair. Stephen,
you may know this better than Missy just because you've been in this committee and gone through. How does this differ from Representative Barnett's legislation to start a school in a rural district?
Representative Steven Walker
Unverified
25:33
I know part of what's in this, and Senator Irvin can correct me if
I'm wrong, But I think right now there's a deal that needs a waiver
Representative Denise Garner
Unverified
25:45
or something to where, is it
Representative Steven Walker
Unverified
25:48
2,300 kids? There's a number. Yeah, it's a big number, and that's what kills this being a possibility for
Representative Denise Garner
Unverified
25:56
our isolated school districts. I absolutely agree with the legislation. I'm just wondering if the bills will coordinate.
Speaker 103
26:04
Yeah, as far as I know, it will. Okay, perfect. Perfect. Thank you. The language in
Representative Steven Walker
Unverified
26:09
this is only for the isolated schools, too. Okay. That
Senator Missy Irvin
Unverified
26:12
are already designated by the department. Okay,
perfect. Are there any other questions from committee? Representative Vaught, you're recognized. Thank you,
Representative DeAnn Vaught
Unverified
26:25
Mr. Chair. I want to thank you all for this legislation. As you know, I've got a school that's actually not in my district, but everybody calls me as their state representative,
probably because they've known me for so long. And I've watched them fight tooth and nail, seen them raise their taxes on themselves to keep their school and still be told they're not good enough to be a part of another school district. They get called the kids across the river or across the bridge. And it's hard for those kids to go to school or be mixed into another big school that doesn't already appreciate them, doesn't really want them to be there.
So I appreciate this bill and the hard work put into it. You know, the governor helped us out with Umpire last year. She even flew down there and listened to the concerns of the people. That's how important
Speaker 109
27:21
these small, isolated schools are. And I appreciate the legislation. Thank you. Wouldn't you
Senator Missy Irvin
Unverified
27:27
agree that's a great bill? I would agree. And there are folks here in support of this bill from the Umpire Kingston School District, or school, and I appreciate them being here.
And then, of course, from our school district, our Stone County judge, Stacey Avey, is here in support of it. Former Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, John Dan Kemp, is here in support of it as well. His wife was a teacher, one of the best home ec teachers, hands down. In the state of Arkansas, but she taught at these rural schools. They're very passionate to seeing these rural schools stay open. And I just really appreciate him, everybody, Renee Carr, Mr. Rush is also here.
He's our superintendent of our Mountain View School District. He's also supportive of the legislation. And so both sides of this very intense issue right now are supportive of this legislation Because it just gives everybody a clean pathway of being able to separate if they want to separate. And so I just feel like as policymakers, we should allow
them the opportunity to do so. Thank you for the question. Representative Kozart, you're recognized for
Representative Bruce Cozart
Unverified
28:38
a question. Thank you, Mr. Chair. I remember back when I first came here, Wiener, Arkansas.
Yeah. We lost that school because of this same type of situation. And we've done some legislation. And I'll ask you a question at the end so we can get this right. But we've done some legislation to help those small schools under that. And then actually Peyton came back and done some more legislation to take that number completely away to make that more possible. But wouldn't you agree that those small schools that are doing everything perfect and have the
people very supportive of what they're doing should stay in place?
Representative Steven Walker
Unverified
29:20
100% agree with that, yes. I do, too. And what we need to keep in mind, too, is every time a school district closes in these rural areas, or a school building closes in these rural areas, bus routes get longer. And in a rural area, we're already getting to where we're too spread out. I'm pretty sure we can all agree no good learning happens on a school bus. So we would much rather them be at home playing outside or be in school learning and have less time on the school bus if it's possible.
So just keep that in mind. We've got bus routes that are at least for some kids will experience a school bus ride for about two hours one way because they've got to hit all the other kids along the way. Usually if
you're picked up first, you're dropped off last, and so just keep that in mind. Thank you. Representative Beck, you're recognized for a question? It's not so
Representative Rick Beck
Unverified
30:15
much a question as it is a statement, and I'll just ask you if you would agree. I saw the first
term I was down here, we all get a lot of mail through our phones and all this stuff.
I got a mail. There were two schools in Arkansas that were recognized for their academic achievements. And I remember because we were arguing over this 350 thing and all that. And both of those schools, the only two schools in Arkansas that got recognized by this national group but for their excellence in education, were below 400 students. And I was like, they do a good job. Wouldn't you agree?
Senator Missy Irvin
Unverified
30:56
Absolutely. Thank you for pointing that out.
Absolutely agree. And to represent COSAR, it's a travesty to me that these schools have closed. And we could go down the list. Wiener was kind of one of
the biggest ones. I mean, that kind of started the domino effect. But it doesn't matter where they're located in the state of Arkansas. They're vital to these communities, and we as
a state, we can do everything we want to try to increase economic development. Keep your schools. That's your economic development, folks. Thanks.
Representative Jessie McGruder
Unverified
31:35
Representative Grutter, you're recognized for a question. Thank you, Mr. Chair. Thank you for the legislation. I truly appreciate it. All of this started where I grew up in, Phillips County, in Lakeview, Arkansas, which was the first case brought forth. My question is on page one, line 30 through 36, well, actually 32 through 36. Are we at, is this putting a number on it? It's A and B. I'm trying to
get clarification, a better understanding of that.
Senator Missy Irvin
Unverified
32:08
So the reason why that is in there is because that is how these isolated school districts are determined by the Department of Education. So that's the way that we identify these schools that would be allowed to do this under how they are currently funded to the Department of
Speaker 131
32:28
Education. That's how they're defined. So that does add a
Representative Jessie McGruder
Unverified
32:32
number to the equation. But the number is great for me.
because it would have kept that school district open. But I was just trying to get a better understanding of it.
Representative Denise Garner
Unverified
32:43
Thank you. And I wish we could turn by
Senator Missy Irvin
Unverified
32:47
the clock. Man, do I wish we could turn by the clock. But maybe we can figure that out as we move forward as a group. We should have never let that happen in the state of Arkansas. And I'm sorry for that. Thank
Chair
Unverified
33:02
you, Mr. Chair. Are there additional questions by the committee?
Representative Austin McCollum
Unverified
33:08
See, no additional questions. We do have a number of people signed up to speak on the bill. First, we have Danielle Kitchens. Danielle's good. Thank you. Next up, speaking for the bill, we have former Chief Justice
Kemp. Even the audience is making it easy on us today. Third, we have Stacey Avery.
Speaker 136
33:41
Avey, I'm sorry. Yes, sir. I'm Stone County Judge, and I'm the only time with somebody else. I'm a general graduate at a political school. And I'm on the community for 45 years, and
Speaker 137
34:06
I just want to say that it's not only, I think it's a misjustice to the kids. thank you mr.
judge so he's yielding his time next on the agenda we have Rene car
Representative Austin McCollum
Unverified
34:21
I don't know what's happening right now I'm not I'm gonna stop I'm gonna keep my mouth shut But next to sign up to speak, we have Martin Sims. I
don't have nothing to say, though, other than thank you for the bill. This is going to do S-R-A. And Keystone's rules right now is number six in the state. It has been a graceful number six and one-eighth graceful number.
Representative Austin McCollum
Unverified
34:51
Final person signed up to speak for the bill. You've got a lot of pressure on you. Mark Rush. I'm going to blow it out of work. If you would, please come and introduce yourself for
Mark Rush
Unverified
35:08
the record, and you're recognized to speak for the bill. My name is Mark Rush. I'm the current superintendent of the Mountain View School District. And we currently, we are, I'll start from the beginning here. We are a very unique school in that we are in a rural county, as Judge Avey stated.
but we operate three separate k-12 campuses in stone county due to act 60 i believe it was of 2003 2004 two of those schools real special which senator irvin spoke of and timbo which judge avy spoke of uh were forced to either consolidate or annex because they were under
the 350 number this is my 35th year and i'm going to kind of bounce around here this is my 35th year in education uh the first two two of the first schools i worked at in fact the first school i worked at is closed because of Act 60 now. Oak Ridge Central up in northeast Arkansas is closed because of that. I taught at and coached at Concord when Act 60 was being debated. It would greatly have affected us there because we were under the initial number,
which was 500 students, I believe, at the time. Then it got cut down to 350 students before you could stay open so concord got to stay open but we had to annex or consolidate the wilburn district so i know well from my job over 35 years that act 60 greatly affected some schools it's greatly affecting us now in stone county real special in tembo our outer campuses they are separate k-12 entities operating under the mountain view school district they have their
on bus routes they have their own athletic teams they have their own extracurriculars they are acting as independent entities under our umbrella at Mountain View however we are facing some financial questions we operate those three separate campuses under the lowest or second lowest millage rate in the state of Arkansas, 28.91. Our district has tried in the past several on several occasions to pass
a millage increase and failed due to whatever reasons. This is my first year of superintendent there. I've been there six years as assistant superintendent and now superintendent and we can't pass a millage rate increase so we are facing some difficult financial decisions of having to start look at closing two schools one school initially
If something doesn't happen, this act would provide those campuses of Timbo and Rural Special, who both have around 200 students, great schools, great communities. They will fight tooth and nail for their communities and their schools. Mr. Stewart, who Senator Irvin spoke of, one of the Stewart boys, took the initiative back last year or two years ago to redo the Rural Special Gym.
In a matter of two weeks, he had raised over $250,000 from that community to renovate their gym. If something needs to be done in those two communities, they get done. However, we can't come together on a millage. This act, and the reason I'm down here supporting it, would allow those schools to go back in time.
I wish we could go back in time. I think she said a while ago. So it would allow those districts to be reestablished, if you will. They have their own bus routes. They have their own, like I said, their activities, their athletics. They would get to create their own millage. They would get to elect their own board. And they would go back to operating as independent entities. They would get the financial foundation funding for those students.
They would get the isolating funding for those students. And I'm trying to keep this as brief as possible. But Act 60 of 2003-2004 cut a lot of throats due to a number. That number was 350. I don't think that was right. don't think it should ever happen and this bill this law would allow us to maybe put a band-aid
over some scars of act 60. the timbo school district and the rural special school district deserve an opportunity to stay alive basically so with that i'll end my speech and hope for a good vote. Thank you for your comments. Are there
any questions from committee? Seeing none, thank you for your testimony. Thank you.
Thank the committee. That's all those who have signed up to speak for or against the bill. Anyone in the audience wish to speak for or against the bill? Senator Irving, you're recognized to close for your
Senator Missy Irvin
Unverified
41:30
bill. Thank you so much, Mr. Chair and members of the committee. Really, really thank you. I wish we could turn back the clock. Man, I wish we could. And I'm sorry that we can't. But we're here today, and let's just hopefully let these schools stay alive. And with that, it's been an honor to be able to work
and see my community come together in support of this legislation. But a lot of communities all across the state that have reached out. I am floored by the people of the state of Arkansas that are fighting for their communities. And I couldn't be more proud of this bill. And I just appreciate a good vote. We're closed, and I
Representative Steven Walker
Unverified
42:11
make a motion to pass. We have a
motion to pass on the table. Is there any discussion on that motion? I've got a bunch of discussion. Representative McGruder, you're recognized.
Representative Jessie McGruder
Unverified
42:23
Thank you, Mr. Chair. I just want to say as an individual who is an educator and finally serving in the legislature, have observed from afar for years and I have watched these hearings where people big on their hands and knees for their school districts. This is a problem and I want to thank you. I want to thank Representative Barnett for the work that you all have done to get us to this point. I am so blessed to be
serving in my first term as a legislator and I'm doing something that I know is going to impact my community so you have my support 100% I will be voting yes I have one request that we can take a photo when this is done of us working across party lines to do what's best for all
of our districts and I thank you represent McGruder discussed the representative Barnett you recognize
Representative Lincoln Barnett
Unverified
43:28
discussed motion. Yes I just want to publicly thank you for this bill. I
was listening to the presentation prior to arriving here and I know it was shared that Representative Walker is also from a rural isolated community and I can relate to that. I'm from a rural isolated community that face school consolidation and legislation like this and what we passed out a committee the
other day lets rural Arkansans know that they're being seen at the state level so often people that reside in those small rural isolated communities feel left out and ignored and so I just thank you for seeing rural Arkansas and just things. Thank you, Representative Barnett. Representative Duke, you're recognized
to discuss the motion. Thank you, Mr. Chair. Thank
Representative Hope Duke
Unverified
44:30
you, Senator. Thank you, Representative, for bringing
this bill. I remember when I was at 2003, 2004,
whenever some of that consolidation happened, and I had one of the little towns in my district, and I think my dad was representing in some way, shape, or form at that time, this area, but they missed because the number dropped enough. I think it was to 350 and they missed but they were going to be consolidated and that little town now because years have passed and northwest Arkansas has changed and now it is growing and you can just kind of feel it on the edge of all that growth happening on in our county now that nobody thought
was going to happen like that and it's changed and because that little school is there it's not going to be a little school and you know it's going to start growing and that but that sense of community and that sense of pride and all of those things that go around those small towns was remained intact and so I echo the same I wish we could unring the bell and who knows maybe there'll be a way to do that someday but I am so supportive of this and I'm so thankful that y'all did this and I'm excited for those doors it's going to open back up and allow communities to
stay intact and keep their schools and keep their community thank you I will absolutely be
Representative Stetson Painter
Unverified
45:44
voting for this bill. Representative Painter you're recognized for discussion. Thank you Senator Irvin and represent Walker I appreciate this bill I've been to Timbo I've actually worked with Judge Amy for many years the graduate of Timbo and Fox area and I'll tell you what there's just as much passion if not more in those small rural districts and being there and watching the kids getting an adequate
education and like the gentleman from the Kingston area they are in the top and so thank you very much represent Barnett thank you for
your bill previous or earlier, it's about time that we take care of rural education. Thank you. Representative Fall, you're recognized.
