Education Committee - Senate
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Bills discussed (35)
| Bill | Title | Sponsor | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
|
HB1766
Act 907
· 9 mentions in transcript, agenda, chapter
Matched: “um I'm gonna present House Bill 1766. 1756. OK Ah,”
|
TO CREATE THE ARKANSAS RESPOND, INNOVATE, SUCCEED, AND EMPOWER (RISE) ACT. | Ennett | Notification that HB1766 is now Act 907 |
|
HB1728
Act 906
· 8 mentions in agenda, transcript, chapter
Matched: “…OOL-LEVEL GRADUATION RATE IF THE STUDENT PASSES A GED TEST. HB1728 Ennett TO REQUIRE REPORTING ON THE NUMBER OF STUDENTS RECEI…”
|
TO REQUIRE REPORTING ON THE NUMBER OF STUDENTS RECEIVING ACCOMMODATIONS FOR A DISABILITY AT INSTITUTIONS … | Ennett | Notification that HB1728 is now Act 906 |
|
HB1805
Act 805
· 6 mentions in chapter, agenda, transcript
Matched: “HB1805 Childress TO AMEND THE DEFINITION OF "BULLYING"; AND TO CRE…”
|
TO AMEND THE DEFINITION OF "BULLYING"; AND TO CREATE A PROCESS WHEREBY A PUBLIC SCHOOL … | Childress | Notification that HB1805 is now Act 805 |
|
HB1786
Act 826
· 4 mentions in agenda, chapter, transcript
Matched: “…IONAL FREEDOM ACCOUNT PROGRAM; AND TO DECLARE AN EMERGENCY. HB1786 Brooks TO PROVIDE ELIGIBILITY FOR A TUITION BENEFIT TO SOLD…”
|
TO PROVIDE ELIGIBILITY FOR A TUITION BENEFIT TO SOLDIERS AND AIRMEN OF THE ARKANSAS NATIONAL … | Brooks | Notification that HB1786 is now Act 826 |
|
HB1283
· 2 mentions in chapter, agenda
Matched: “HB1283 J. Mayberry TO REQUIRE THE DIVISION OF ELEMENTARY AND SECON…”
|
TO REQUIRE THE DIVISION OF ELEMENTARY AND SECONDARY EDUCATION TO INCLUDE DIGITAL MEDIA STANDARDS IN … | J. Mayberry | Died in Senate Committee at Sine Die adjournment. |
|
HB1370
· 2 mentions in chapter, agenda
Matched: “HB1370 J. Mayberry CONCERNING MAKING UP MISSED SCHOOL DAYS; AND TO…”
|
CONCERNING MAKING UP MISSED SCHOOL DAYS; AND TO REQUIRE A PUBLIC SCHOOL DISTRICT TO INCLUDE … | J. Mayberry | Died in Senate Committee at Sine Die adjournment. |
|
HB1483
· 2 mentions in chapter, agenda
Matched: “HB1483 Gramlich TO ALLOW A PUBLIC SCHOOL DISTRICT TO USE STATE FUN…”
|
TO ALLOW A PUBLIC SCHOOL DISTRICT TO USE STATE FUNDS TO PAY FOR AN ADULT … | Gramlich | Died in Senate Committee at Sine Die adjournment. |
|
HB1495
· 2 mentions in chapter, agenda
Matched: “HB1495 Hawk CONCERNING THE TRANSFER OF A STUDENT'S PERMANENT SCHOO…”
|
CONCERNING THE TRANSFER OF A STUDENT'S PERMANENT SCHOOL RECORD. | Hawk | Died in Senate Committee at Sine Die adjournment. |
|
HB1580
Act 801
· 2 mentions in agenda, chapter
Matched: “…S A STUDENT MAY OBTAIN IN A COURSE CREDIT RECOVERY PROGRAM. HB1580 Gramlich TO REQUIRE SCHOOLS TO PROVIDE CERTAIN INFORMATION…”
|
TO REQUIRE SCHOOLS TO PROVIDE CERTAIN INFORMATION ON TYPE 1 AND TYPE 2 DIABETES WHEN … | Gramlich | Notification that HB1580 is now Act 801 |
|
HB1642
Act 916
· 2 mentions in agenda, chapter
Matched: “…TYPE 2 DIABETES WHEN OTHER HEALTH INFORMATION IS PROVIDED. HB1642 Gramlich TO AMEND THE MEASURES CONSIDERED WHEN CALCULATING…”
|
TO AMEND THE MEASURES CONSIDERED WHEN CALCULATING A SCHOOL RATING; AND TO ENSURE A STUDENT … | Gramlich | Notification that HB1642 is now Act 916 |
|
HB1646
Act 917
· 2 mentions in agenda, chapter
Matched: “…ERNING THE TRANSFER OF A STUDENT'S PERMANENT SCHOOL RECORD. HB1646 McGrew TO REQUIRE CERTAIN MATERIALS TO BE STORED IN LOCKED…”
|
TO REQUIRE CERTAIN MATERIALS TO BE STORED IN LOCKED COMPARTMENTS WITHIN A DESIGNATED AREA. | McGrew | Notification that HB1646 is now Act 917 |
|
HB1672
Act 800
· 2 mentions in chapter, agenda
Matched: “HB1672 McCollum TO AMEND PROVISIONS OF THE ARKANSAS CODE TO CREATE…”
|
TO AMEND PROVISIONS OF THE ARKANSAS CODE TO CREATE A MORE EFFICIENT SYSTEM FOR PUBLIC … | McCollum | Notification that HB1672 is now Act 800 |
|
HB1684
· 2 mentions in agenda, chapter
Matched: “…STRICTS; AND TO AMEND THE PUBLIC SCHOOL CHOICE ACT OF 2015. HB1684 McAlindon TO CREATE THE PARENTS AND TEACHERS HELPING STUDEN…”
|
TO CREATE THE PARENTS AND TEACHERS HELPING STUDENTS SUCCEED (PATHS) ACT. | McAlindon | Died in Senate Committee at Sine Die adjournment. |
|
HB1756
Act 803
· 2 mentions in agenda, chapter
Matched: “…TIONS FOR A DISABILITY AT INSTITUTIONS OF HIGHER EDUCATION. HB1756 Vaught TO ALLOW A PARENT, LEGAL GUARDIAN, OR PERSON STANDIN…”
|
TO ALLOW A PARENT, LEGAL GUARDIAN, OR PERSON STANDING IN LOCO PARENTIS TO A STUDENT … | Vaught | Notification that HB1756 is now Act 803 |
|
HB1812
Act 918
· 2 mentions in agenda, chapter
Matched: “…BE STORED IN LOCKED COMPARTMENTS WITHIN A DESIGNATED AREA. HB1812 Gramlich TO AMEND THE ARKANSAS EDUCATIONAL SUPPORT AND ACCO…”
|
TO AMEND THE ARKANSAS EDUCATIONAL SUPPORT AND ACCOUNTABILITY ACT; TO CREATE AN EXCEPTION TO ATTENDANCE … | Gramlich | Notification that HB1812 is now Act 918 |
|
HB1833
Act 806
· 2 mentions in chapter, agenda
Matched: “HB1833 M. Shepherd TO AMEND THE LAW CONCERNING THE ADMISSIONS AT T…”
|
TO AMEND THE LAW CONCERNING THE ADMISSIONS AT THE UNIVERSITY OF ARKANSAS COLLEGE OF MEDICINE. | M. Shepherd | Notification that HB1833 is now Act 806 |
|
HB1866
Act 908
· 2 mentions in chapter, agenda
Matched: “HB1866 Brooks TO CREATE ELI'S LAW; AND TO REQUIRE EACH PUBLIC SCHO…”
|
TO CREATE ELI'S LAW; AND TO REQUIRE EACH PUBLIC SCHOOL TO INSTALL AN AUDIO RECORDING … | Brooks | Notification that HB1866 is now Act 908 |
|
HB1938
Act 807
· 2 mentions in chapter, agenda
Matched: “HB1938 Joey Carr TO AMEND PROVISIONS OF THE ARKANSAS CODE CONCERNI…”
|
TO AMEND PROVISIONS OF THE ARKANSAS CODE CONCERNING THE CREATION OF DISTRICT STRATEGIC PLANS AND … | Joey Carr | Notification that HB1938 is now Act 807 |
|
HB1939
Act 808
· 2 mentions in agenda, chapter
Matched: “…LITY OF THE DIVISION OF ELEMENTARY AND SECONDARY EDUCATION. HB1939 Joey Carr TO AMEND ELIGIBILITY FOR TEACHER INCENTIVE AND ME…”
|
TO AMEND ELIGIBILITY FOR TEACHER INCENTIVE AND MERIT PAY; TO AMEND REQUIREMENTS FOR SUMMATIVE EVALUATIONS; … | Joey Carr | Notification that HB1939 is now Act 808 |
|
HB1941
Act 809
· 2 mentions in agenda, chapter
Matched: “…EQUIREMENTS UNDER THE MERIT TEACHER INCENTIVE FUND PROGRAM. HB1941 Joey Carr CONCERNING DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION BOARDS AND COM…”