Representative DeAnn Vaught
Unverified
46:27
Thank you, Mr. Chair. I've seen little towns go to nothing. Like there's literally nothing there. And you see those buildings standing there. And
you're sad for those towns that lost all that camaraderie. because that town does need that school to have that connection. I know that sounds so weird, but I think they have to have the school to have the community connection that they need. You can say what you want to say about Friday Night Lights, but it is big time in rural Arkansas. It's something that every single person looks forward to.
It doesn't matter if your team is winning or losing. It's not like the Razorbacks. It doesn't matter. They just want to be there to support their children, their grandchildren, their nieces, their nephews, whatever it might be. And, you know, we're in the swing of baseball and softball. That would be like, you know, the next rule, big rule thing. They love them some baseball and softball and being out there with their kids and their kids running around watching big brother, big sister play ball.
And when kids from a rural community get shoved into a bigger school, I think it causes a lot of angst between two towns that never was meant to be. I think it really does. I think it pits people against each other because my mascot was a lion and now you're wanting me to be an eagle or whatever it is. And I really didn't have a say. What I love about this is it is up to the people.
If they want to keep their school, it's up to them. And I think a lot of rural schools are going to do whatever they've got to do to keep their schools up and running because they want to do it for their kids. And I truly appreciate that so much. And I do, too, like you, wish we could rewind the clock because I've seen the devastation firsthand. So thank you all. Representative Gonzalez-Werlin,
Representative Justin Gonzales
Unverified
48:40
you're recognized for discussion. Thank you. I grew up in a rural school district in Texas and had that opportunity
and had a chance to serve on the board of Winthrop Rockefeller Foundation, and we were doing a tour, and I had the chance to go to Elaine. And it hurt my heart to see the empty school buildings, as a teacher even more so, because they had to consolidate, and how devastating that was for the community because communities, rural communities, as Representative Vaught said, they rally around their schools, their students, you know, whoever is,
and it doesn't matter who wins or loses, and if there's a need, somebody in the community is going to figure it out. And so I applaud you, both of you, for bringing this, and also Representative Barnett as well. So yay for rural schools. Thank you. Seeing no additional discussion, we have a
motion on the table. If you pass as amended. All in favor say aye. Aye.
All opposed, congratulations. Representative Walker and Senator Irvin, you passed your bill. Thank you so much. Senator Irvin, without objection, I believe we'll move to another bill on the agenda. 484. 484. Representative McCollum, you're recognized. If you would please introduce yourself. So clarify,
Representative Austin McCollum
Unverified
50:11
Senator Irvin, so we've got 484 and then 373. Is that the last one? That's it. Okay, awesome. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, committee. Today we have SB 484 in front of you. And, of
course, we have a lovely senator next to me. Representative McCollum
would make a request, since we're on camera, to have your jacket on. Good idea. Request. Trying to keep within our rules.
Representative Austin McCollum
Unverified
50:50
but we do all appreciate how fit you are it's thank you mr. chair recognized running a tight ship it's good I want to be within the decorum so we've talked a little bit I think it was yesterday about school boards and a few things before we kind of go into maybe a little more detail you know this is going to retain the power of remaining members of school district boards of directors to fill those
vacancies, which we discussed yesterday, followed by the quorum court if the school board fails to act. This is going to establish a transparent process to fill vacancies on school boards. You recall earlier in the session, Representative McKenzie had that HB 1724, I believe, that moves the school board elections to those even years and, you know, allow for potential of two-year vacancies rather than the current maximum of one year, depending on the timing of the vacancy.
So SB 484, we're going to allow for transparency, and the reason we're saying transparency is by forcing all the aspects of this process to be done in public. Furthermore, we're going to require to announce the vacancy using the existing communication systems that they already have and posting information on their website. We believe that would be major innovation in the name of transparency. So overall, we believe this is a big improvement from the existing law
and fixes some of those problems and makes a good-faith attempt at creating
Senator Missy Irvin
Unverified
52:38
a better process. I will just also state I really appreciate Ms. Renee Carr. She also helped me, helped with this legislation, as did Mr. Rush and actually folks of our school board when there's a vacancy. You just got to make sure, hey, it's open. Who wants to apply for it? Here's the process. Here's how we're
going to do this. So it just creates more buy-in from the community
and lets them be aware and be a part of the process. So I'm happy to answer any questions.
Representative Austin McCollum
Unverified
53:08
And as you mentioned, Representative Meeks isn't here, and even you, Representative Beck, yesterday on this discussion of trying to deal with the topic of making sure more community involvement with the school board, that we have quality candidates. So it's in the spirit of that as well. Are there any questions from committee?
I think I have a question. Representative
Representative Hope Duke
Unverified
53:36
Duke, you're recognized for your question. Thank you, Mr. Chair. My question is on page three, lines one and two, and it's just on the qualified electors. Who is, where is it being, where are they being submitted and who verifies
their qualified electors? Yeah, it should
Senator Missy Irvin
Unverified
53:56
be the county clerk would be able to qualify, you know, if they live in the district,
just like you would with like a JP quorum court. So they'll submit
Representative Hope Duke
Unverified
54:05
it to the county clerk. I'm just trying to make sure the process is all buttoned up. I don't have a problem with it. So they will submit it to the county clerk, and the county clerk will verify it and let them know you're good. Yes. Like we do with – is it in
there? Representative Vaught, you're recognized for your – Okay. Are there any other questions from committee? Representative McGruder, you're recognized for a question.
Representative Jessie McGruder
Unverified
54:33
Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Chair. Page
three, line 15, need a little bit of clarification on that. School district board of directors or county quorum court may fill a vacancy only with a candidate who has submitted a timely, valid, and sufficient petition on this section. I'm understanding the word of the county quorum court being involved in this. I'm trying to understand that
Speaker 182
55:01
language. I think that is the current process.
Representative Austin McCollum
Unverified
55:05
Um, of, uh, kind of directionally if, you know, step B quorum court is allowed to be involved in that process. I
Representative Jessie McGruder
Unverified
55:16
don't think that's actually a change. So basically the school district just appoints the vacancy and they just forward it
Senator Missy Irvin
Unverified
55:26
to the quorum court is what we're doing. Well, they're the backstop. Like if, if something, if the school district for some reason can't fill the vacancy, then we'd go to the quorum court as like the second alternative so because as the backstop you kind
of always have to have like first this then this if they can't get it done kind of a thing so that's that's just what
Representative Austin McCollum
Unverified
55:48
it does and I'd say furthermore you know the and I probably
should have said like the main goal with this the problem we're trying to solve we don't want to go x amount of time without representation. So we're trying to standardize expectations of how to get these filled 90 days or so without having someone in that position I think is problematic. So trying to find some reasonable alternative here. And for it to remain at local control.
Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Chair. Motion to pass at the proper time. at the proper time. Any other questions from committee? Seeing none, anyone signed up to speak for or against? Anyone wishes to speak for or against? You're recognized to close. I'm closed. Closed. We have a motion due pass. Any discussion on the motion? Seeing none, all those
Senator Missy Irvin
Unverified
56:50
in favor say aye. Aye. All opposed nay. Congratulations, you've passed your bill. Thank you. Mr. Chair. Thank you. I'm going to come back on 373 and I'm not sure if Ms. Jansen is in the room. Fran Jansen. She's with the treasurer's office and she would probably need to be here to answer the questions. It's just a technical.
that's fine would you like to do 618 our bill yes yeah yes no I'll just sit down here I don't want to sit down there yeah oh I can
Representative Denise Garner
Unverified
57:34
I know that I know it's surprising to the members of the committee that we have
run through so many bills so fast so it's just kind of I think we're assuming we just should do but more multiple bills sometimes it
Representative Austin McCollum
Unverified
57:51
is a blur can I do SP 624 well I'm here it's the same same exact bill that we already passed is
senator Irvin done with all of her bills okay so thank you senator We'll take you when you get back, and then Representative McCollum, since you're down there,
Representative Denise Garner
Unverified
58:07
yes, please, you're recognized for Senate Bill 624, is that right? Yes,
Representative Austin McCollum
Unverified
58:13
sir. So thank you, Mr. Chair. Thank you,
committee. SB 624 is the same exact wording, same exact sponsors of the bill that we passed on the floor yesterday, as well as we already passed that of this committee, and I'd appreciate a good vote at the proper time. Are there questions for Representative
McCollum? Representative Duke, you're recognized for a question.
Representative Hope Duke
Unverified
58:40
Thank you, Mr. Chair, and thank you, Representative McCollum, along the lines of the same question I had yesterday, and maybe if we could have the department come up and help with that, have clarity on it, on the 95% cap and the choice piece. Ms. Salisford, if you would please introduce her
Speaker 62
58:59
for the record. While she's making her way up here, I'm sure
Representative Austin McCollum
Unverified
59:04
you've seen us do this before on other bills, having companion bills, so just near the end of the session.
Representative Hope Duke
Unverified
59:12
Courtney Salisford, Department of Education. Thank you. So my question, just because we had several questions yesterday, as you know, before we went into the chamber, and so I just want clarity today before we go through this one again so I know exactly what happened, what's going on with the two different choice programs, and the cap before, cap after, whatever, just clear. I think you know what I'm trying to understand. So if you could give that
Speaker 206
59:40
clarity, I would sure appreciate it. Right. Okay. So there are two school choice programs currently in statute,
Opportunity School Choice and Public School Choice. And I won't go into the details of those unless you need me to. But there were existing code sections that talked about capacity. In 2023, Act 790 was passed, which amended both of the school choice sections. Specifically on public school choice, it amended 618-1903-C to change the ability of a school district to deny based on capacity to say that they had to meet the maximum capacity.
So for easy reference, I'm going to refer to that as 100%. So they had to be at 100% of capacity. However, they did not repeal the 90% language that was already in statute. So we ended up with a conflict of 1903C said maximum 100%, 1903D said 90%. And as a lawyer, I would give anything in the world for Chief Justice Kemp to walk back in right now.
But because of the principles of statutory construction and jurisprudence set by the courts, we have to apply the later enacted law which would be the maximum and if it's possible we have to harmonize both sections so that a district could comply with both and so if you are complying with the 100 you are also thereby complying with the 90 you could not do the reverse so there's my little legal presentation for the day um but so again so in in uh representative mccullum's bill
he is now fixing that that conflict by saying that for both of them it will be 95 percent so he is actually reducing from the current maximum of 100 percent down to 95 percent for both school choice programs. Follow up? Recognize. So before we had
Representative Hope Duke
Unverified
1:01:48
all the conflicts, what was the general practice of the schools? Do you know? Before the
Speaker 206
1:01:57
conflict became up in 23? Yes, ma'am.
Well, it was actually different. It was 90% for school choice. It was 95% for opportunity school choice. Okay. Okay. I think
Representative Hope Duke
Unverified
1:02:07
that's good. I just wanted that confusion, at least the confusion some of us
Representative Lincoln Barnett
Unverified
1:02:12
had. Yes. I will express appreciation for his cleaning that up because school districts have been
Speaker 206
1:02:17
in a quandary for the last two years of which one do we apply. We've had to answer that question a lot of times. So this brings some much needed clarification. Thank you. Appreciate that. Are there additional
Chair
Unverified
1:02:30
questions from the committee? Representative Garner, you're
Representative Denise Garner
Unverified
1:02:32
recognized. Thank you, Mr. Chair. I just have a quick question. I think it's a quick question. So in any of the codes, does it suggest that the folks who live in the district have priority over
Representative Lincoln Barnett
Unverified
1:02:47
someone who's trying to transfer? So a student who is a resident of the school district has obviously priority
Speaker 206
1:02:53
to stay in their district, but the school district can still require them to go to their zoned school. Some school districts allow students and parents to apply to go to an unzoned school.
That's completely up to the school district. Under Opportunity School Choice, if that school is an F school, then they do have the right and priority to choose to go to another school. And then that capacity language kicks in of you can only deny it if you're at that capacity. So in the
Representative Denise Garner
Unverified
1:03:21
school itself, not just the district, in the school itself, if you're a resident of that school, you have priority over those folks coming in. Yes. I just want to make sure that was in there still. Yes, it still is.
Okay, perfect. Are there additional questions on the committee?
Representative Denise Garner
Unverified
1:03:42
Thank you, Ms. Salis-Ford. Seeing no additional questions, we do not have anyone signed up to speak for or against this bill. Would anyone like to speak for or against the bill? Seeing none, Representative
Representative Austin McCollum
Unverified
1:03:51
McCollum, would you like to close for your bill? Thank you for your patience. Thanks for that question, too. Hopefully, it's a good
Representative Denise Garner
Unverified
1:03:58
clarification. Appreciate a good vote. Thanks. Representative McCollum is closed for his bill and has made a motion.
Motion to pass. Pass. Is there discussion on the motion? I'll just offer a little brief discussion. I appreciate you, Representative McCollum, for bringing this, for providing some clarity. I think it's been helpful for everybody. The discussion has been very good, so thank you for doing that. Any additional
discussion? Seeing none, all in favor say aye. All opposed? Congratulations, Representative McCollum. You've passed
Representative Denise Garner
Unverified
1:04:27
your bill. Committee, I'm going to yield the chair to Vice Chair McKenzie and present a couple bills.
then you can be recognized to present your bill.
Representative Austin McCollum
Unverified
1:04:53
Mr. Chair, Keith Brooks, State Representative, District 78. Without objection, I'm going to be the first
Representative Denise Garner
Unverified
1:05:01
bill on the agenda, which is Senate Bill 402. it's Senator Penzo's bill this uh this bill
is actually quite uh simple it basically just bans
captive audiences and so uh the bill just allows or or prescribes it be illegal for associations unions co-ops to recruit members on school campuses during a work day so basically just uh forcing people to uh to be recruited for certain things this is an agreed upon bill AAEA was helpful with the language on it, and there's no opposition. And with that, I would be happy to take any questions. Are there any questions from
committee? Dr. Hernandez, would you – I'm just kidding.
He has not been to the table enough. Oh, you weren't here when we tormented him the other day. Oh, sorry. Yeah. Anyone wish to speak for or against the bill? Seeing none,
you're recognized. Close for your bill? I'm closed for the bill. I make a motion to do pass. We have a motion to do pass on the table. Any discussion on the
Representative Denise Garner
Unverified
1:06:03
motion? Seeing none, all those in favor say aye. Aye. All opposed? No. Congratulations. You've passed your bill. Thank you, Mr. Chair. Thank you, Committee. Mr. Chair,
without objection, I'm going to move to Senate Bill 425.
425. Yes, sir. And with your permission, I'd like to bring Mr. Greg Rogers to the table. Absolutely. Is it Dr. or Mr. Rogers? I
call him the great Mr. Greg Rogers. Once you let us know who you are,
Representative Austin McCollum
Unverified
1:06:37
you'll be recognized. Greg Rogers, Department of Education. You're recognized. Thank you, Mr. Chair,
committee. So Senate Bill 425 comes to us from Senator English.
This is just another portion of adequacy. This is the enhanced transportation funding portion of adequacy. So it's something that came out of our adequacy recommendations for the 10-month process. This is just the clarifying what the dollars are for the school districts that have enhanced transportation portions and the amounts. And with that, Mr. Rogers will be happy to answer any questions. Representative Cozart, you're recognized for a question.
Representative Bruce Cozart
Unverified
1:07:12
Mr. Rogers. So why do these numbers change so much every two years?
Speaker 228
1:07:19
It's a loaded question. Yeah, well, as you know, this is a formula that's done by BLR where they
Speaker 37
1:07:27
look at the route, miles, number of students on the buses and the cost that districts had as compared to the revenues they received through transportation, other transportation sources, including foundation funding, and they reshuffle it to make sure that within the, I think it's eight and a half million dollars, that was the adequacy recommendation they stayed within. So, let it go. Yeah, I got plenty for him.
Representative Bruce Cozart
Unverified
1:07:50
No, not really. So when you say that the American Rescue Funds kind of hindered this process for a couple of obsessions when they were getting those and they weren't spending their transportation, enhanced transportation dollars in the right place or their transportation money, they used that and that kind of put them in a different category for a while. Are we kind of
Speaker 232
1:08:10
coming out of that is what I guess my question
Speaker 37
1:08:14
is. Yes. When they had the ESSER funds that they could utilize for those different things with the
Speaker 228
1:08:19
expiration date on those, they were having to utilize those first.
Okay. Thank you, sir. Thank you, Mr. Chair. Representative Duke,
you're recognized for a question? Oh, how about that? Two for one. Any other questions from committee? Nope. Seeing none, no one is here to speak for or against the bill. Anyone wish to speak for or against the bill? Seeing none, Chairman Brooks, you're recognized to close for your bill. Thank you, Mr. Chair. I am closed for the bill. I make a motion to pass. I have a motion to pass on the table. Any discussion on the motion? Seeing none, all those in favor say aye.
All opposed, nay. Congratulations, you passed your bill.
Representative Austin McCollum
Unverified
1:08:57
Thank you, Mr. Chair. Thank you, committee. And without objection, I'm going to run one other bill on behalf of Senator English. It's on the second page. It's Senate Bill
Representative Denise Garner
Unverified
1:09:07
149. Senate Bill 149. Senate Bill 149. Members, this is the Senate version of adequacy. So we passed out House Bill 1312 last week. We'll pass it off of a floor
today. This is just a Senate version of the adequacy bill. I do want to highlight one difference. So ultimately, we're planning to utilize the House bill to be the one that finalizes it through the process
and is signed by the governor because the House bill had one difference from this bill, which was striking the language relative to PLCs, the $16.5 million, which we struck in the House bill. It is not stricken within this. And so that portion is relative to Representative McKenzie's bill, 1874, that gives the department the flexibility to utilize those funds. But, again, this is kind of part of the whole solution tree discussion that took place last fall, which is why we removed it from our House bill to give the authority to utilize those funds for implementation of LEARNs.
But I would ask the committee for the approval to pass this bill out. just so we can have it sitting there should there be any hiccups quite frankly because we want to make sure that our public schools are funded so with that i'd be happy to take any questions are there any questions
from committee representative you got one you're recognized for a question today
Representative Austin McCollum
Unverified
1:10:36
thank you mr chair and my apologies i was up doing all kinds of stuff but um
can you say the part that you said again regarding solution tree
please so obviously we know that there were discussions last fall surrounding a sole source contract for six and a half million dollars for solution tree that did not continue forward and so those funds are uh have have been in statute again we removed them from the adequacy adequacy portion of statute in the house bill represent mckenzie ran 1874 which came through this committee which takes that same uh bucket of funds and gives the department the leniency to utilize it for learns implementation, which
this committee was agreeable to. And so that is just a discussion on those funds. Yes, sir.
Representative Austin McCollum
Unverified
1:11:19
Thank you. You were just referencing as a background how we
got here. Yeah. Thanks. Thank you, Representative. Are there any other questions from committee? No one signed up to speak? Pardon?
Representative Jessie McGruder
Unverified
1:11:33
Representative Grutter's question. I'm sorry, Representative Grutter. I don't do it on purpose. I know. I know, Mr. Chair. Thank you so much. Page two, line three. and maybe I haven't asked this question uh gradually facing out the teacher salary
equalization funding to increase the average teacher salary in Arkansas public schools so I think Mr. Rogers
if you'd like to come table uh with the chair's permission we addressed that yeah so we we addressed
Representative Austin McCollum
Unverified
1:11:58
that I'll let him introduce himself Greg Rogers department education so we addressed that when we talked about 1312 last week but i'll let him
kind of go and explain it again so the teacher house teacher the history of the teacher salary equalization portion uh was with governor hutchinson um several years ago
bringing people from 32 up to 36 as a minimum salary uh so that was part of it however with learns uh implementation and money being out there that brought everybody up to 50 or if you're above that two thousand dollar raise uh those funds have kind of been offset and so the agreement within within the adequacy process was to phase out the teacher salary equalization because it's being spent on the other side there. So I'll let Greg explain that further. Yes, we're phasing out the teacher equalization, but that is
Speaker 36
1:12:43
going to go over into what we call the learned salary, where that's where we got everybody up to the $50,000 or the
Speaker 37
1:12:50
$2,000 raise. So that funds aren't going away. That $60 million is changing from this bucket to this bucket. So it's still going to be there to be given out to districts
Representative Jessie McGruder
Unverified
1:13:00
to use for salaries. Okay. So was the equalization fund the steps or that was just the salary of 36? Right.
Speaker 36
1:13:07
That was just under a previous administration to get to assist districts get up to the minimum of 36 back then.
Representative Bruce Cozart
Unverified
1:13:14
All right. Thank you. Representative Cozart, you're recognized for a question. Thank you, Mr. Chair. So remind me the 16 million that we pulled out of PLC
money. Where is that going to be used at? So that's reallocated in House
1874 which represent McKinsey is running on the floor today it gives the department the flexibility to utilize that for learns
Speaker 245
1:13:33
implementation so it's not going to go for anything in PD or it could be PD through learns it
Representative Bruce Cozart
Unverified
1:13:39
could be yes sir and then we still have
Representative Austin McCollum
Unverified
1:13:41
the other sixty and a half million I want to make sure you say that I'm out correctly that's that's directed for
PD within the matrix that's still there okay this is just the additional PLC money that was dedicated for solution tree I understand
that okay now I understand exactly what Thank you.
Representative Hope Duke
Unverified
1:13:59
Representative Duke, you're recognized for a question. Thank you, Mr. Chair. So in line with the Teacher Salary Equalization Fund, you're phasing that out. Those districts that were not receiving that money before, that were kind of in that gap, and we kind of tried to, I guess the governor tried to address that and help them, how does that fit all here with this and with the districts that are, see if I can say this correctly, that were adding new teachers, like up this cycle, and are they going to receive money to get them up to the $50,000 that were not originally in that,
or are they doing that with district dollars? So
Speaker 36
1:14:37
the $60 million is going into the learning spot, and it is being reset to make it
Speaker 37
1:14:41
eligible for all districts. And then how we're looking at that is it phases out, looking at like the number of poverty students that you have free and reduced lunch I'm sorry that will be a multiplier that that will be given to them as well so all districts receive that 60 million part of that 60 million dollars as far as the new teachers going into that is something that y'all do address each time with adequacy study where I think this past time you added an
FTE into the foundation funding to help get that increased cost as well as increase the line item in the salary line on about two and a half 2.4 percent so each one of those steps that y'all went through doing the adequacy process should be there to help those to those school districts that are having to bring in those two teachers at the 50,000 are there
any other questions from committee represent Garner
Representative Denise Garner
Unverified
1:15:38
would you might turn your mic on sorry I still have a concern about this especially the smaller districts trying to make that happen so that money will be for merit
Speaker 35
1:15:52
pay then or no it'll go into the salary line item
Representative Denise Garner
Unverified
1:15:56
for for all districts yes okay and then divided up with an emphasis on or priority on free
Speaker 245
1:16:03
The mayor pay is a separate line on the lines, yes.
Okay. Seeing no other questions, no one signed up to speak for or against. Anyone in the audience wish to speak for or against? Seeing none, Chairman Brooks, you're recognized to close.
Representative Austin McCollum
Unverified
1:16:18
Thank you, Mr. Chair. Thank you, committee. And again, the purpose of running this bill out of the committee is to make sure that it is there, just in case we had issues relative
to what we already passed out of this committee. Because again, our commitment to make sure we fund school. So with that, I'm closed for the bill. I'll make a motion due pass. I have a motion due passed.
Any discussion on that motion? Seeing none, all those in favor say aye. Aye. All those opposed, nay.
Representative Austin McCollum
Unverified
1:16:40
Congratulations, you've passed your bill. Thank you, Mr. Chair. Thank you, Committee. Mr. Chair, with your blessing, I am going to go to Senate Bill
604. 604. And would like to bring Senator Davis and Ms. Salas Ford to the table.
If she is around, Senator Davis obviously is around.
Senator Davis, if you just recognize yourself for the record.
Senator Breanne Davis
Unverified
1:17:10
Brianne Davis, State Senate, District 25. Glad to have you
down on this side. So, Mr. Chair, committee, thank you. We
Representative Austin McCollum
Unverified
1:17:19
are presenting Senate Bill 604. There is the superstar, Ms. Salis Ford. We'd like to welcome you to the table, if you don't mind. Courtney Salis for Department of Education. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Chair, committee. So Senate Bill 604 is basically just a pausing or extending out of the course choice. So course choice program was part of LEARNS, and to this point, we don't have all the rules promulgated for it through the department. And so we had several school districts approach us and ask to move the date, the implementation date, and so it's just moving that date out to the 26-27 school year. And would they be happy to
answer any questions? Are there any questions from committee?
Seeing none, no one signed up to speak for or against. Anyone in the audience wish to speak for or against? Seeing none, you recognize the
close for your bill. Thank you, Mr. Chair. I'm close for the bill. I'll make a motion to do pass. I have a motion to do pass on the table. Any discussion on that motion? Seeing none, all those in favor indicate by saying
aye. Aye. Opposed, nay. Congratulations, you've passed your bill. Thank you, Mr. Chair. Thank you, committee. And without objection, I'll come back up there. We're going to recognize Senator Davis.
Representative Austin McCollum
Unverified
1:18:55
All right, members, again, without objection, we're going to move to Senate Bill 450 with Senator
Senator Breanne Davis
Unverified
1:19:06
Davis, if you would please introduce yourself, and you're recognized. Thank you. Brianne Davis, State Senate, District 25. All right, members, this is Senate Bill 450, the human growth and development discussion. So we're just putting fetal growth and development discussion to be put into classes as determined by the Department of Education.