|
CONCERNING DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION BOARDS AND COMMISSIONS; AND TO PROTECT ARKANSAS STUDENTS BY ENSURING THE … | Joey Carr | Notification that HB1941 is now Act 809 |
|
HB1946
· 2 mentions in agenda, chapter
Matched: “…FFICIENT DISPOSITION OF ETHICS COMPLAINTS AGAINST TEACHERS. HB1946 Bentley TO REQUIRE HUMAN GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT INSTRUCTION…”
|
TO REQUIRE HUMAN GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT INSTRUCTION IN PUBLIC SCHOOLS. | Bentley | Died in Senate Committee at Sine Die adjournment. |
|
SB436
· 2 mentions in chapter, agenda
Matched: “SB436 A. Clark TO AMEND THE ABILITY OF A STUDENT WHO TRANSFERS UN…”
|
TO AMEND THE ABILITY OF A STUDENT WHO TRANSFERS UNDER THE PUBLIC SCHOOL CHOICE ACT … | A. Clark | Died in Senate Committee at Sine Die adjournment. |
|
SB482
· 2 mentions in chapter, agenda
Matched: “SB482 K. Hammer TO REPEAL THE ARKANSAS OPPORTUNITY PUBLIC SCHOOL…”
|
TO REPEAL THE ARKANSAS OPPORTUNITY PUBLIC SCHOOL CHOICE ACT; TO AMEND THE LAW RELATING TO … | K. Hammer | Died in Senate Committee at Sine Die adjournment. |
|
SB625
Act 920
· 2 mentions in agenda, chapter
Matched: “…MISSIONS AT THE UNIVERSITY OF ARKANSAS COLLEGE OF MEDICINE. SB625 B. Davis TO AMEND PROVISIONS OF THE ARKANSAS CODE CONCERNIN…”
|
TO AMEND PROVISIONS OF THE ARKANSAS CODE CONCERNING THE ARKANSAS CHILDREN'S EDUCATIONAL FREEDOM ACCOUNT PROGRAM; … | B. Davis | Notification that SB625 is now Act 920 |
|
SB634
· 2 mentions in chapter, agenda
Matched: “SB634 M. Johnson TO CREATE THE DIVISION OF INTERSCHOLASTIC ACTIVI…”
|
TO CREATE THE DIVISION OF INTERSCHOLASTIC ACTIVITIES WITHIN THE DIVISION OF ELEMENTARY AND SECONDARY EDUCATION. | M. Johnson | Died in House Committee at Sine Die adjournment. |
|
HB1180
· 1 mention in agenda
Matched: “…RT CARD TO INCLUDE A STUDENT'S CURRENT READING GRADE LEVEL. HB1180 Bentley TO CREATE THE BABY OLIVIA ACT. SB216 J. Dotson TO A…”
|
TO CREATE THE BABY OLIVIA ACT. | Bentley | Died in Senate Committee at Sine Die adjournment. |
|
HB1484
Act 910
· 1 mention in chapter
Matched: “HB1484 Gramlich TO LIMIT THE NUMBER OF CREDITS A STUDENT MAY OBTAI…”
|
TO LIMIT THE NUMBER OF CREDITS A STUDENT MAY OBTAIN IN A COURSE CREDIT RECOVERY … | Gramlich | Notification that HB1484 is now Act 910 |
|
HB1793
Act 804
· 1 mention in chapter
Matched: “HB1793 Duke TO AMEND THE LAW CONCERNING THE USE OF POSITIVE BEHAVI…”
|
TO AMEND THE LAW CONCERNING THE USE OF POSITIVE BEHAVIORAL SUPPORTS IN PUBLIC SCHOOL DISTRICTS. | Duke | Notification that HB1793 is now Act 804 |
|
SB205
· 1 mention in agenda
Matched: “…C SCHOOL TO ADOPT A POLICY FOR ONE OR MORE STUDENT MENTORS. SB205 A. Clark TO AMEND THE ARKANSAS OPPORTUNITY PUBLIC SCHOOL CH…”
|
TO AMEND THE ARKANSAS OPPORTUNITY PUBLIC SCHOOL CHOICE ACT; AND TO AMEND THE PUBLIC SCHOOL … | A. Clark | Died in Senate Committee at Sine Die adjournment. |
|
SB215
· 1 mention in agenda
Matched: “…LOYMENT TAX ACT TO WAIVE THE "REASONABLE ASSURANCE" CLAUSE. SB215 J. Bryant TO AMEND THE PERMISSIBLE USES FOR REAL ESTATE DON…”
|
TO AMEND THE PERMISSIBLE USES FOR REAL ESTATE DONATED BY A PUBLIC SCHOOL DISTRICT; AND … | J. Bryant | Died in Senate Committee at Sine Die adjournment. |
|
SB266
· 1 mention in agenda
Matched: “…NING POSTSECONDARY EDUCATION FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE PROGRAMS. SB266 J. Dotson TO AUTHORIZE A PUBLIC SCHOOL TO ADOPT A POLICY FO…”
|
TO AUTHORIZE A PUBLIC SCHOOL TO ADOPT A POLICY FOR ONE OR MORE STUDENT MENTORS. | J. Dotson | Died in Senate Committee at Sine Die adjournment. |
|
SB438
· 1 mention in chapter
Matched: “SB438 A. Clark TO PERMANENTLY BAN FROM COACHING A COACH OR AN ATH…”
|
TO PERMANENTLY BAN FROM COACHING A COACH OR AN ATHLETICS PERSONNEL MEMBER WHO RECRUITS A … | A. Clark | Died in Senate Committee at Sine Die adjournment. |
|
SB528
· 1 mention in agenda
Matched: “…ICE ACT; AND TO AMEND THE PUBLIC SCHOOL CHOICE ACT OF 2015. SB528 Gilmore TO ADDRESS THE POWERS AND DUTIES OF THE OFFICE OF S…”
|
TO ADDRESS THE POWERS AND DUTIES OF THE OFFICE OF SKILLS DEVELOPMENT AND THE CAREER … | Gilmore | Died in Senate Committee at Sine Die adjournment. |
|
SB607
· 1 mention in chapter
Matched: “SB607 Crowell TO ESTABLISH THE REQUIREMENTS FOR A PUBLIC SCHOOL D…”
|
TO ESTABLISH THE REQUIREMENTS FOR A PUBLIC SCHOOL DISTRICT THAT INITIATES AND MAINTAINS A FOUR-DAY … | Crowell | Died in Senate Committee at Sine Die adjournment. |
|
SCR3
· 1 mention in agenda
Matched: “…CHOOLS. Page 2 of 3 DEFERRED BILLS Number Sponsor Subtitle SCR3 J. Scott TO URGE THE ARKANSAS CONGRESSIONAL DELEGATION TO P…”
|
TO URGE THE ARKANSAS CONGRESSIONAL DELEGATION TO PROPOSE AN AMENDMENT TO THE FEDERAL UNEMPLOYMENT TAX … | J. Scott | Died in Senate Committee at Sine Die adjournment. |
Machine transcript
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- October 6, 2026
Senator Jane English
Unverified
0:00
Welcome to Senate Education, Representative Brooks, you're
up. Your bill number is? 1786. 1786. Chair,
Representative Keith Brooks
Unverified
0:12
thank you. You're up, District 78. House Bill 1786 is a very simple bill. This is dealing with National Guard tuition waivers. So Senator Bryan is my senator's sponsor on this. So we created the National Guard tuition waiver program in 2019. Basically it just allows for waivers of tuition for active guardsmen and women. In fiscal year 2024, we had 447 guardsmen and women who took
advantage of it, and it continues to be the guard, one of their best recruiting tools. All this simply does, currently you can only utilize the tuition waivers at state-sponsored institutions. This is simply broadening that to allow to be used at any private institution that takes Title IV federal aid. And so places like Philander Smith, Harding, OBU, John Brown, it just allows that tuition waiver to be utilized at those universities as well. There is no fiscal impact. There's no additional
costs to the program in any way. It just opens it up for additional choice for
guardsmen and women. And with that, I'd be happy to answer any questions.