They already work relevant standards every couple years when they're updating curriculum, so we put it in there and left it up to them to determine the appropriate grade levels for students to receive this education. The only thing mandated in it is that they shall show a high-definition ultrasound that just shows brain, heart, sex organs, and other vital organs in early fetal development and have discussion around that. I'm happy to take any questions. Representative Nazarenko, you're recognized for a question.
Representative Jason Nazarenko
Unverified
1:20:01
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Just to appreciate the bill, I think it's great. Just for clarification, this is
really just a companion bill for Representative Bentley had brought one, and I think it was the same. Is that correct? That's not correct. Okay,
it's not. They are two different bills. Okay, well, good. Because I know we had some questions on the video that was here, so I was thinking it was really close. I like this one as well so I like them both uh and proper time I have
Senator Breanne Davis
Unverified
1:20:31
a motion to pass so this this omits the video part uh but they are still allowed to use any videos or anything like
that they would like in the curriculum as tools follow up Mr.
Representative Jason Nazarenko
Unverified
1:20:43
Chair you're recognized and you said it was an ultrasound that was an actual ultrasound I think you had mentioned that yes Right. Yes, that's correct. I remember that from the last one, so I'll still hold with that
Speaker 71
1:20:59
motion to pass. Representative Gonzalez-Werlin, you recognize for a question? Thank
Representative Justin Gonzales
Unverified
1:21:03
you, Chair. Yes, quick question, and it's related to, so the Department of Ed, in consultation,
I'm looking at, uh, page one lines 36 and then the top of page two, uh, in consultation with the department of health will determine the grade level, um, for the human fetal growth and development discussion. I guess I'm wondering, will the department, are we leaving it up to the schools on which to show?
Or will there be, will these videos or information during the course, will they be vetted? Or it's just up to the
teacher in the school district what to show? That's just. Yeah,
Senator Breanne Davis
Unverified
1:21:55
so it will be vetted, this group. It says on at the bottom of page one that the department shall include this human fetal growth and development discussion and the relevant standards during the Arkansas academic standards revision cycle, which I believe is every two years that they are updating curriculum and what can be used, you know, what isn't on the list to be used.
and so the department vets all of that and then the schools um and teachers can can choose from that so it's it won't be like a you know a rogue thing it'll be vetted and that's why we put in consultation with the department of health um because they do some work in our schools as well in these health classes um and we just i just wanted to leave it to the experts to determine when was age appropriate for these students to have these conversations because there is human growth and development standards K through 12 already.
So I just wanted to leave it to them to determine where this part, this standard fits
Representative Justin Gonzales
Unverified
1:22:56
in with the standards that we currently have. Okay. So if I'm a biology teacher, I actually am a biology teacher, and also if a teacher is in family and consumer science, I believe, And there's several different classes where this would be relevant.
And so as a teacher, I would be able to go to the Department of Ed's website or somewhere to find which videos are appropriate for my grade level, whether it's elementary science or middle school or high school. And those would be appropriate, and they've already been vetted. And so I wouldn't be able to select one on my own to show to my students. Correct.
Senator Breanne Davis
Unverified
1:23:45
And I can't even imagine that this part of the standard would fit into elementary.
I imagine it would be, you know, much farther up in secondary. I don't know that. You know, like I said, we'll let them determine that. But, yes, if they put this within a standard that you are meeting in your class, then you will have the resources that you know are approved by Department of Ed to be able to utilize to teach that curriculum in your class. Okay, thank you. Thank you. Representative Garner, you're recognized for a question? I turned it off this time.
Representative Denise Garner
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1:24:25
Seeing no additional questions, we do not have anyone signed up to speak for or against this bill. Would anyone like to speak for or against the bill? Seeing none, Senator Davis, would you like a close for your bill? I'm closed and ask for a good vote. Thank you, committee. Senator Davis is closed for a bill. We have a motion to do pass on the table. It's a discussion on that
Representative Austin McCollum
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1:24:44
motion. See no discussion. All in favor say aye. All opposed. Congratulations, Senator Davis. You've passed your bill. Members, without objection, we will move now to Senate Bill 451.
And we do have a fiscal impact that's just come across on that. So we're going to let the staff pass out that fiscal impact. Thank you.
So, members, I always take a look at the fiscal impact. We'll recognize Representative Richardson, if you will, please introduce
Representative R. Scott Richardson
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1:26:00
yourself, and then you'll recognize. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Good morning, committee. Scott Richardson. I represent District 13 in the House.
Ready? Off we go. So I am presenting for your consideration Senate Bill 451. As you guys remember, I've been in this committee a few times. One of the bills that I committed here was the Teacher and Student Protection Act, providing some help to our teachers, giving them a seat at the table to have conversations around violent students in the classroom and how we deal with those. This is another bill along that line really trying to help us address this epidemic that we have going on
across our state and across the nation with violent students in the classroom. This bill is a wonderful step in the right direction, in my opinion, and probably one of the most, at least for me, the most impactful bills that I've had an opportunity to be a part of. This bill provides that the Department of Education along with the Department of Health work together to create mental health crisis response teams specifically for these violent students
and that they would respond to and create for those students appropriate action plans to help them deal with the violent tendencies. As most of us in this room are very well aware, violent tendencies often, if not always, have underlying root causes. Until we're able to address those from a mental health perspective, we're always going to be challenged with violence or inappropriate actions in our classrooms.
This bill is that first step, getting us to a point that we can start to really work together to try to bring these kids back around to where they can function effectively and eventually, hopefully, overcome some of the challenges that they have to be productive members of society. The fiscal impact
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statement that you have in front of you was kind of a cooperative effort back and forth.
Representative R. Scott Richardson
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1:28:21
This is a conversation that's ongoing around the cost, and I know that the community may have heard different reports around what this is going to cost us. I would suggest to you that the cost is worth it. It is going to be expensive. There's no question about it. This is the first step as a pilot program. We're going to limit it to 500 students. At the end, it's going to cost about $4 million annually for these 500 students.
And they need the help, and we have an obligation to provide that help. So let's get the pilot program out. Let's see if we can make it work, make adjustments as necessary, and keep this moving in the right direction. And with that, I'm happy to try to field your questions. Representative Walker,
Chair
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1:29:11
you're recognized for a question. So
Representative Steven Walker
Unverified
1:29:15
looking at the fiscal impact statement, it shows that it's going to pull $12 million out of a $35.7 million pot
in alternative learning fund, which is a 33% hit, if I'm doing the math correct. So what will that do to our current alternative learning programs that are in our school districts? I'll
Speaker 280
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let the department speak to the specific impacts of that, if that's okay. Is that okay? That's
Representative Lincoln Barnett
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1:29:47
right. Courtney Salis for Department of Education CFO walked out but I think I can try to manage
Speaker 206
1:29:53
so we've said this before when our fiscal impacts are developed we kind of do a worst case scenario if every student if we filled every seat how how would this fiscally impact the state. And so because these students would be eligible for ALE funding, that's the amount of money that would be being distributed. But that doesn't affect the funding for any other ALE because it's a per student funding. And so if your school district had 100 kids in ALE,
they're still going to get that funding for their 100 kids. But if 10 of your kids go to these new programs and they're ALE eligible, then the funding for those 10 kids would follow them. So it's not taking away from existing. It's just the money is going to follow the student. Without objection, I'm going to recognize
Greg Rogers just so he can get into the question. They were asking about
Speaker 37
1:30:46
the fiscal impact. Greg Rogers, Department of Education. So I don't know where we were, but, yeah, the ALE funding that we have,
first of all, the ALE is paid on a reimbursement, so they would have had to be in this and gone through that. And that amount that we have for ALE is set by adequacy. But we do have times where an ALE has increased more than we projected during the adequacy process, and we will go to ALE at that time and do a reallocation of resources and move appropriation around there to make sure that the ALE funding wasn't up there. Follow-up? You
Representative Steven Walker
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1:31:21
recognize. So let's just take the worst-case scenario then, since that's the calculations we have on the sheet.
Again, if we're taking $12 million out of the $35 million and we're putting additional students in this new program that may not have been in ALE in the first place, I'm assuming if this increase takes away from that $35 million, we're not putting in additional funds. It's a $35.7 million max, and if we're taking $12 million out of that, what's that going to leave with our current expenditure through our ALE programs throughout the
Speaker 35
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state now. Well, like when I first came in and Courtney was talking about that, that's the worst case scenario
Speaker 37
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on that. So I have to take the percentage of how many kids I think will be in this and how much I think it'll cost. And that's why I'm saying that this is, we do have $35.7 million for that line item right now. We haven't utilized all of it in the past, so there is some room in there, but that is what I do budget and likewise of course this since this is adequacy if there is something that we do have a this big number and it does come out we would go
to AOC move their appropriation around and then take that as part of our adequacy funding to make sure that it was completely funded so there wouldn't be any ALE program shorted we would just come to AOC to make sure that we had enough appropriation to fund all the ALEs necessary
Representative Steven Walker
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1:32:49
how big is the gap that we have right now the cushion that you're talking about just ballpark it don't have to be spot on gosh
Speaker 37
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I'd be scared to say I know that there's always because like I said it is in reimbursement it is based off the number of kids that have been identified from ALE so it varies year to year but
I would there's usually three four five million maybe in there
Speaker 228
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and I may be really underneath that. But that's about where it is. Okay. Last question.
Representative Steven Walker
Unverified
1:33:18
Yeah, you're fine. So you said if we went above the $35.7 million, we would go to ALC, ask to put more in the pot. What would that money take away from if we pull from something? Or I'm assuming we're pulling from something to move into the $35.7 million. So where will that hit come from? That would depend on what other
Speaker 288
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line items I have at that time what other savings I had another
Speaker 37
1:33:43
line I just got a message that last year we spent 28 million out of the total 35.7 so we should be good there to cover all that but if there's another one since we do these projections on two years there's
Speaker 228
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usually some places I can I can move from different pots to make sure if I have to increase that
Speaker 206
1:34:01
appropriation that I can cover it okay thank you mr. chair if I could just reiterate that and that per-student funding is set in statute as a per-student amount. So as to what Mr. Rogers
said, no school district is going to lose money because of this. If we have to shift money around as we often have to and get in more appropriation, the money is already there. We would have to come and get that appropriation to be able to spend it for those ALE students, but we're not asking for any additional funding for this. Okay. Thank you. That basically
Representative Steven Walker
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1:34:33
answered my question. I just wanted to be sure that we weren't going to penalize kids that are currently in the program. Not at all. Okay. Thank you.
To that end, I'm being led to believe now that this fiscal note accomplishes what we're required to do as
we run anything that affects K-12, but there's also an additional DHS level of support. Can anyone speak to that? Oh, hi. Hi, Secretary. Would
you mind coming to the table? Can we get the
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department to do that? Yeah. Thank you. Good morning. Christy Putnam, Secretary, DHS. Yes, there is a fiscal note. Again, you know, we're anticipating running this as a pilot. We'll have to get a baseline.
But, you know, anticipating that we have about 500 students who need the highest level of care for a three-month period, it is a $4 million Medicaid state share cost. There's a range, and I believe we are going to get you guys the updated fiscal impact from DHS as well. But most of these students would be Medicaid eligible. For those students who are not, there are commercial insurance companies who also would cover some of the services that we are going to put together in conjunction in partnership with ADE.
But we do think that providing services earlier, again, while this is not our bill, we've worked on the concept behind it. We've helped develop a lot of the information about the programs and services, and we are very hopeful that taking the preventive approach earlier in the schools will mean that there are fewer students later on who need a higher acuity level of service. Okay. Well, thank you
for that. I think just to that end, obviously we have, as Mr. Rogers mentioned,
we have carryover savings in this ALE account because we're not expending all of it on a reimbursement basis. So there's a slower bleed. Also, great questions from Representative Walker. He also just passed a bill out of here that has changed the essential nature of ALE
to a May. So either the sponsor or Ms. Salas-Ford, we could reasonably deduce that because it's turned to a May, we may see districts offer different services, thus creating a savings for
Speaker 206
1:36:45
the state, correct? Exactly. And I would say very much that this works in companion to Representative Walker's bill,
that students who may have previously been served in ALE because that's no longer a required service, if it's more appropriate for them to be in these programs or for an in-school, more of an in-school type,
yes, we feel like it will balance out. Very good. So in reality, we have a $12 million and then a $4 million. So it's $12 million ADE, $4 million DHS fiscal impact out of a $35.5 million ALE.
fund. Um, so in terms of sufficiency, we should,
we should feel comfortable with where we are. Yes, we do. Great. Are there any other
questions from committee? Uh, yes, representative Duke. Oh, representative Brown's first.
Representative Matt Brown
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1:37:39
Sorry. Thank you. Um, Mr. Chair. Um, I, uh, do you know of known opposition to this bill? I do not. Well, I got a text. Okay.
And so I just want to ask a couple questions. Sure. Who will be making the determination
that the student has the potential to cause others
Speaker 206
1:38:10
harm? So under LEARNS, the requirement was put into law that all school districts have behavioral threat assessment teams. And so if the school's team determines that that student is exhibiting those types of behaviors,
then they would reach out to the DHS team and work in collaboration to determine if this is an appropriate
Representative Lincoln Barnett
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1:38:28
option for that student. Okay, one other question. Let me see if I have it real quick. I don't want to waste
Representative Matt Brown
Unverified
1:38:37
time. No more questions. Representative Duke, you're recognized. Thank you, Mr.
Representative Hope Duke
Unverified
1:38:49
Chair. Thank you, Representative Richardson, and I appreciate the Senator bringing this bill as well. I think it's something that needed to be addressed.
Could you speak to a little bit of what got this ball rolling? Was this specific issues, constituent problem? What got you in this lane? And maybe Senator Hester as well, what are we – I know what we're kind of trying to fix, but it's
not just a – can you speak a little bit about the people who drove
Representative R. Scott Richardson
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1:39:17
it a little bit? A lot of this is being driven, of course, by superintendent of schools, Debbie Jones, looking for opportunities along with several others.
You participated in a meeting this last summer. Unfortunately, I was not there, but that meeting was focused on how do we address this escalating problem coming out of our school districts across the board with the violence in the classroom. So that's really kind of been the crux of this that started this ball rolling and that started us moving toward trying to find some sort of opportunity that we can impact these lives earlier on so they become less of a problem and get a better
Speaker 206
1:39:59
education as I move forward. If you don't mind, just because, again, I know you weren't at this meeting, but last summer, Governor Sanders met with a room full of superintendents and asked questions about mental health and the supports that students need in school. And out of that came several initiatives, the phone-free school initiative. And in addition, she charged all of us with, what can we do to support schools? And so I know Dr. Jones was in that meeting, but we had superintendents from every corner of the state talking about some of the severely
aggressive and violent behaviors that they are seeing in students these days that they are just not equipped to handle. You know, education is important. Of course, we want all of our kids to be educated, but sometimes it's hard to educate them when they can't even get them to, you know, pay attention or listen to them. And that's not what I'm saying that any student who's not listening, but we started looking at and working with Senator Hester, and he met with us, and he met with DHS, and said, what can we do? How can we support our school districts? And so I think
that was just one of the catalysts that led
Representative Hope Duke
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1:41:08
to this. Follow-up? So, thank you. So, and I'm asking you this question. I already know the answer to it, but because it is a public hearing, and I have been surprised at how many people, not really surprised, a lot of people don't realize some of the challenges that are being they're taking place in the classrooms and in the schools and we're not shocked as a committee because we we know if you're on this committee you're probably engaged in education right would you all mind referencing or saying some of the things the behaviors and
situations that they are dealing with in the schools that do need this added support just so that people can have a broader idea of what the challenges are it's not just as you said it's not something small. These are big challenges that affect not just teachers, but the students in the classroom as well, and that these kids need a lot more assistance and help. So if you all could give a few examples, general, not to have to be specific, but I think you know. I'll start,
Representative R. Scott Richardson
Unverified
1:42:05
and then I'll let the department speak a little bit, but they probably have more broad definition. I
can speak specifically to my district. I am friends with several teachers, and this is an ongoing problem that they bring up on the regular. And it's not just the impact associated with the student being violent or disruptive in the classrooms. It is the reality that it disrupts the entire class and all of the students. Most of the time during a violent event, the students have to exit. So now the entire body that you're trying to accomplish some sort of learning activity with has to be out of the classroom, waiting on an event to calm down, to refocus.
then that student leaves and it disrupts the entire day. It's not just it's one and done. Now you bring all the students back in. You've got to get them refocused. You've got to get them going back in the right direction. They're still dealing with the violent event that occurred. And it's an ongoing disruptive thing that happens on the normal in these classrooms. And teachers do not know how to deal with it. There's no way for them to address it in the normal scheme of things. And so we need to find opportunities. And these students, in almost all cases, the teachers
continue to reiterate, these are good kids that have very difficult backgrounds. And they're just not equipped to be able to give them the support that they need to be able to provide them the right kinds of outcomes. So that's perspective from me talking with teachers in my district. You may have something to add. Yeah, well, and
Speaker 206
1:43:34
again, I don't want to speak for all superintendents, But we have heard stories of, again, broken bones. I think you've even told a story about, you know, a teacher with a black eye. This is not minor behaviors.
These are severely violent, aggressive behaviors that we are seeing with some students. And we know it's not because the kids aren't good kids. They have severe behavioral and mental health issues sometimes. And I wanted to add that, you know, again, this is not intended to be a long-term setting for the students. This is so that they can get the supports and services that they need so we can get them back into school so that they can be served at school with their peers. They just need often some short-term, more intensive services than they can get at the school.
And that hopefully, and Secretary Putnam spoke to this, so that they don't end up in a more long-term residential setting. This is preventative. This is addressing in an acute center where we can hopefully then get them back into school as quickly
as possible. Representative Gonzales-Werthin, you're recognized for a question. Thank
Representative Justin Gonzales
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1:44:45
you. So you mentioned, I just wanted to clarify, the response team, well, there's a response team at, I think that's what you said.
Behavioral threat assessment team. Thank you, thank you. Behavioral threat assessment team. And so then they would be the ones, this initial, they're the initial people that would see the student, or you know begin the process of identifying and then once they uh they get to a particular point then they're working in tandem with DHS and then and then at that point what intervention needs to take place is determined and that might be at at an ALE okay but if it's not enough at the ALE then
it could go further into residential treatment. That's what I just wanted to ask. So that's part of
Speaker 294
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the purpose of running the pilot. And I want to clarify, I didn't note that there's a graded range for fiscal impact, depending on the length of time that a student needs services. It's $4 million to $8 million, so I apologize. I didn't provide both ends of that range. And that's based on three months or six months of potential services. And clearly, we don't know yet what the need would be for the number of students for higher level services but to your to your question there could be any range of services
from services provided in the home with the student and their family we have a pilot going on right now with dhs called family-centered treatment where we do interventions in the home to help with behavior management and that's a more lower level intervention and service it could go to the the higher end to a psychiatric residential treatment facility if there is a need for a student to be placed in a much higher level while they are de-escalated, receive services, receive treatment, and then hopefully eventually step back down gradually through different services
and supports so that they can return to the school. But part of the conversation has centered around students are being returned to schools without having the appropriate step down to be able to reintegrate successfully. So I hope that answers your question. There's a range of services and supports. We are part of what this bill does is it
Representative Justin Gonzales
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1:47:02
requires us to work together to develop what that range of service looks like. Okay. Last follow-up question. Thank you. That clarifies. So what if a parent recognizes at
home behaviors that definitely are carrying over in the school
and then they're the initial person that I think my child needs some more intervention, more support. So how would that parent just in
a regular school, you know, going to public school and recognizing this is going on, what would that look like?
Speaker 206
1:47:40
So absolutely, any time a parent has concerns, they can go to the counselor at the school. Many of our schools have mental health professionals, behavior certified or board certified behavioral
analysts, you know, that can provide supports and services and help that that parent determine is that the appropriate or do they need to get their behavioral threat assessment team involved or is there another option for them? So, yes, anytime a parent has concerns, they can they can go to the school district and they will help them navigate that. OK, thank you.
Any other questions from committee? Just for the sake of posterity, we got the DHS fiscal note.
You're going to get a screen shot from my phone on a piece of paper, so I want to make sure we have this before we vote on it so that we're
not -- you know, we are looking at current information. So we might just take just a quick beat. Any
Representative R. Scott Richardson
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1:48:45
other thoughts from the bill sponsor or the folks from the agencies? I am always open to ad lib for a while. You know, there is a number of things in this world that we spend money on, try to address, and try to deal with.
This is one of those things that, from my opinion, that we can't afford not to spend money on. We can't afford not to invest in our children and find opportunities to better them. And the earlier that we make intervention, the more likely we will have successful outcomes. And that's what we're looking for here is to find an opportunity to really make an impact in these children's lives and turn their lives in the direction that best benefits them in the long term. So, yeah, I see another question.
Representative Stephen Meeks
Unverified
1:49:34
Representative Meeks, you're recognized for a question. Sorry, I came in late to the discussion, just got back from pilgrimage down to the Senate. So I appreciate it. I think I understand where we're going here. I really like the concept. This has obviously been an issue in the schools. The only question that I had was would this pull the student out of the public school and have them attending like an alternative school or a different school while this treatment was going on?
I saw that the goal is to try to get them back into the school at some point, but while they're out of the school, what's happening with the
Representative Lincoln Barnett
Unverified
1:50:14
student? So they will receive educational services there at that facility. Okay, so
Representative Stephen Meeks
Unverified
1:50:19
they would be at the behavioral health facility away from the school, and then the school would support them, or they would be at home? Yeah,
Speaker 206
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it depends. Obviously, these are not established yet, so one of the things we discussed now that ALEs are optional is to repurpose some existing ALEs, and some of those buildings are on a school campus.
So I don't want to say, like, they're just completely taken away, but they are in a safe environment where they will be getting the services that they need
Representative Stephen Meeks
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1:50:48
and education. Okay, so they could still be on the campus. They would just be isolated from other students or in their area, and potentially other school districts would also be sending stools to that special location. okay all right representative Duke you're recognized for
a question thank you mr. chair
Representative Hope Duke
Unverified
1:51:09
I think this is along the lines of what representative Meeks was talking about I was looking at this and
listening at the same time so I know a lot of schools do day treatments I can't escapes me the name of the one I know of in northwest Arkansas is this along that vein because those are not necessarily on campus. I'm going to let DHS answer that question. Yes, I'm
Speaker 294
1:51:33
going to ask Melissa Weatherton to come to
Representative Hope Duke
Unverified
1:51:36
the table. I think that's kind of a process that schools utilize to some degree right now.
Representative Stetson Painter
Unverified
1:51:41
Will you just recognize yourself quickly? Absolutely. Melissa Weatherton, Director of
Speaker 323
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Medicaid Specialty Population Divisions. So we actually got rid of day treatment back in 2017 when we launched the PASS program. So we only reimburse for day treatment right now for adults. There's three in existence that we have learned through working with ADE that have kind of been lingering, and they are doing mental health services, but we don't pay them under a day treatment code.
But you're exactly right. I mean, some of the concepts from that program are what we are using under this model. Concepts from that program, what worked, what didn't work, and concepts from the pilots that were already running is what we're trying to put together here
Representative Hope Duke
Unverified
1:52:30
for this new service. Follow-up. My understanding, and it's limited, is that I at least have heard very general of students coming back into the public schools,
which I know is the goal, right, is they get the help they need, everybody's safe and learning, and then they eventually reintegrate back into the public school system. Is that
correct? Yes, ma'am. Representative Nazarenko, you're recognized for a question.
Representative Jason Nazarenko
Unverified
1:53:00
Thank you, Mr. Chair. I like the bill, and I like the idea, and I know that this is needed.
So I do have a couple questions. You mentioned three facilities. Where are they located? Because I guess where my ultimate question is going to go so that you understand is, like, I'm looking at eight months because January 2026.
And I just want to, like, curious, realistically, like, do we think realistically January 2026 this would be good to go? And that's my ultimate question. So then three facilities, locations where they are. So kind of what have we done to – have we already started to move to this direction to be able to meet
Speaker 329
1:53:43
that January 2026? It's tight. Yeah, no, it's a little scary. But I think we can do it. We've
Speaker 323
1:53:50
been piloting these programs for over a year.
We're not starting from scratch, right? We already have a lot of the groundwork in place for what we want the service to look like. We had a great conversation yesterday with a charter school up in northwest Arkansas who is 100% on board with joining forces with us to move forward on this. They have been doing kind of a specialized school for behavior kids for the last five years, We have a lot of good data, and we are all on the same page with that.
Our next meeting is next week, so we are going to hit the ground running on
Speaker 206
1:54:30
this. Great. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Yeah, and I just want to echo, I think education is absolutely committed to working with DHS. It's a tight timeline, but working together with our school districts, using existing facilities if we can, and working with other programs that are already in place, we'll make it happen. Any other questions from committee? I guess
I'll just say this. I appreciate this is good discussion because this is a new function that we're trying to
get right. It's going to cost money, and that's just the bottom line of it all. I wanted to make sure we had enough time with this secondary DHS fiscal note. I feel comfortable with the direction that we're trying to go. I just, you know, it's a trust but verify situation. So I appreciate you guys doing this and doing the whole car wash of
everyone from our executive agencies in here to make everyone on the committee feel well. Any other
Representative Lincoln Barnett
Unverified
1:55:25
questions from committee? Representative Barnett, you're recognized. Thank you, Chair. I had questions about the alternative learning environment.