Senator Jane English
Unverified
1:14
Are there any questions from the committee? Seeing none, is there anybody in the audience speak for or against this bill?
Seeing none, what's the will of the committee? All in favor? All opposed? Thank you. You passed your bill. Thank you, committee. Okay. You want to do yours? Okay. Senator Davis?
Senator Breanne Davis
Unverified
1:48
Do you identify yourself? Thank you, Madam Chair.
Speaker 19
2:01
Breanne Davis, State Senate, District 25. Allison Guthrie. Tell me
Senator Breanne Davis
Unverified
2:10
again the number of the bill. Okay. House Bill 1728. And I've got Allison here to help walk through these bills with us, so I'm going to let her talk about them,
and then we'll be happy to
Allison Guthrie
Unverified
2:26
answer any questions. Okay. Go ahead. De-identify yourself. Yes, of course. Thank you so much. My name is Allison Guthrie. I want to thank you for allowing me to be here today. HB 1728 requires the reporting on the number of students receiving accommodations for disability at institutions of higher education. And it requires that this would be in the Arkansas Higher Education Annual Report.
and I'm just going to give you a little bit of background, I guess. So I was born and raised in Arkansas, Central High graduate, graduated from the University of Arkansas-Pulaski Tech, and I'm a current graduate student and teacher at Illinois State University studying cognitive and experimental psychology. I also have a disability called hypermobile Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome and have encountered a multitude of what I believe to be unnecessary challenges in higher education as a student with a disability and we're here today because I decided to do something about that.
So like I said before HB 1728 requires that the total proportion of students registered to receive accommodations are counted, reported, and that statistics on retention and graduation rates for these cohorts of students are reported in the ADHE's annual legislative report. Currently, there is no publicly-recorded statewide data on any aspect of students with disabilities in higher education. So Arkansas lacks comprehensive data in this area, and this is the absolute bare minimum that
higher education institutions should be reporting, which is what's in this bill. And this is also the first time that this issue has ever been brought to light as far as I know. And the hope is that the data from this will incentivize institutions to investigate any issues that may account for any potentially low graduation rates. The biggest issue here is that we're funding these programs and services for students with disabilities without checking in to see whether or not these services are actually benefiting those students. I think as lawmakers,
it's important to make sure that taxpayer money is well spent by holding institutions accountable for this data because you know, if we're spending taxpayer money on programs that aren't meeting the needs of students with disabilities, we're not just failing students with disabilities, we're also failing taxpayers. The number of students with disabilities enrolling in institutions of higher education has also tripled over the last few decades and is only projected to increase. And in a state with the second highest percentage of people with disabilities, this seems like a pressing issue.
Additionally some reports show that up to 19% of undergraduates are students with disabilities And this is thought to actually be a gross undercount And according to the research that I did in cross-referencing multiple databases only three institutions in the entire state of Arkansas Had more than 10% of their student body registered
Speaker 25
5:25
to receive accommodations for disability So we are missing a significant amount of students here I also
Allison Guthrie
Unverified
5:35
think any efforts towards increasing retention and graduation rates is an overall win for
institutions in Arkansas as well as an overall win for the economy and the employability of our Arkansas graduates. However, without this data, we cannot know for sure again, whether or not we're meeting or failing to meet the needs of students with disabilities. So I think it's time that we've started
Speaker 25
5:59
following the statistics on students with disabilities to better serve their journeys in the future. And so I'd ask this committee to vote for this legislation and to
Senator Breanne Davis
Unverified
6:10
count us in We're happy to answer any questions their questions from the committee senator Sullivan
Senator Dan Sullivan
Unverified
6:17
Thank You madam chair So when
a student transitions from a k-12 setting into higher ed generally in k-12 They have been tested and go through things. So is there no transition process as they enter higher ed? There's no evaluation
Speaker 37
6:33
or standard by which people are evaluated? I
Allison Guthrie
Unverified
6:42
just would follow the students at the very least from the time they enter higher education
and then as they progress throughout that journey. K-12 is
Senator Breanne Davis
Unverified
6:52
just entirely different than higher ed. It's it's not the same type of thing where you're have 504 is an IEPs and stuff like that And so this just says that if the students are Registering with the institution if the institution doesn't have to go out and ask every student Do you have a disability you have disability, but
if the student registers and lets the
Institution know then that's where and the tracking can begin. Okay. Thank you Are
Senator Jane English
Unverified
7:27
there other questions from the committee? Seeing nobody in
the audience to speak for or against the bill, what's the will of the committee? Are you closed? I'm closed. I make a motion. Do you pass? Do you second? Do
you second? And any discussion on the motion? All in favor? Aye.
All opposed? Thank you. You passed
Senator Breanne Davis
Unverified
7:53
your bill. Do you have a second one? Thank you. Brianne Davis, State Senate, District 25, and I'm going
to present House Bill 1766. 1756. Okay. Thank
Speaker 25
8:06
you so much. Allison Guthrie here presenting on HB 1766. So, I'm not sure if I should start with
Speaker 46
8:16
what it does or just tell my story about it.
Allison Guthrie
Unverified
8:22
Okay. Yeah, so, you know, when when people say the word students with disabilities, most people immediately think that we're talking about K through 12 children. And this is because students with disabilities receive the most support that they ever will during their lifetime, typically, during their primary education years. There's actually a term for it when teachers and administrators actively seek out students with disabilities in K through 12 to offer support and resources and they call it the hunt. And this is because these schools are equipped with a multitude of programs and resources to help these students, but once they graduate from high school,
their once ubiquitous support from the school and programs drops off significantly, and there's actually a term for this, and it's called the drop-off. And it's used to describe that lack of resources during the transition to post-secondary education and employment for students with disabilities. And this is also a national issue, and it's also something that I watched happen with my brother who has autism. So HP 1766 would streamline and make more accessible the process of understanding registering for and receiving accommodations and expand the allowed
documentation needed for accommodations to improve the transitional process from K through 12 education into higher education institutions. Of the barriers to students both requesting and receiving accommodations, lack of awareness of accommodations and the process by which to request them as well as a lack of appropriate accommodation needed to qualify for accommodations are at the top. In these situations, the barrier for the disability is not in the student, it's in the environment, and we can't change students' needs, but we can change environments.
My own experience during the accommodations process was actually stalled by requiring a re-evaluation for a permanent disability because the documentation was not recent enough and because I attended college long after I had graduated high school and so my previous 504 plan was I guess like inaccessible because it had been more than ten years. But these types of barriers become absolute roadblocks for students with lack of resources or self-advocacy skills. Research shows that students are less likely to both receive or request and receive
accommodations in higher education compared to K through 12 school settings. Research also shows that students who reported having a disability to their institution of those students only about 12 to 13 percent actually registered with disability service services so according to this study 88% of students with disabilities are not currently receiving support through accommodations and this is an issue that absolutely must be addressed and I believe that HB 1766 is a start additionally up to 43% of students who
disclose their institution or their disability to their institutions do not ultimately end up receiving accommodations for their school. I also found similar report numbers in a pilot study I did last semester wherein 61% of respondents indicated that they had a health condition or disability that could impact their academic success while only 11% indicated that they were registered to receive accommodations. And this tells us again that there are significant barriers for students with disabilities in both requesting and
receiving accommodations in higher education and this bill seeks to eliminate the barriers that it can. It expands documentation so it would allow for previous IEPs to count, previous 504 plans to count as documentation, any sort of disability or injury due to military service, would accept previous plans at former institutions or any other state state educational agencies and would not require the reevaluation of a student's permanent
disability. It would create a policy to enhance transparency including information about the describing the process of accommodations to students in plain language, being transparent about what criteria is used by these departments to determine eligibility for accommodations. It would allow, they would have to disseminate all of this information during the application process, student orientation, in academic catalogs, and on institutions public
websites, and would provide a list of reasonable accommodations and resources to applicants, students, parents, and faculty, again in plain language. It also allows for flexibility to create accommodations that may not be listed, but reasonably accommodate the needs of the student with a disability. So sometimes students may not have a medical condition. I have a friend of mine whose child was homeschooled for the entirety of his life until he was a
certain age and, you know, had difficulty in classroom settings. This was not a medical condition, but it was considered a barrier within the environment to that student success and so this allows for flexibility and accommodations like that where medical documentation would not suffice and it creates advising services for students with disabilities who have self-identified as having a disability and are registered to receive accommodations. We're happy to take
Speaker 46
13:42
any questions. Are there questions from the committee?
Senator Jane English
Unverified
13:51
there anybody in the audience speak for against the
bill seeing none what is the will of the committee I'm closed and I make a motion do pass a second a second
all in favor all opposed thank you very much you passed your bill okay let's
see representative Childress are you here hey you want to come have a seat
House bill 1805 thank you madam chair with
Representative Paul Childress
Unverified
14:27
permission from the chair I would like
to ask Dr. Brian Diffey from the Alma School District to join me. Go ahead.
Brian Diffey, Alma School District. Thank you. Thank you, Madam Chair and committee members. What House Bill 1805 does, it adds three definitions to the current bullion bill and or the current bullion law and it also allows public
schools while investigating the bully incident that they discover another violation like an example of a title 9 violation or any other state or federal law to continue with that investigation and conduct multiple investigations into one what that will do it'll help save school districts money from these third parties that we're having to use to conduct vested investigations it'll allow them to do one investigation to encompass anything that occurs. With permission from the chair, I will turn the rest of it to Brian Diffie and let him
explain what generated this bill and some examples and what they're
Speaker 68
15:39
seeing. First of all, as far as the definition of bullying, there's clarifications always needed sometimes with situations. And we feel the three bullet points clarify the definition of bullying. Division staff were consulted in the development of this bill, and a few school districts have been involved with helping with this.
It clarifies what conduct would be bullying instead of other conduct that might be addressed in other parts of the student handbook. For example, just an argument between two students. Well, maybe that's not bullying, and it's something else in the handbook. The current definition is very broad, and this new definition could serve as a checklist for parents, teachers, administrators. In the second section, the goal of this is to prevent simultaneous multiple investigations possibly of the same conduct that may constitute a timeline violation or something
else. And for the times that we must, that several school districts have had to use third-party investigators, this would say multiple investigations based on other standards of the same conduct and to make sure that all the regs and laws are followed in these investigations of misconduct so that there's just one investigation, witnesses, and can only be interviewed one time instead of multiple times and just be more efficient in the investigation process into these allegations
of misconduct and, as Representative Childress said, would save time and money in investigating these discipline issues the the I guess you'd say the advantage is we can be more efficient there's various incidents that happen that we need to investigate sometimes it at the school level and sometimes it may take district level to investigate certain allegations and if we can consolidate all of that it makes it more efficient for everybody
Senator Jane English
Unverified
17:42
are there any questions from the committee senator Sullivan
Senator Dan Sullivan
Unverified
17:57
so in section two here maybe I just don't understand maybe I just don't understand but it talks about investigations of illegal conduct
Speaker 74
18:04
so is law enforcement involved in this there
Speaker 68
18:09
could be some cases where if there's laws violated that yes we may have SROs or police departments involved in
investigations if there are certain crimes that have been committed that is
Senator Dan Sullivan
Unverified
18:22
possible so like I'm in if the facts that support an alleged incident of bullying under this section
may also constitute a violation of another state law so when the district takes action and they're taking action based upon a student violating the law without court involvement? Well we would take action
Speaker 68
18:46
based on what's in our policies then if there's other legal action that needs to
happen we would definitely turn that over to
Senator Dan Sullivan
Unverified
18:57
law enforcement authorities. Well that's I understand but help me understand so you're in line 23 says you're also constitute a violation a violation of state law so you're making
Speaker 74
19:08
a determination there that they have violated state law if there's another if there's another law okay how can
Speaker 78
19:16
the school make a determination they violated state law well we would
Speaker 68
19:21
definitely need to consult legal counsel as far as this investigative process and also potentially law
enforcement and other authorities just that's not what the bill says understand bill says
Senator Dan Sullivan
Unverified
19:30
they have violated state law right and so you're making the district is making a determination that a student has violated state law. How can you do that? That's a very
Representative Paul Childress
Unverified
19:45
good question, and I don't think the district can determine that. That's for a judge or a jury to decide, and I can give you one example, Senator. I'm currently still on the Benton School Board until my term is up, so what we
encountered with a recent bullying investigation, during that investigation, they discovered a federal violation of Title IX. Well, what they thought was a federal violation. What they thought, yes, sir. So what they did was... Listen,
Senator Dan Sullivan
Unverified
20:11
I've been through all of them. I was 30 years in school, alternative school, did all
of that, worked with your witness several times. I'm just saying what the bill says, that the district has made a determination that a student has violated state law. And I don't think
Speaker 78
20:27
you can do that. And in that process,
I can speak for me, i'm going to consult legal counsel
Senator Dan Sullivan
Unverified
20:35
i get it and i trust you you're in the process but the bill says that you're making a determination they violated state law explain to me how you can make
Speaker 68
20:45
that determination well i can't do it solely independently that's what i'm saying okay thank you we've got we've got to consult others
Senator Jane English
Unverified
20:55
other questions from the committee being none is our anybody ever speak for
against the bill we need no so what is the will of the
committee motion do pass I hear a second is there a discussion on the motion yes I completely
Senator Dan Sullivan
Unverified
21:28
agree with what you're trying to do I don't think that's what the bill says I won't be
able to vote for the belt this
Senator Jim Dotson
Unverified
21:42
time thank you Senator Dodson. Thank you, Madam Chair. So I'm trying to, Senator Sullivan,
on page 2, line 23, that you referenced, it says, Siri didn't get that, it says that it may also constitute a violation of another state law.
I'm not sure if it means that they're making the determination that it does. It just says that it may. I don't know if that helps clarify your concern, but that's the way I'm reading it. Senator
Senator Breanne Davis
Unverified
22:29
Davis. Thank you, Madam Chair. But I think further down is where it's confusing me because it says nothing in this section shall be construed to prevent a public school district from investigating and deposing of the alleged incident of bullying in accordance with the applicable state law or rule in lieu of the requirements of this section.
I mean, maybe we can not, if the
sponsor maybe would like to withdraw and not vote right now, and we can talk about it and maybe amend or clarify in some way and bring it back when we come back in at 10 to make sure that it's not, the language is clear.
Should be willing to do that if I thank
Speaker 111
23:45
What do we have to do because we've got Yeah, so I mean if it says
Senator Dan Sullivan
Unverified
23:50
if it says in the bill they have violated policy Then I can see why you would you would have grounds to investigate a violation of policy I'm more comfortable investigating based on what your policy is than based on what
Senator Kim Hammer
Unverified
24:05
Even with the May language in there It's a little fuzzy Ben chair, yes, we'll pull it down. I got a
little time. Sorry. I was in pier chair and pier And we'll work on this if we come back at 10 o'clock. I'll work over there with them I'd just like to hear clearly stated because I got in here late. What's what's the main concern so we can get to work on it? Senator if Senator Sullivan would he's want to express concern. Yeah
Senator Dan Sullivan
Unverified
24:39
Maybe an attorney for the Department of Education Can testify as to whether we need to clarify the policy or whether whether we're investigating based on a violation of a
supposed investigation of state law With the chair love court need to come up real quick.