On page two, lines 25, it talks about if an alternative learning environment is not available in a region, the Department of Human Services and the Department of Education, shall identify a location within that region. And I guess my question with that is, how are students going to get back and forth to that alternative location? Will transportation be provided? And I'm just thinking because students will, I mean, one, you have working families, and
then you have students that will likely also be coming from families with low to moderate income that may have lack of transportation. And so my concern is how are those students going to be able to get to those facilities? Yeah, the school
district would provide transportation, just like they do now for
Speaker 206
1:56:26
an ALE or before with a day treatment, so the district would provide that transportation. Because I think that's another important clarification.
they're still a student of their resident school district. They're still counted on that student's role. That school district is still responsible for that student. They are just being educated and served in a different location so that they can get the intensive services that they need, the education that they need in that alternate setting. So all school districts can hear me. They're still responsible. They're not off the hook. And so, you know, again, I want to rest assured that these kids are not being pushed to the side or pushed out.
They are getting the services that they need at the location where we can provide those so that they can get back into their school with their peers as soon as possible. Representative Painter,
Representative Stetson Painter
Unverified
1:57:25
you're recognized. Thank you, Mr. Chair. I think there was a statement or something that we ended these programs in 2017 do we know why did we in these we moved from an old system
we moved from a system that was referred to as RSPMI
Speaker 323
1:57:44
and we put the IDD population and the behavioral health population in the past and a lot of the TDTs that had popped up we some of it just wasn't working right so that's why i mentioned we'll take the good pieces from that program and intertwine it back into this service just a
question for whatever reason was was there um savings
generated generated or noticeable or appreciable savings generated by putting them into managed care program
Speaker 323
1:58:24
yes sir ballpark by how much you're asking me past savings numbers um we we ran a scorecard on this for a number of
years and I can get that and
Representative Lincoln Barnett
Unverified
1:58:37
send it to you all right any other questions represented Barnett yes thank you chair on page two lines five through nine it talks about developing a behavior managed plan management plan
for a student who demonstrates behavior that is substantially likely to cause injury to the student or other students and I guess my question around that is will students be targeted that have not but because staff or faculty feel like they have the potential to I guess I have a concern there because I don't I have a problem if students are going to be kind of targeted in a subjective
manner, and they have not caused harm to themselves or other students or faculty? Sorry. No, they will
Speaker 206
1:59:29
not be targeted. Again, the referral would come from the school district's behavioral threat assessment team. Those teams go through extensive training on what it is that you look for in a student. And I would go so far in this to say, I don't know how you could say that someone is substantially likely if they haven't already exhibited behaviors. And that's part of the training that they go through.
I will also add from a legal standpoint that that is the terminology that we have seen used by courts in making a determination. I'm probably answering way more than you wanted to know, but under IDEA, there's severe and physical risk to others. Anyway, that has a very high standard, and so by using this language, we're using the standard that the courts have put in place. Two things, again, like biting, breaking bones. This is not just, oh, this kid's acting out.
We think he might hurt someone. This is they've attempted to attack someone. We've seen teachers and students stabbed with pencils and scissors. And so, no, this is not to target kids. This is to help get services for the students who have exhibited those behaviors. Thank
Speaker 215
2:00:36
you. All right. Everyone got them out? We
have no one signed up to speak for or against the bill. but anyone from the audience wish
to speak for or against the bill?
Representative Richardson, I'd recognize you to close for your
Representative R. Scott Richardson
Unverified
2:00:56
bill. Well, I think we've said just about everything that can be said on this. Again, this is a bill that's targeted to help those that are most vulnerable and most likely to cause impact and damages and injury in a classroom, and we desperately need to do something, And this is a great step in the right direction to find out what it's going to take for us to make this a much safer place for students and faculty to work in our schools.
So I would appreciate a good
vote. Motion to pass. Any discussion on the motion? Representative McGruder, you're recognized for discussion on
Representative Jessie McGruder
Unverified
2:01:38
the motion. Thank you, Mr. Chair. Thank you, Representative Richardson. I know how hard you work on your bills. You've done a phenomenal job with this. But as an athletics coach and a young man who grew up in an environment where we competed constantly and had to earn every position on the field,
I am very concerned about some of the language in this field. I'm concerned because I am an individual who goes to teachers at the beginning of the school year, and I say to any kid that you have real problems with, send them to me. I want them on my team, and I work with those kids. I try my best to develop them. I'm a father to those children, and some of them come out of some extremely harsh situations, but I take that extra time, and by the end of the school year
or the end of their career playing for them, they turn into completely different individuals. I'm always complimented by high school coaches about the kids that play for me, and so the language of this bill scares me because I don't understand where we're going with the children, and I don't think it gives us enough time for one to be prepared for this situation. So I appreciate the work you've done, but I will not be supporting this bill, so it's a hard no for me. Representative Duke, you're recognized for discussion.
Representative Hope Duke
Unverified
2:03:02
Thank you, Mr. Chair. Representative Magruder, I appreciate your ability, and I don't question it at all. I've learned a little bit about you
over the last several months, and your heart for kids, and I can't imagine the impact that you're making on those students. So I really appreciate it, and thank you for your work you do with kids. We talk a lot about up here that every district's different. My understanding of this is we're not requiring anybody to do it. It is giving options, and I know, at least in our area, this has become a really significant problem, and it may be everywhere, but I know it isn't ours, and I know teachers.
I hear about them every weekend I go home, that they're not leaving the profession over pay and they're not leaving the profession over so many of the other's issues, but a lot of them are walking away because of what is going on in the classroom. And whenever they're going in that classroom and there are kindergartners and first graders and second graders, God bless them. They need help, but so do those teachers and so do those other students who are getting cleared out of their classroom to protect those other little ones because of the one who is having a problem.
Or the teacher has happened to be very careful. What's going to happen to this other student in my class because this child is acting out? That is real. It is happening. I hear about it every weekend from parents, from teachers. And these kids need to get help. These schools need to have options. These teachers need to know. I think we've done a good job of letting them know that we hear them and we know that there's a problem and we're trying to address it. This is a good first step. And I firmly believe that this is going to help everybody.
It's going to help the teachers. It's going to help the students. And most importantly, it's going to help the little ones because it's not just 14-, 15-, 16-year-olds. It is 5-, 6-, 7-, 8-year-olds that are having these issues and struggles in the classroom. And our teachers shouldn't have to worry about this. Our parents, the kids in that classroom, learning is suffering. Kids are struggling, and teachers are struggling. So I really appreciate you bringing this bill. I appreciate Senator Hester and his work on this, all the parties involved in it.
I completely support it. I think that it's going to be well-received, the pilot program. I don't know where it's going to land and how it's going to work, but I think it's a great way to get us moving back in the direction for help for everybody. So I encourage my colleagues to vote for this bill, and let's see if we can start getting a little bit more help and support for all of our kids. Thank
Representative Stephen Meeks
Unverified
2:05:38
you. Representative Meeks you recognize to discuss. Thank you again appreciate you bringing this bill just like Representative Duke I've had meetings with people from my district and it's the same
concern and there have been no good solutions brought forward how to handle this and you know these students the schools are not designed to meet the needs of these students and so unless we do what we need to do to meet the needs of these students. These problems are all going to persist. Our school is going to pay the price, and it's not just the schools and the teachers, but it's also the other students in those classrooms who are trying to learn who can't because the teacher is trying to deal with something that she may not be fully trained and equipped to be able to handle.
So I appreciate all the work here. I think this is a great step in the right direction and
look forward to supporting this. Representative Nazarenko, you're
Representative Jason Nazarenko
Unverified
2:06:28
recognized to discuss. Thank you, Mr. Chair. Thank you for bringing the
bill. And, you know, I definitely, you know, had or still have, you know, and I think time will tell whether it can be done in eight months. And for Representative Magruder, I truly do appreciate yours. And just echoing what Representative Duke said, I wish that we could, you know, replicate you.
We clone you and put you in every school, and we've got somebody who really, not saying that we don't have people who care, but we've got somebody who can make a huge impact. But I'm concerned about those schools that don't have someone like you, And I know there's a lot of them because we just constantly hear it. And I'm concerned about not only the children that are struggling that are in this category, the ones that are suffering that way, but I'm concerned about the children that aren't even in that category, but they lose out or miss out because of disruptions caused by those other students
that aren't being able to get what they need truly to succeed. And I think with us always looking at what we need to do for these children so that they can succeed, I think this is a good step. Yes, there's a fiscal impact. Yes, it costs money, and yes, we always look at that. But if we can make a positive impact, it's money well spent. So I will be supporting it, and I hope
to see in eight months it up and running, and I know things will be a challenge, but I will be a yes.
Thank you. Representative Beck, you're recognized to
Representative Rick Beck
Unverified
2:07:55
discuss the motion. Thank you, Mr. Chair. I will be supporting this, and I think it's a good program. I think there's some gaps. I think it's going to be a little bit maybe working on the plane while we got it up in the air, just a little bit, because there's going to be some moving parts here that I don't think we've considered. But my biggest concern, and I will support this, because I think the potential for this to be absolutely a great thing for our schools
and get all the other student bodies, the rest of the students and the student body, some tranquility, for lack of a better word there, where they can learn, a better learning environment for them. My concern is this. Whenever we have to start pulling someone out or, you know, we identify someone, you know, you have the potential for targeting and then you have the potential for that individual to start saying, well, I've been targeted, so this is who I am.
So, you know, you can almost feed what you're trying to stop. And so my point to that is, like, certainly going forward, make sure that the targeting aspects of this are not. I remember I went to a school, and I never had thought about it. Although I'd heard it lots, I never had thought about it. But I had a young student come up to me, and it was totally different. It wasn't a disciplinary thing. But they talked about the walk of shame. And, you know, being pulled out and that walk of shame every day in the case.
So please pay attention to that. Please pay attention to the anti-targeting and make sure that we're not feeding some of the issues with a student that's struggling from very possibly not great home environment. But I will
Speaker 344
2:09:54
be supporting this. Representative Brown, you're recognized
to discuss the motion. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Representative Matt Brown
Unverified
2:10:04
It's been a while since I did some
substitute teaching, and I never was struck.
But I know that the last time I taught, I came home in tears because I just could not manage the class, and the children were so threatening. I mean, some, one. It only takes one. But I thought I have so much that I could offer them, and I wasn't allowed to really help them with anything because of all the disruption in the class. What I would like is I hope we can come back with a report and report on successes. I'd really like to hear that. Thank you.
Representative Gonzalez-Werthin, you're recognized to discuss.
Representative Justin Gonzales
Unverified
2:10:50
Thank you. There's a couple of things that I'm concerned about. Representative Magruder brought up one of those points, and also it was mentioned, you know, hopefully we can, this is a good start on the bill, and maybe we could continue to work on it. What I'm wondering is, okay, let's say that it's been stated that the teachers are, you
know having these violent students etc and I'm wondering why there to me I think there's already a process in place without doing this and let me just explain you already have the behavioral threat response teams those are that was right that's and like representative Magruder whenever I've had counselors
come to me in class and will you take this student because there may have been some challenges before new student and for me I'm not gonna ever as a teacher you know I'm gonna give me the students that that other teachers may not necessarily want to work with because they may have a few challenges additional challenges fortunately for me I had a lot of training in talking with students who may have that what and maybe some emotional trauma that would had not been
identified I had a student and I had mentioned this to representative Richardson I had a student I was asking at the beginning of class had asked the students to take out their homework because I was going to come by and just check their homework this is high school and as soon as I said that one of my students that sat at the back he got up and took his desk and he slammed it against the wall okay now when you have something like that that happens of course you have to remove the student from the classroom because that was
because that was necessary for safety of the other students, the teacher, and, of course, the student themselves. He left. I asked him to go to the principal's office. He left, and when he left, he slammed the door, almost shattering the glass on the door, okay, as he left. I thought it was going to break, and it did not. He was asked to be in in-school suspension, I believe, for three days or, you know, moving. When he came back, I had not ever had an issue with this student whatsoever,
but I also tried to get to know my students on a one-on-one level. When he returned, I had a heart-to-heart talk with him, and I said, look, I've never seen this behavior in you. You've never done this before. all I asked was for you to take out your homework, you know, what is going on, and as it turned out, he was re-experiencing trauma from his country of Afghanistan, and basically told me, you don't know what it's like to see your cousins shot on the street, you don't know what it's like, so this
was something that he was going through, and something triggered, you know, in the classroom. I told them, you know, if you're safe here, if you feel that way again, we can have a signal for one another to maybe go get a drink of water, come back, just to kind of de-escalate. I never had to worry about the student ever again, but I would not have been able to do that without my training that was through my professional development training.
Later, a couple of years later, I saw him down the hall at the local community college, and he yelled at me, and he says, can you believe I'm here? I'm in college now. And I knew that he would end up there, but he also needed that addressed and what he was going through to speak to someone about it. I'm mentioning this to you because I really feel that our teachers may not have enough training when it comes to, for example, mental health first aid training so that they can identify and do some things before moving on.
And I know that there had been a bill previously that was where school resource officers and school counselors would receive this training. And so I guess what I'm saying is that I think that we need more on the teacher side with professional development. And we do have these isolate because I think teachers can help to deescalate and help to pinpoint of what's going on with the child.
If, for example, my student, this would have happened again, he would have gone to the office and counselor would intervene. And then if he needed, then they would make a plan. But everybody did that. We even had a checklist of behaviors of concern that we would document prior to just sending somebody out. So I know that we need direction in this, and I know that we need more professional development in this,
but I would prefer that we have additional information for our teachers and our parents for them to be that proactive voice before moving to all of this. That's my concern. And then the other part is, if this continues, well, now maybe the behavioral response team or the school counselor, they can still, couldn't they still communicate with DHS and say this is what is going on?
And then if an inpatient facility is necessary, the only thing is if the inpatient facility is necessary for a student, Then if that student is eligible for Medicaid, more than likely that would be paid for, or at least some of it. But what about the student that's not on Medicaid? So I guess I'm asking, maybe we need more structure just in the process, but starting at the ground level with our teachers.
That's what I'm leaning towards. Thank you. All right. Thank
you. So, concluding discussion on the motion, we have a motion of do pass. All those in favor indicate by saying aye. Aye. Opposed, nay. No. The ayes have it. Congratulations, you've passed your bill. We're
going to call up Senate Bill 352. Leader Beatty has been sitting patiently in the corner with his
adorable bow tie, so I think it's only appropriate we call him up and let him present his bill.
Senate Bill 352. no three five two once you
Representative Howard M. Beaty, Jr.
Unverified
2:18:37
let us know who you are I'd be happy to recognize you representative Howard Beatty district 95 you're recognized thank you mr. chair members of committee I'm here today to present Senate bill 352 this
This bill aims to prohibit anti-Semitism in public elementary and secondary schools as well as state-supported institutions of higher education in Arkansas. You may be asking why this bill and why now? Since October 7th of 2023, anti-Semitism has exploded and plagued our schools, college campuses, Jewish communities, and our country. As many Jewish students don't feel safe on their K through 12 and college campuses,
this bill provides state legislators the basis to address anti-Semitism in these public institutions. It empowers states to take decisive and bold actions, especially if the Federal Department of Education becomes disbanded. The bill is somewhat based on ALEC model policy and requires anti-Semitism on institutions or campuses to be addressed like other discriminations.
It defines anti-Semitism with the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance, or IRA, working definition of anti-Semitism, including its contemporary examples. It requires college-university codes of conduct to include prohibitions against anti-Semitic discrimination and harassment. It encourages but does not mandate anti-Semitism awareness and Jewish American heritage training
and requires the Department of Education and higher education bodies to designate a Title VI coordinator to investigate incidents and complaints in an attempt to resolve those issues and submit an annual report to the state legislature. The bill is also consistent with President Trump's historic executive order on combating anti-Semitism from 2019 and 2025, as well as bipartisan federal legislation that passed the House of Representatives in the 118th Congress and was reintroduced in the 119th Congress.
The other question is why do we need a definition for anti-Semitism and why the IRA definition? Anti-Semitism is the world's oldest and most enduring form of hatred, reinventing itself over the millennium. In order to investigate and combat anti-Semitism, one must understand and define it. Anti-Semitism is a unique form of hate that is not easily understood and categorized by association with religion, national origin, race, or other protected categories.
The IRA working definition, including its contemporary example, is the world's gold standard in understanding anti-Semitism, and it's overwhelmingly approved by the Jewish community. The definition is also included in the ALEC model policy. The IRA definition equips educators, law enforcement officers, policy makers, educational institutions, many others with a framework to identify and respond to anti-Semitic acts. As of
November 1st of 2024 37 U.S. state governments have adopted this key definition and so far 12 have codified the definite definition into state law demonstrating the vast support. The definition consistent with the Obama State Department President Trump's historic executive orders in 2019 and 2025 and the aforementioned bipartisan federal legislation. Does the IVA definition stifle freedom of speech
that some may be concerned about and any First Amendment rights? Credits of the IVA definition say the definition risk limiting constitutionally protected speech and could create a chilling effect on free speech, especially regarding criticism of Israel. The IRA definition is non-legally binding and does not prohibit anyone from exercising their First Amendment rights. The First Amendment of the United Constitution protects all free speech, including racist,
anti-Semitic, and xenophobic speech. The IRA definition, is it broad and does it label someone who criticizes Israel as anti-Semitic? This definition is not broad and it includes 11 specific examples to illustrate how anti-Semitism can manifest in contemporary society. The definition specifically says the criticism of Israeli government policies and politics is not anti-Semitic.
when similar to criticism of any other country. The definition is specific with regards to what behaviors associated with Israel are anti-Semitic, including comparing Israeli policy to Nazis, holding Jews collectively responsible for the actions of the state of Israel, denying the Jewish people the right to self-determination in Israel, and accusing Israel of investing or exaggerating the Holocaust.
So the Title VI coordinator position, kind of to go over some of that, anti-Semitism requires immediate action to a Title VI coordinator. While President Trump's executive order gives the federal government more tools to protect Jews from anti-Semitism and adopts the IRA working definition, the definition itself has yet been codified in federal law. So current bipartisan federal legislation has been reintroduced in the 119th Congress,
and the bill passed the House overwhelmingly in the 118th. If they choose, or if we choose, legislators may decide in the current bill or future bills to have Title VI coordinator investigate claims made by students and faculty and employees from other protected class. This legislation is worked such that the proper agency, our Department of Education, I should designate a Title VI coordinator who's currently employed with the agency.
Again, basically, the purpose of this bill is to promote an understanding, tolerance, and respect for all individuals in our education settings, and to combat anti-Semitism. With that, I'll entertain any questions. Representative Meeks, you're recognized for a
question. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I
Representative Stephen Meeks
Unverified
2:25:40
really appreciate the bill and where it's going. I've got two quick questions. My first one is, I love the intent of the bill. We're going to prohibit anti-Semitism.
Of course, you know, we can pass every law under the sun. It's kind of like the question you asked me about the robots, right? This is not going to stop people who are anti-Semitic from doing this. So what mechanism in here, or is there a mechanism in here that would bring a penalty should someone violate this because if we just say no don't do it and then they do it nothing happens we all know it's going
to happen again it's just going to empower them we're going to be doing it even
Representative Howard M. Beaty, Jr.
Unverified
2:26:21
more i i don't think in in the actual bill that it spells out a penalty i think
what it does is it clearly communicates the expectation of the legislature that anti-semitic comments and anti-semitism is not to be tolerated in our k-12 schools and our college and university campuses and and provide some reassurance to those students that are attending that is a safe um a safe environment protected from
from those forms of discrimination right again the
Representative Stephen Meeks
Unverified
2:26:49
concern remains though um the the and this is kind of my follow-up of course a couple
sessions ago we did that did
the hate speech to um with this um maybe allow should someone be found guilty of this allow for the hate speech law to kick in and allow those penalties to come through there, you know? Because my concern is if we do this, and I'm great, yeah, we need to tell everybody we don't want this to happen, it's wrong for this to happen, but if there's no teeth in it, then I'm afraid it's not necessarily going to stop it like we want it to. And again, I support the bill, I'm going to vote for it, so I want you to, I'm not trying
to be adversarial here, I just want to make sure that we're actually going to do something that's actually
Representative Howard M. Beaty, Jr.
Unverified
2:27:38
going to stop it should it happen. Representative Meeks, I always respect your comments and where you come from, and it is a concern. I think at some point this is a starting point, and at least now we can get the information of how often this is occurring in Arkansas and start that point that could lead to further legislation, inquiring penalties and follow-up on this bill is a starting point,
and your concerns are those that I share. Thank
you. Representative Nazarenko, you're recognized for a question. Thank you,
Representative Jason Nazarenko
Unverified
2:28:09
Mr. Chair. So, Representative Beatty, would you agree over on page four, and this kind of goes back to Representative Meek's question, over on page five, line
seven, starting in there, talks about general assembly, consider reducing or eliminating any state funding provided to a school or state-supported institution of higher education
found inadequately to address discrimination and harassment complaints. So would you agree that to that point, you know, what the mechanism is, it's the General Assembly coming together and
addressing a school that's not living up to that standard and then pulling funding? Yes, I would agree
Representative Howard M. Beaty, Jr.
Unverified
2:28:48
with that statement. I thought the representative's statement was how we were going to prevent this, and I thought it was more about penalties and back on the individuals that would conduct this type of activity. But you're correct that those conditions for the university
that does not adequately address this are provided for in the bill.
Representative Rick Beck
Unverified
2:29:04
Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Chair. Representative Beck, you're recognized for a question. Thank you, Mr. Chair. And I support this. The only concern I had this morning when I was reading this thing is the reference to the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance. as that was adopted in May of 26, May 26, excuse me, 2016. And it's kind of like, although it locks it in place as it was adopted there,
it's almost like now we have a statute that kind of someone else is in charge of. You know, the definition is, and I know it says you can't change that, but you made a point, or I didn't catch all of it, but you were saying that the federal government hasn't
Representative Howard M. Beaty, Jr.
Unverified
2:29:56
adopted this or was going to
adopt this or something? I think they adopted it back in 2019. And even with the change in administration, the Biden administration didn't overturn that.
And then it was reaffirmed by President Trump in 2025. And that's
Representative Rick Beck
Unverified
2:30:11
just my, when I was reading, I thought, well, it'd be nice if you just had that right here in there. So it kind of controlled
Speaker 359
2:30:19
about it. But if it's working so far, we won't fix what's not
broke. Any other questions from committee? Representative Meeks, you recognize? Thank you.
Representative Stephen Meeks
Unverified
2:30:33
This is going to be a don't you agree question. Let's try to answer Representative Beck's question because I've ran into this before.
So under Arkansas law, whenever we are referencing a federal code section, we need to have that date requirement in there. Because if we don't do it, then basically what we're doing is we're allowing Congress to change our law. So if Congress were to change this, they would, in effect, be changing our laws without our knowledge or input. So for us to make sure that that doesn't happen, that as it existed on that date has to be in there. Wouldn't you agree? I
Representative Howard M. Beaty, Jr.
Unverified
2:31:09
would agree, and I thought that we had that definition as of that date in the bill.
Speaker 166
2:31:16
Okay. Also, wouldn't you agree that we have a different IRA protection written into code, not specific to K-12 education, that does reference the date? Yes. Belt and suspenders, wouldn't you agree? We do,
Representative Howard M. Beaty, Jr.
Unverified
2:31:29
and I think that was legislation by Senator Dotson a while back. I know. Shouldn't have said that. I know. And he was instrumental in looking at this bill and agreeing with that language. Thank you. Any other questions from committee?
Seeing none, no one is here signed up to speak for or against the bill. Anyone from
the audience wish to speak for or against the bill? Seeing none,
Representative Howard M. Beaty, Jr.
Unverified
2:31:57
Leader Beatty, you are recognized to close for your bill. Members of the committee, I want to tell you, after sitting here and hearing the subject matter and the things that you address, education is very important. I have much respect for the issues that you have dealt with today just in the brief time that I've set in your committee and appreciate you allowing me to take the time to present this legislation.
I would entertain a motion due pass and appreciate a good vote. Thank you. We have
a motion of due pass from Representative Meeks. Any discussion on the motion? Seeing none, all those in favor indicate by saying aye. Aye. All those opposed, nay. Congratulations, you've passed your bill. Thank you, Mr. Chair. Thank you, committee. We're going to move swiftly to Senate Bill 559 with Representative Brown. I'm going to quickly cede
the chair to Representative Meeks and I will be right back.
Representative Stephen Meeks
Unverified
2:33:10
Okay, Representative Brown, I want you to get settled in there. You are
Representative Matt Brown
Unverified
2:33:28
clear to begin your testimony. Hit your mic
there. Thank you, Mr. Chair. Representative Carolyn Brown, District 67, here to present Senate Bill 559. And I've got some notes here.
So I can keep it brief. All right. Senate Bill 559 corrects language that was omitted in the bill I passed previously, House Bill 1545, with regard to the Arkansas Military Child School Transitions Act. There was some language that was left out. It's on page 5.
Anyhow, the language that was deleted inadvertently was may seek waivers from the State Board of Education to accommodate a student under this section, including without limitation required class ratios. It was just inadvertently deleted. And then the other thing is, and I know my friend, Representative Duke, is going to wonder why I'm changing a may to a shall, but that is to keep the language consistent.
We've been using shall throughout, and if it isn't a shall, it's just useless. I mean, it's just not very, it has to be a shall for this to be effective. And that's really about all there is to this, just kind of a cleanup bill. Okay. Representative Brown has
Representative Stephen Meeks
Unverified
2:35:00
explained the bill. Any questions from committee? Going once, going twice? All right. Seeing
none. We don't have anyone signed up to speak for or against the bill. Anybody from the audience like to speak for or against?
Seeing none. Representative Brown, you are clear to close for your
Representative Matt Brown
Unverified
2:35:16
bill. Thank you, and I would appreciate it. Do pass. Motion
Representative Stephen Meeks
Unverified
2:35:20
do pass. All right. We've got a do pass motion from Representative Brown. Any discussion on the motion? Hearing none all in favor. Please say aye. Any opposed? All right, congratulations representative. You
have passed your bill and thank you Committee unless anyone's aware of another bill. I believe we're waiting on
one bill from Senator Irving, but Chairman Brooks did ask that we
recess until after the floor We've cleared most of the bills off of our active agenda with the exception like I mentioned of Senator Irving we do have some bills that are pending fiscal impact um so those may come back where i know that the committee staff is working fever so to get those back so again we will recess until 15 minutes upon adjournment of the floor of the floor
Agenda
RE-REFERRED TO COMMITTEE
Number Sponsor Subtitle
HB1709 Steele TO AMEND THE HUMAN SERVICES WORKERS IN THE SCHOOLS PROGRAM; AND TO INCLUDE MENTAL HEALTH COUNSELORS IN THE HUMAN SERVICES WORKERS IN THE SCHOOLS PROGRAM.