Senator Kim Hammer
Unverified
24:57
Would the chair love court need to come in. Thank you And it's it is a little fuzzy
Senator Jane English
Unverified
25:09
Ma'am, you'll identify yourself you'll be recognized Courtney
Speaker 119
25:13
Salas for Department of Education And I'm
Senator Dan Sullivan
Unverified
25:20
sidebar conversation. What was the question? Yeah, so the question in in this bill it talks about the school may buy line 23 I think also constitutes a violation of another state law or rule or federal law so I'm just I Would be more comfortable that mean I'm right. I'm more comfortable if they're
investigating based on policy a violation of their school policy when you start saying we're Investigating based on a violation of state law. I don't know that the school has the authority to Surplant the courts in
this is that what the bill says no So and
Speaker 122
26:01
part of this is because it's taking it in isolation And if you were to look at 618 514 in its whole it specifically is talking about school policies And so when it says an alleged incident of bullying under this section that's referring back to school policies
so basically what the bill does is say that if a school is investigating an alleged incident of bullying under their school policy and it may also constitute a violation of another state law or federal law so I believe the example was given a title nine or state laws then they just have to do one investigation so it's to eliminate that need for duplicate multiple investigations if the same incident would have to be investigated under district policy state law and federal law
Senator Dan Sullivan
Unverified
26:50
okay and the school is not making a determination then
Speaker 122
26:54
no they are not on state law yeah okay they're not and they
Speaker 127
27:08
cannot do that agreed thank you okay so where are we do
Senator Jane English
Unverified
27:16
we have a motion do you want to make it again I'll make a motion you pass okay we have a second any discussion on the motion seeing none what's the will eyes or no I thank you you pass your bill
Senator Jane English
Unverified
27:38
we have some clarification okay I know these Little folks are here
from some Math, what is your
1646, who are all these folks with here? 1646
Okay, if you'll identify yourself,
Senator Matt McKee
Unverified
28:26
you'll be recognized. Matt McKee,
Senator Matt McKee
Unverified
28:31
Representative Richard McGrew, District 85. Okay, proceed. Members, this bill simply seeks
to provide some mechanisms for parents and teachers to make sure, 1646, to make sure that material contained in school libraries is not material
about sexuality in media centers, K through
Senator Jim Dotson
Unverified
28:55
five, is age appropriate. I'd be happy to take any questions. Are there questions
Senator Jane English
Unverified
29:25
So where are these things locked up In a compartment maybe
Speaker 158
29:33
they'd be locked in a in a box or a compartment Is it in the library or is it another place in the
Senator Jane English
Unverified
29:46
building in in in the media center would be fun It isn't necessarily
So how would anybody know that these things are in the box a locked box? If if parents
Senator Matt McKee
Unverified
30:12
want their kids to be able to access Those materials they can give give the school. Do we have
Senator Jane English
Unverified
30:17
a list of them or something like that of things that are in the lockbox? It
Representative Richard McGrew
Unverified
30:22
doesn't spell out that they have to be in there. They're non age-appropriate material. So they're material that That should not be in the K to 5 library to begin with In a school library in school malaria kindergarten through fifth grade
And so this material if it's of the sexual orientation that the parents want their young child Know about it and the parent can go you've written
Senator Breanne Davis
Unverified
30:53
permission for the librarian to do
that Senator Davis Thank You madam chair So at the end of page two, it says, as used in this section, non-age-appropriate sexual contact means basically materials that are not developmentally appropriate for K through five.
So is the librarian going to be determining each book if it's developmentally appropriate and then based on what standards? Because, I mean, if they are ordering books for their library, typically it says, you know, for ages 8 through 11. Or, you know, it tells you sort of what age that book is for. So is it up to the librarian to determine, and then based on what, will they use to determine what is developmentally appropriate?
Representative Richard McGrew
Unverified
31:46
So the librarian does order the books and the librarian does make the decision of which ones go there or not. If a parent sees a book in there that their child brings in the book that they think is inappropriate, then the parent can go to the librarian and point it out. And the librarian has the option to go ahead and lock it in the book in the compartment then. And then the next step would be for if the librarian says no, it's appropriate, then the parent goes to the principal and kept it at a local level at first for the principal and the superintendent to get together and make that decision.
But initially that decision is made by the librarian to make that decision, but it does have a mechanism for parents to voice their
Senator Breanne Davis
Unverified
32:34
opinion. So if the librarian misses it on the front end and the parent comes and says, hey, my child checked out this book. It was not developmentally appropriate, then the teacher or the librarian can then lock it up. But it does say that an allegation that an individual knowingly failed to comply with the section for the first time
shall be documented by the principal of the school. So if they missed a book unintentionally and it was brought to their
Senator Matt McKee
Unverified
33:06
attention. At that point, the principal would be involved, right? And so the principal is going to, he can say whether or not that is, obviously, everybody agrees. That's, you know, I can't define it, but I know it when I see it, right? So at that point, you've got administration involved. They can make a judgment call. Everybody should have known that was age inappropriate or it's questionable.
Senator Jane English
Unverified
33:29
And there's going to be a process there. Okay, thank you. I guess my question is, how did it get
there in the first place? Don't these things, don't
Senator Matt McKee
Unverified
33:43
they have to go through a process of ordering? I think Senator
Sullivan can probably speak to some of this, but the American Library Association approves the books that are purchased by our school libraries, right? And I think it's been demonstrated that some of those approvals are not necessarily what
Senator Jane English
Unverified
34:00
you and I would think of
Senator Dan Sullivan
Unverified
34:07
in the same light. Senator Sullivan. The LEARNS Act defines some things that are inappropriate for kids, young kids. Does this bill consider what's
Speaker 148
34:21
already law? As we have checked with Director Olivia, this is also supported by the AAEA.
Senator Dan Sullivan
Unverified
34:30
Not that I always agree with the court, but the court said in a recent decision that, one, letting the primary people that know what's best are librarians. That's what the court said. So that standard seems like you've addressed here. the court also says that educational sexual educational material is different from other material so does this bill consider material that's educational in
nature are you going to lock up educational material and other material long as
Senator Jim Dotson
Unverified
35:11
it's age-appropriate it doesn't need to be locked up okay
Senator Jane English
Unverified
35:21
thank you so what is the will of the
committee nobody's speaking it for against what's the will of the committee second there any
comment on that this motion all in favor all opposed thank
you you pass your bill thank you committee okay senator Davis you want to
do house bill 1833 okay if you'll identify yourself 1833
Senator Breanne Davis
Unverified
36:15
Thank you, Madam Chair. Breanne Davis, State Senate, District 25. Andy Davis with UAMS. So, House Bill 1833 is really just an attempt to clean up and clarify the admission parameters for medical school for UAMS. We're looking to move away from a percentage allocation within congressional districts and more just to a number allocation so we know the number of
students from each congressional district. So there's several reasons for it and I'll let Mr. Davis speak to that speak to those but part of the accreditation standards for UAMS is people actually graduating. So with the percentage allocation that we've had in the past it could maybe put them in a potential bad spot if students aren't meeting the criteria in the first place to be admitted to UAMS. And then there's maybe students in other congressional districts that are meeting that criteria, but they're cut off because of the percentage. So
we looked at a way to do it fairly to still, you know, promote and advance Arkansas students first, but do it in a way that was very reasonable to ensure there were good graduation rates within UAMS and that we're putting, you know, recruiting Arkansans to be doctors and stay here in Arkansas and serve the citizens. Thank
Speaker 198
37:44
you, Senator Davis. Thank you, committee. As you all know, current law already allocates so many slots from each congressional district for the College of Medicine at UAMS.
What current law doesn't do is address what if there aren't enough qualified applicants from every congressional district? What do you do
Senator Matt McKee
Unverified
38:01
then? So in this bill, we're essentially simplifying things and just saying it's 25 people per congressional district, additional
Speaker 198
38:07
25 Arkansas residents over that but then adding in if there's not 25 qualified applicants who accept an offer then it goes to Arkansas residents at large and then it goes to applicants most likely to stay in Arkansas that's it in a nutshell yeah we're happy to take any
Senator Breanne Davis
Unverified
38:30
questions this has not been a controversial bill but we're happy to answer any questions have a question
Senator Jim Dotson
Unverified
38:45
senator Dotson thank you madam chair I'm for this double Davis bill okay hey nobody are you
Senator Jane English
Unverified
38:56
close for your bail I'm close and make a motion do
pass okay second all in favor aye all opposed thank you very much you passed your bill
thank you committee okay all right let me see here we are
Speaker 207
39:31
and we can't do 1672 representative Duke you have house
Speaker 213
39:57
bill seven 1793 yes ma'am thank you madam chair thank you
Representative Hope Duke
Unverified
40:03
members to pull your up closer better thank you thank you thank you members thank you madam chair I'm glad to be here this morning I know you guys had a long night I'll try to make it short and sweet so the hospital 1793 is a constituent driven bill from not just my constituents but I heard from a lot of variety of folks around the state, particularly Northwest Arkansas, so just to be clear on that one. And so it's just a common sense local control bill about discipline procedures. So right now currently we have PBIS, positive behavior intervention supports, that is required in law
to be utilized as a discipline behavior framework at every local school district across the state. And I don't have a problem with PBIS. It's a good strategy and can be helpful, but I don't think it should be the only tool I definitely don't think we should be requiring districts to use this specific one because there's other frameworks and strategies out there that they can use and I think that local school districts have a better handle and know what their community wants what type of procedures and frameworks work best for their community and for their school districts
and so I would like to afford the ability to make those decisions for themselves on that local level because as you all know, not every district is the same. Across this state, we have different needs and different ways we want to necessarily handle these things. So this is just trying to not have a cookie-cutter approach to discipline procedures and policies. I did talk with DESE about this, and they are in favor of allowing districts to use strategies that work best for their students. Of course, they're here, as you know, and if you have any questions for them as far as the strategies
and different frameworks, I'm sure they would be happy to answer those as they help assist that answer in house ed committee but again this is not requiring people to do anything any specific program any specific framework it is not saying they can't use PBIS it's just saying do what this best for your district you can use PBIS if you want to continue using it it doesn't if they put time effort training into it but I've heard from several people who feel like there are some different approaches that they would like to use
And that they would also like to some that would like to go ahead and continue down the process Whichever works best for them. Just let them decide and with that. I'm happy to answer any questions as best I can The questions from the
Senator Dan Sullivan
Unverified
42:40
committee It's centers all of it. I apologize for stepping a little bit late. So is there
One version of this PBIS is that a specific Company that's running this I don't know that company is the right phrase for
Representative Hope Duke
Unverified
42:54
that But it is a specific very specific framework and it was put into code Before I was down here. So it's been a couple of sessions ago. It was put into code to do that and Sitting on the school board back at home when it came in we had questions about why are we being told on a local on a state level? What discipline? Frameworks to use on a
Senator Dan Sullivan
Unverified
43:15
local level. You're you're repealing that yes, sir requirement. Yes, sir
Senator Jane English
Unverified
43:24
Any other questions Nobody in they can speak for against the veil. What is the will
Speaker 213
43:35
of the committee? All in favor all opposed. Thank you very much. Thank you madam chair. Thank
Senator Jane English
Unverified
43:44
you members Okay, it is just about 10 o'clock We have to recess because budget is taking place so we need to
Well, I don't know how long but it's gonna take 15 minutes, let's say they what or
Senator Jane English
Unverified
44:05
do right when they adjourn or I'm hoping that maybe like about 9:30 they'll be finished they don't have yeah yeah so we
will we will recess until we're recessed
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44:55
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Senator Jane English
Unverified
1:45:25
We are back, Senator Boyd, do you have House Bill 1672?
And if you will identify yourself, you
will be recognized. Yes, State Senator
Senator Justin Boyd
Unverified
1:46:08
Justin Boyd, and I have a bill here to create some efficiency and accountability in charter schools, and someone from the education department is going to come help me through the details for efficiency's sake. That sounds
Senator Jane English
Unverified
1:46:23
fine. I see some credible person there.
Speaker 255
1:46:29
Good morning, Jacob. I believe the Department of Education. Go ahead. Thank you. So what this bill does is it kind of takes a
Speaker 258
1:46:42
look at our charter application process and tries to streamline it, reduce redundancies that are being required to be submitted from the different charter authorizers that go through the process. It still protects and keeps some systems of checks and balances in place where a potential charter operator or an existing one would have their charter reviewed through a charter authorizing panel, which would then be approved by the state board.
But what we're doing is putting in a little bit of a timeline and a runway to change the contract that is approved through the charter authorizing panel on the state board to make sure that we're looking at performance metrics and to make sure that when we have a high-quality operator in our state, We can give them the latitude and longitude that they need we're going to take into consideration of all the different unique waiver requests that some institutions many like specifically we made some amendments with virtual school to put some common sense thing in there saying that they don't need to meet some of
Requirements like having a librarian a nurse when you're running a virtual school But there's some stronger language that says we expect when we have high-quality choice options for students and families because we believe in empowering our parents, that they are of value. And if you're a charter operator in our state and get a grade of an F for three consecutive years, your charter agreement, your performance contract with the state is null and void. And if they want to appeal that decision or the status
of their charter, there's a process for where they can do that, where they would be able to come back and prove why they may need to continue. Because maybe there are some unique circumstances on the grades that they're getting so we feel like that this is a good bill to help streamline the process make it more laser-like and specific on performance and make sure that we can attract high quality charter operators and authorizers to our state while holding folks accountable very good are there questions from
Senator Jane English
Unverified
1:48:37
the committee thank you madam chair I have just a
Senator Breanne Davis
Unverified
1:48:45
couple questions just for clarification. On page 13, lines 23 through
27, it talks about how the school may request a hearing. And I just wanted to be sure that the department would grant that, if there is a request, that the department will grant it. And could you speak around if that's going to be like before or after closure, if parents, you know, that have kids attending the School will be able to speak at the hearing. So I think it's a great question I I want to
Speaker 258
1:49:15
say the term used was May because we don't want to force the charter school
To have a hearing if they're like we're not making it because typically when you find a charter that's Having a problem with performance. There's other issues and sometimes They may disagree that we're just gonna rescind our contract finish out the school year come up with a plan There's been incidences where we've had in the state charter schools that weren't successful and we were able to find another Authorizer to go and work in that community and building so this gives us a latitude to do that But if they request a hearing, of course, we would want to grant that
Senator Breanne Davis
Unverified
1:49:54
And then I think my last question is just around, you know, the grading system is what will dictate closure Which which makes perfect sense I mean, I think if you're not doing your job and you're failing, that, you know, you should be looked at and closed. But the grading system's not up and running yet, the new grading system. So how will you
deal with that in the meantime, where we're sort of in this gray area reformulating? Great
Speaker 258
1:50:20
question. So we do have school grades. Every school in this state, our current charter schools, all the way to our virtual schools, all have an existing grade.
Now, are we working as an agency to upgrade how we calculate those grades? The short answer to that is yes, and we're going through that process and we've involved educators and we're actually doing a workshop with our state board because we've heard feedback from our school leaders that it's time to upgrade how we calculate school grades. And they want to have a bigger focus on student growth and achievement and not some of these other qualifying indicators that are measuring inputs and not outputs.
So as we navigate through that, we're going to establish a new grading system that's going to really primarily focus on our students' learning. And if the charter schools and the networks are doing their job, they're going to be fine on achieving the benchmarks needed to be put into place. But when you look at if you get a three-year F in a row, right, that's a contract with the state. When you look at a performance contract with the state, that means you're not meeting the up-end bargain of your contracts. If you have a 10-year contract with a charter operator or a 20-year, and their year is three, four, and five, and they're not meeting the needs, then we need to call them back in, which is why we could have a hearing in front of the board and say, we're not meeting the terms of the contract.
So they need to do something different. Maybe they need different support from us, but we're not going to continue to operate under this nuance. And and I think after three years, it makes sense The research is actually pretty clear that if a student has an ineffective teacher for three years in a row The likeliness of being them to be able to graduate Thank you, I
Senator Breanne Davis
Unverified
1:52:05
think it's a good bill. I just wanted to make sure that was clarified. Thank you Senator Dodson
Senator Jim Dotson
Unverified
1:52:20
are you not working thank you madam chair so on that on senator Davis's
question regarding the the hearing on page 13 lines 28 through 30 say the state board shall promulgate rules to govern the process of submitting this is that where you're going to ensure that like if they request it like you said
they might not request it but if they do that they are for sure going to get
Speaker 258
1:52:59
a hearing in front of the board yes that would be the appropriate place to do that and then kind of start outlining the process of what documentation would
Senator Jim Dotson
Unverified
1:53:08
be need to be submitted for this state board to review and if they don't do the request and yes I mean that happens right I mean that happens and this this applies to conversion charters as well as I mean if this
Speaker 255
1:53:22
applies to all charter school yeah so the goal is to
Speaker 258
1:53:25
in we have charter schools that come up right
periodically because their contract is up maybe they're in their tenure or five year they're being reviewed and we had some schools that were up like say this year and and we went back to our state board and said let's continue the charters they all agreed like we met with all of them that were up and say we're moving more to a new expedited contract that's going to be more streamlined and more performance based so everybody as they transition there's a few year cycle of as how they start going through will be put on on a new application process and up so they'll be one basically type of charter going
forward i want to say there's one charter but the application process for the charter authorizing panel to review is being updated and more reflective to be a performance expectation okay universal for all the
Speaker 259
1:54:16
different yes yeah you mean the application yeah yes okay i'm sorry misunderstood thank you senator murdoch thank you
Senator Reginald Murdock
Unverified
1:54:26
um madam chair thank you secretary and senator Boyd for bringing this forward as it relates to the accountability piece and
I really appreciate you addressing it across the board as as you are I think that's credible and very noble and to hopefully make us better as it relates to the teachers and quality teachers in waivers are we going to the method of
just having traditionally licensed teachers is that where we're going versus the waiver system that we have utilized the 1240 waiver specifically
which was an alternative form of licensure can you speak to that
Speaker 255
1:55:16
a little bit for me excellent question so and we've had some
Speaker 258
1:55:20
previous legislation that looks at how we for teacher licenses per se look at that we want to put all the teachers on an individual pathway towards a standard license and we know there's gonna be some conditions and maybe some waivers to help get folks there but what we're really trying to get out of is like
historically let's say a charter school applies to they come to Arkansas proven track record meets all the things well instead of just checking we want a waiver from every role in statute we should be checking which waivers they actually really need and it may be teacher licenses they may need some help as they transition to people that get to a pathway but we're trying to get away from this building or this district gets a general waiver for everybody and we want to make sure that we're being more laser-like and specific to listening to
the nuances because the reality is that one-size-fits-all approach to waivers doesn't meet the need of everybody because we have some charter schools that they may target populations of at-risk students that have been have discipline problems or court proceedings and their unique situation is going to be a little bit different than a charter school that operates completely 100% virtually which may look a little bit different than a typical k-5 charter school or maybe just flexible we want to
Speaker 255
1:56:40
be flexible and more tailored to the
specific needs of that school or entity thank you welcome further questions
Senator Jane English
Unverified
1:56:48
from the committee okay there's nobody here to speak for against the bill what
are of the recommendations of the committee? Second? All in favor? All opposed? Thank you very much.