REGULAR AGENDA
Number Sponsor Subtitle
SB402 C. Penzo TO PROHIBIT A PUBLIC SCHOOL DISTRICT AND AN EDUCATIONAL SERVICE COOPERATIVE FROM REQUIRING OR TAKING CERTAIN ACTIONS RELATED TO EMPLOYEE ORGANIZATIONS AND PROFESSIONAL ASSOCIATIONS.
SB373 Irvin TO AMEND THE ARKANSAS FINANCIAL EDUCATION COMMISSION.
HB1139 B. McKenzie TO CREATE THE RELEASED TIME EDUCATION ACT.
HB1747 Vaught TO CREATE THE BABIES AT SCHOOL ACT; AND TO ALLOW SCHOOLS TO PERMIT EMPLOYEES WHO ARE PARENTS TO BRING THEIR INFANTS SIX MONTHS OR YOUNGER TO WORK.
SB352 Stone TO PROHIBIT ANTISEMITISM IN PUBLIC ELEMENTARY AND SECONDARY SCHOOLS; AND TO PROHIBIT ANTISEMITISM IN STATE-SUPPORTED INSTITUTIONS OF HIGHER EDUCATION.
SB425 J. English TO AMEND VARIOUS PROVISIONS OF THE ARKANSAS CODE CONCERNING ENHANCED TRANSPORTATION; AND TO DECLARE AN EMERGENCY.
SB547 D. Sullivan TO REPEAL THE REQUIREMENT THAT A HOMESCHOOLED STUDENT LIVE WITHIN A CERTAIN RADIUS OF A PRIVATE SCHOOL FOR PURPOSES OF PARTICIPATING IN AN EXTRACURRICULAR ACTIVITY.
SB484 Irvin TO ESTABLISH A PROCESS WHEREBY A VACANCY IS FILLED ON A SCHOOL DISTRICT BOARD OF DIRECTORS.
SB504 Irvin TO ESTABLISH THE ARKANSAS RURAL PRECEPTORSHIP PROGRAM ACT.
SB559 J. English TO AMEND THE ARKANSAS MILITARY CHILD SCHOOL TRANSITIONS ACT OF 2021.
SB450 B. Davis TO REQUIRE THE DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION TO INCLUDE A HUMAN FETAL GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT DISCUSSION IN THE RELEVANT STANDARDS DURING THE ARKANSAS ACADEMIC STANDARDS REVISION CYCLE.
SB183 J. Dotson TO AMEND THE UNIVERSAL ACT ASSESSMENT PROGRAM ACT; AND TO AMEND THE TYPES OF ASSESSMENTS PUBLIC SCHOOLS MAY PROVIDE TO STUDENTS.
SB604 B. Davis TO AMEND PROVISIONS OF THE ARKANSAS CODE REGARDING THE COURSE CHOICE PROGRAM.
SB618 Irvin TO AMEND THE ARKANSAS STUDENT DUE PROCESS AND PROTECTION ACT.
SB619 Irvin CONCERNING THE FORMATION OF AN ISOLATED SCHOOL DISTRICT.
SB624 B. Davis TO AMEND THE ARKANSAS OPPORTUNITY PUBLIC SCHOOL CHOICE ACT; TO AMEND THE PUBLIC SCHOOL CHOICE ACT OF 2015; AND TO ALLOW A STUDENT TO TRANSFER TO ANOTHER PUBLIC SCHOOL WITHIN HIS OR HER RESIDENT DISTRICT.
SB149 J. English TO AMEND PUBLIC SCHOOL FUNDING AMOUNTS UNDER THE PUBLIC SCHOOL FUNDING ACT OF 2003.
PENDING FISCAL IMPACT
Number Sponsor Subtitle
HB1999 D. Garner TO REQUIRE THE SECRETARY OF THE DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION TO PROVIDE INFORMATION REGARDING THE SUPPLEMENTAL NUTRITION ASSISTANCE PROGRAM TO CERTAIN STUDENTS.
HB2000 Wardlaw TO AMEND THE LAW CONCERNING EDUCATION SERVICE COOPERATIVES, PUBLIC SCHOOL DISTRICTS, AND OPEN-ENROLLMENT PUBLIC CHARTER SCHOOLS.
SB451 Hester TO REQUIRE THE DEPARTMENT OF HUMAN SERVICES AND THE DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION TO ESTABLISH REGIONAL BEHAVIORAL HEALTH PROGRAMS; TO AMEND THE LAW CONCERNING THE EDUCATION OF CERTAIN STUDENTS; AND TO DECLARE AN EMERGENCY.
DEFERRED BILLS
Number Sponsor Subtitle
HB1027 D. Garner TO CREATE THE BRIGHTER START ACT OF 2025; AND TO REQUIRE THE TREASURER OF STATE TO MAKE A ONE-TIME CONTRIBUTION TO EACH EXISTING AND FUTURE ARKANSAS BRIGHTER FUTURE FUND PLAN ACCOUNT.
HB1030 T. Shephard TO REQUIRE A SCHOOL RESOURCE OFFICER OR LAW ENFORCEMENT PERSONNEL TO OBTAIN CERTIFICATION IN YOUTH MENTAL HEALTH FIRST AID; AND TO REQUIRE A SCHOOL COUNSELOR TO RECEIVE YOUTH MENTAL HEALTH FIRST AID TRAINING.
HB1031 D. Garner TO CREATE THE ARKANSAS HEALTHY LIFESTYLE EDUCATION ACT OF 2025; AND TO ENSURE THE HEALTH CURRICULUM IN ARKANSAS PUBLIC SCHOOLS ADDRESSES CERTAIN HEALTH ISSUES FACING STUDENTS.
HB1239 A. Collins TO AMEND THE PUBLIC SCHOOL FUNDING ACT OF 2003; AND TO ADD AN ADDITIONAL CATEGORY OF FUNDING FOR SPECIAL EDUCATION FUNDING.
HB1528 McGruder TO REQUIRE A REPORT CARD TO INCLUDE A STUDENT'S CURRENT READING GRADE LEVEL.
HB1539 A. Collins TO AMEND THE PUBLIC SCHOOL FUNDING ACT OF 2003; AND TO ADD AN ADDITIONAL EDUCATION CATEGORY OF FUNDING FOR SPECIAL EDUCATION.
HB1490 Wardlaw TO REPEAL THE REQUIREMENT THAT A PUBLIC SCHOOL STUDENT RETURN TEMPORARILY ISSUED ITEMS, RESOURCES, MATERIALS, AND PROPERTY BELONGING TO A PUBLIC SCHOOL IN ORDER TO BE ELIGIBLE TO ENROLL IN A HOME SCHOOL.
HB1020 A. Collins TO REPEAL THE ARKANSAS CHILDREN'S EDUCATIONAL FREEDOM ACCOUNT PROGRAM; TO CREATE A NEW EDUCATION FUNDING CATEGORY FOR STUDENTS WHO RECEIVE SPECIAL EDUCATION AND RELATED SERVICES; AND TO CREATE THE COMMUNITY SCHOOLS ACT FUND.
HB1022 A. Collins TO REPEAL PERFORMANCE-BASED INCENTIVE AWARDS FOR PUBLIC SCHOOLS AND OPEN-ENROLLMENT PUBLIC CHARTER SCHOOLS.
HB1023 A. Collins TO AMEND THE STATE TEACHER EDUCATION PROGRAM; AND TO AMEND THE ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS FOR LOAN FORGIVENESS AND THE LOAN REPAYMENT AMOUNTS UNDER THE STATE TEACHER EDUCATION PROGRAM.
HB1025 McGruder TO CREATE THE TEACHER FAIR DISMISSAL ACT OF 2025.
HB1144 Wooten TO REQUIRE A PARTICIPATING SCHOOL UNDER THE ARKANSAS CHILDREN'S EDUCATIONAL FREEDOM ACCOUNT PROGRAM TO COMPLY WITH THE SAME STATUTORY AND DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION REPORTING REQUIREMENTS TO WHICH PUBLIC SCHOOLS ARE SUBJECT.
HB1197 S. Meeks TO PROHIBIT SCHEDULING, HOSTING, OR REQUIRING AN OUTDOOR PRACTICE, SCRIMMAGE, GAME, OR ACTIVITY FOR AN EXTRACURRICULAR ACTIVITY DURING THE HOURS WHEN AN EXCESSIVE HEAT WARNING HAS BEEN DECLARED.
HB1541 Wooten TO REQUIRE A PRIVATE SCHOOL THAT ACCEPTS STATE FUNDING OF ANY TYPE TO PROVIDE TRANSPORTATION TO CERTAIN STUDENTS ENROLLED IN THE SCHOOL.
HB1542 Wooten TO REQUIRE PRIVATE SCHOOLS TO ADMINISTER AN ANNUAL STATEWIDE STUDENT ASSESSMENT; AND TO REQUIRE PRIVATE SCHOOLS TO ADMIT EACH STUDENT WHO APPLIES FOR ADMISSION AND INTENDS TO COVER PRIVATE SCHOOL COSTS WITH STATE FUNDING.
HB1755 T. Shephard TO REQUIRE EACH PUBLIC SCHOOL TO PARTICIPATE IN THE ARKANSAS PREVENTION NEEDS ASSESSMENT SURVEY.
HB1924 Puryear TO REPEAL THE REQUIREMENT THAT THE STATE BOARD OF EDUCATION ESTABLISH RULES REGARDING THE IMPLEMENTATION OF FOUR-DAY SCHOOL WEEKS.
HB1962 Vaught TO PROHIBIT A SCHOOL FROM SERVING OR SELLING ULTRA-PROCESSED FOOD ON THE SCHOOL CAMPUS DURING THE NORMAL SCHOOL DAY.
HB1990 McAlindon TO AMEND THE LAW CONCERNING HIGHER EDUCATION.
HB1727 L. Johnson TO AMEND THE FUNDING AVAILABLE TO ADULT EDUCATION CHARTER SCHOOLS.
HB1081 B. McKenzie TO REPEAL ADDITIONAL FUNDING FOR THE DEVELOPMENT AND ADMINISTRATION OF PROFESSIONAL LEARNING COMMUNITIES.
HB1761 D. Garner TO INCREASE FISCAL RESPONSIBILITY THROUGH THE ESTABLISHMENT OF INCOME LIMITS FOR STUDENTS ELIGIBLE FOR EDUCATIONAL FREEDOM ACCOUNTS IN THE 2025-2026 SCHOOL YEAR AND THEREAFTER.
HB1482 Gramlich TO CREATE AN EXCEPTION TO THE SCHOOL ATTENDANCE REQUIREMENTS FOR A STUDENT WHO TAKES A GED TEST AND RECEIVES A GED.
HB1492 Gramlich TO REQUIRE EACH PUBLIC SCHOOL DISTRICT AND OPEN-ENROLLMENT PUBLIC CHARTER SCHOOL TO IMPLEMENT A MOBILE PANIC ALERT SYSTEM.
HB1940 Walker TO ESTABLISH THE REQUIREMENTS FOR A PUBLIC SCHOOL DISTRICT THAT INITIATES AND MAINTAINS A FOUR-DAY SCHOOL WEEK; AND TO DECLARE AN EMERGENCY.
Documents
| Title | Type | Pages | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Agenda — EDUCATION COMMITTEE- HOUSE, Apr 10, 2025 | Agenda | 3 | Official source ↗ |
Speakers
Representative Keith Brooks Chair
Unverified
Representative Denise Garner
Unverified
Representative Hope Duke
Unverified
Representative Austin McCollum
Unverified
Representative Stephen Meeks
Unverified
Speaker 37
Representative Justin Gonzales
Unverified
Senator Missy Irvin
Unverified
Speaker 72
Speaker 63
Representative Steven Walker
Unverified
Chair
Unverified
Speaker 103
Representative Brit McKenzie Chair
Unverified
Representative DeAnn Vaught
Unverified
Speaker 109
Representative Bruce Cozart
Unverified
Representative Rick Beck
Unverified
Representative Jessie McGruder
Unverified
Speaker 131
Speaker 136
Speaker 137
Mark Rush
Unverified
Representative Lincoln Barnett
Unverified
Representative Stetson Painter
Unverified
Speaker 182
Speaker 62
Speaker 206
Speaker 220
Speaker 228
Speaker 232
Speaker 36
Speaker 245
Speaker 35
Senator Breanne Davis
Unverified
Representative Jason Nazarenko
Unverified
Speaker 71
Representative R. Scott Richardson
Unverified
Speaker 280
Speaker 288
Speaker 294
Representative Matt Brown
Unverified
Speaker 323
Speaker 329
Speaker 215
Speaker 344
Representative Howard M. Beaty, Jr.
Unverified
Speaker 359
Speaker 166