You passed your bill. Representative Brooks. You have House Bill 1866.
Speaker 290
1:57:26
Thank you, pardon? Yeah, we have an amendment. Thank you, Madam
Representative Keith Brooks
Unverified
1:57:40
Chair. Keith Brooks, State Rep. There is an amendment on the bill. it's just adding Senator Dotson as the Senate sponsor. Okay, thank you. I appreciate a motion
Senator Jane English
Unverified
1:57:51
to adopt the amendment. I hear a motion to accept
Speaker 296
1:58:01
the amendment. Second. All in favor? Aye.
Representative Keith Brooks
Unverified
1:58:06
Thank you. Can you proceed? Thank you, Madam Chair. Thank you, committee. With your approval here in a moment, Madam Chair, I'm going to invite a couple moms up to tell the story of their sons. So House Bill 1866 is quite frankly very simple in terms of what it does, but the backstory is much more complex and heartbreaking. And so in my
committee, my primary goal was to ensure that the story of these two young men, these courageous young men, Eli and Cash, is told very openly. But more than anything else, it's for us to continue our commitment as a legislative body that the safety of students is the priority in how we operate in the state of Arkansas. And if we find situations where we know that that is not, that standard is not being upheld, that we will address them aggressively because it's too important for the kids. So the basics of the bill are that it's a requirement to include an audio recording device in locker rooms in schools in the state of
Arkansas. They are very narrowly tailored in terms of who can access the recording, the information around it. However, the problem we're trying to fix is there have been too many situations. We know about Huntsville, Arkansas. We know about Lamar, Arkansas, and now we know about Quitman, Arkansas, where young men and young women have not been bullied or hazed, but have been sexually assaulted in our locker rooms, in state paid-for facilities in the state of Arkansas, and that is unacceptable
and will not stand. So with your blessing, I'd like to bring up Stephanie and Angie, who are Cash and Eli's moms. Yes Probably
Senator Jane English
Unverified
1:59:58
can the boys consider over there next to you
There you go and if you ladies would identify yourselves in boys you'll be recognized hi Stephanie white I'm
Speaker 299
2:00:14
the mother pull your microphone up there I'm Stephanie white I'm the
Speaker 301
2:00:20
mother of Eli white hi Angie Edwards and I'm the mother of cash Edward
Speaker 302
2:00:25
I'm cash Edwards very nice to meet you
Speaker 301
2:00:37
so these boys had a pretty rough seventh grade year at the time they were 12 and 13 and now they are 13 14 my son Eli was hurt humiliated traumatized and violated during his seventh grade year at Quitman Public School he took a stand for himself and every other child in that locker room equipment. He was a cool kid, popular, funny, social, a leader in the sense that he's not
going to stand by while somebody else gets picked on without saying something. He told us that they would whip Cash with his cleats till he cried. They would hold him down and hump him as the abuse escalated day after day. Cassius screams for help against two and three kids much bigger than him. Cassius screams haunted Eli and a couple of their friends and they were honestly
scared of what was going to happen next. This was hazing but not treated such by the administration. Three of the Perpetrators testified in court that the abuse had happened to them in the past. Off-season is free time for trouble, and when you put a group of boys in an unattended room for long periods of time, trouble is going to come. It came at our boys very hard. The audio recorders will help prevent measures and accountability,
preventative measures and accountability. Eli walked away from football and his school on May 10th in 2024. We chose Quitman as our school of choice so Eli could play football. He played from the third grade on, but when we moved to Mount Vernon, it was no longer offered in our district. He has always had hopes of playing in the NFL. I mean, since he could hold a football, he was in front of that TV rooting him on. Not anymore. Eli homeschools now.
We'll never know the effects that this has truly had on his mental or physical state or his growth from here on out. The administration at Quitman neglected the safety of our children and others in this school. Four parents reported the physical and sexual abuse happening in the locker room. The abuse consisted of being bull whipped, sometimes with the whip and sometimes with just the stick of the whip.
They were shot at at close range with BB guns and Orbeez guns, told to run from one end of the campus to the other while being shot. This is open. This is outside. This is open from one end of the campus to the other and then ambushed once they were inside the locker room with hundreds of bullets at close range to where some of these boys ran out of the field house in their boxers. His head slammed into lockers.
Eli's last day of school on May 10th, his head was slammed into the lockers seven times, fighting not to be held down, pinned down by these boys. They crawled on top of him and humped him. One would hold his face, looking at the perpetrator crawling on top of him. One would hold his feet. This is violent abuse. This is dark. Nobody should ever be held down against their will. Nobody should ever have to go with what these boys went through.
Five boys pled guilty to assault, battery, and harassment and were placed on probation and giving no contact orders with the co-defendants or victims. Equipment administration went out of their way to make sure these bullies never missed a practice or a game. Even though school policy states any student that is on court-ordered probation in school suspension out of school suspension for disciplinary reasons will not be allowed to participate in any extracurricular activities that was not the case equipment i followed chain of
Speaker 308
2:04:57
command all the way from meeting with the administration the sro
Speaker 301
2:05:02
the superintendent the school board to the state school board to sitting here with you today we cannot change the past but we can bring forth positive outcome by creating reliable safety measures in our public schools the lack of supervision allowed this to happen in equipment locker rooms are the only place in time that students are completely unsupervised for periods of time bullying and
harassment is at an all-time high this open up opens up a huge opportunity for students to be targeted. It is imperative to provide a safety net for students and their classmates who take advantage of the lack of supervision. Not only can this audio support reports of abuse, it can provide clarity for situations unseen. There will be concrete evidence of events that need investigation and intervention. School administrators can make informed decisions instead of relying solely on conflicting statements. Students who endure abuse from
their peers should not have to plead to be believed they should not have to beg to be protected this bill will help keep students safe and maybe even save students lives it will provide accountability for student perpetrators and provide faster fair investigations for allegations these audio devices respect students dignities while still offering protection to those who need it. My son's story could have been very, very different with audio like this. From prevention
to accountability, audio devices will make a difference. Thank you for your time, and please vote yes.
Speaker 313
2:06:45
First, I want to thank you for allowing us to speak on this.
Speaker 302
2:06:51
It is very, very close to our heart obviously because of the impact that it has left on our kids in fact for cash to come along with me in this process is traumatizing and but it is also something that he believes in
because this has to stop in his seventh grade year this activity started from the beginning and lasted all school year. This is a boy who wanted to be part of a team. He wanted to play football. He loved the camaraderie and just the friendships that he made. But as I dropped him off at school every morning, watching him walk into a locker room, that he knew that on the
other side of that door, what waited for him. He was the smallest kid on the team, but had a heart that could match any of them of any size but these kids decided he would be the target of his of their actions of sexual abuse at barely 90 pounds not five foot tall he would have kids that were six foot 200 or more pounds lay on top of him while another would hold his head while yet another
would put their crotch in his face. All while he was screaming, there was a whole locker room full of other boys who either watched, laughed, or looked away because they were worried that it would happen to them. I sit here not for just my son who had to leave the room because it's just too hard. But every child in that locker room was abused in some way or another. There are
screams that echo in that locker room that will haunt them for a very long time. Now, in this locker room, the coaches were down a hall and in another room, supposedly in a place where they could hear if anything come about. Every single day, while my child screamed, not one coach came to his rescue. These audio devices would hold those in power, administrators, coaches, all involved,
accountable for the safety of our children. You cannot put a locker room full of 25 or more kids, Teenage boys alone for 30 minutes, 45, an hour or longer by themselves and not think that something is going to happen in there. And left to their own, this is what happens. And this isn't the first time. We have documentation of years of this abuse happening in this school, in this locker room, and it has to end
because it will continue until we stop it. and the echoes of my child should matter. And all of those before him, and all of those currently. And this happens not only in Quitman School. Unfortunately, it happens more often than we want to admit to. Cash has left Quitman School. We have enrolled him in another school where he can play football.
But the anxiety is there. When he walks into a locker room, it's there of what could be possible because he has experienced the ultimate abuse that will follow him for a while. So I ask you to approve this bill. It is necessary for
Speaker 317
2:10:46
our kids' safety, and they deserve it. Thank you. Madam Chair, with your permission, could I
Representative Keith Brooks
Unverified
2:10:57
bring up Dr. Ferris Smith of the White County School District?
Thank you. Could I bring up Dr. Ferris Smith, Superintendent
Speaker 322
2:11:19
of the White County School District? I'm Ferris Smith, Superintendent of White County
Representative Keith Brooks
Unverified
2:11:23
Central. So, Madam Chair and committee, you've heard the stories of these two brave, courageous young men. Their stories have now been told for the last two weeks here in the state of Arkansas very openly.
I don't know where I would be as a 13 or 14-year-old when sexual abuse had happened to me in a school. I don't know if I'd be willing at that age to step out and talk about it. These two brave men, young men, are more than courageous. But a lot of the questions that we've gotten have to do with implementation or cost or how to do this or privacy. And so the reason I bring Dr. Smith here, so he's a superintendent of White County Central Schools, is because Dr. Smith saw a potential problem and he decided to address it himself. Prior to anything happening in his school system, he said, I'm going to hit this issue head on, I'm going to deal with it, and we're going to make sure this doesn't happen to the kids in my school district because safety is priority.
Speaker 323
2:12:09
So I'll let him go from there. At the beginning of the school, myself and my athletic director, who is my middle school principal, Michael Strother, decided to investigate putting audio recording devices in our locker rooms. With several districts having Title IX issues, harassment issues, fights, bullying, we decided to meet with our technology coordinator, Matt Jones and Shane Wallace, to determine what audio devices would be best for our district to protect our students. After seeking legal advice from our attorneys, we found that audio recordings were considered
educational records and not classified under FOIA. We are advised to put up signs in our locker rooms that say audio devices are in use at all times. The voice-activated devices have been a tremendous asset to our district. We notified students and parents that they were put in for their protection. We have not had one incident this year, and no parent or student has contacted us with any concerns. We decided to use the Fricada audio system for our district. The price was approximately $1,200 per device for a total of $7,400 for six locker rooms.
We pay a cloud fee of $250 per device per year for a total of $1,500. It was an investment well worth it. One last thing, if these devices can be turned off during basketball games, football games, so you have the ability to turn those off so opposing coaches don't have to worry about confidentiality. Thank you, and I'll answer any questions that you have. Thank you,
Speaker 322
2:13:41
Madam Chair and committee, and we'll be happy to answer questions.
Senator Joshua Bryant
Unverified
2:13:48
Senator Bryant. Walk me through that process whenever you're having a game or a public forum or other issues being utilized for those locker rooms. Is that a
keystroke? Is that a form request? What would you see that process, or
Speaker 329
2:14:06
what is that process? If there was, let's say, a
Speaker 323
2:14:10
fight in a locker room, we would turn on devices and listen to that. Only the principal or myself would have that potential
to hear the recording devices. Like I said, they're not under FOIA, and we turn them off during basketball games because we don't have football, so we turn them off during basketball games. They're voice-activated, so as soon as school starts, anybody goes in the locker room. Used to, we had a little problem with people skipping school, and going into the locker rooms that's in that also so it's been a very good process for us
Representative Keith Brooks
Unverified
2:14:49
and senator i'll kind of address maybe some of the clarifications of the how within that so
within the legislation uh we pretty much narrowly tailor who can access this information and as well as how long the information uh can be around so it requires the posting of of a notification uh to know that audio recording is taking place, which Dr. Smith has done. And again, to me, I love the highlight that since he did this, he's had zero fights, zero bullying, zero calls from parents who are concerned in any way, because quite frankly, it solved a problem. But narrowly tailors, so the saying that the audio recording must be maintained for at least 90 days, but can't
be maintained any longer than one year. So basically just a systemic dumping of the information should there not be an allegation. But it does provide that should there be an allegation of an event of a situation that's happened, then school administration can pull the recording or parents, grandparents, folks, any local parentis of the child can request that information as a part of the investigation process. So
this isn't something where, you know, you know, somebody just random from
the community can come in and request this information. It's very narrowly tailored again with
Senator Joshua Bryant
Unverified
2:16:00
just with the goal of protecting the student. So a parent can request it and not be denied, they don't have to go get a court order? Or do they have to have a formal allegation? Or what if they're just researching, hey, my
Representative Keith Brooks
Unverified
2:16:13
child told me this, I'd like for you to review it? There has to be a formal allegation, yes,
Senator Joshua Bryant
Unverified
2:16:19
which would have been reported to the administration. So if the
school were to listen to the tape and act inappropriately and delete the recordings, what's the penalty for something like that? We don't specify a penalty in the
Representative Keith Brooks
Unverified
2:16:32
legislation, you know, we just, the requirement is that they maintain the recordings for a specific time frame. And also want to clarify in terms of implementation, we did put an implementation time frame out to the 26th school year to allow schools to, and again, I applaud Dr. Smith for just taking the bull by the horns and deciding to do it himself and figure it out a way. And he's very, very good at that with a number of things in his school districts, why they're so successful. And I've had other superintendents reach out to me that they're very interested in connecting with him and figured out ways on their own.
But we put it out far enough so that should we have to deal with funding questions, we can do that in a fiscal session or the next legislative session. But the department has
also allowed for, which is in the legislation, to utilize school safety grants
Senator Joshua Bryant
Unverified
2:17:21
for this as well. Okay. And then just back to my original question so I'm clear. If the facility is being used for an opposing team's locker room and the coach wants to go in and do the halftime, what is that process to get that auto-recording
Speaker 331
2:17:35
stopped? We stop them after school on game days.
You have the ability to turn them off and
Senator Joshua Bryant
Unverified
2:17:43
on. Is that administrative function at the superintendent's
Speaker 329
2:17:45
level or the principal's level? My athletic
Senator Joshua Bryant
Unverified
2:17:49
director takes care of that. Okay. And then just to piggyback on the previous testimony, just because I was curious what those families had to endure. Was there, what is the process for accountability through the system to address those issues now? We
Speaker 329
2:18:09
have been fortunate enough not to have those issues.
Speaker 323
2:18:13
We took preventive measures, but if those are the case, we seek legal advice, turn it over to a prosecuting attorney to see if there's anything there, follow the student handbook for discipline on
Senator Joshua Bryant
Unverified
2:18:26
that. So that's a student handbook but for the employees that allow it to happen it'd be in personal policy handbook. Personal policy, okay. Thank you. Senator Murdoch.
Senator Reginald Murdock
Unverified
2:18:39
Thank you Madam Chair. Thank you Representative Brooks. You may have addressed this and I missed it.
But this is requiring this to be put in place as shall. The funding for this, you may have mentioned, it comes from who? So, frankly, I did leave that somewhat open.
Speaker 339
2:18:57
So, the reason we put out the 27-28 school year. Kind of important. Say that again? Kind of important. I agree. So, the department has allowed for this to be funded through part
Representative Keith Brooks
Unverified
2:19:08
of the school safety grant. so a school can request this as part of a school safety grant, which is already existing.
So that's a current allowable. You know, our goal would be hopefully for a lot of schools to go and start implementing that in that way. Again, Dr. Smith did not seek any funding because he had the existing funding within his budget. There also are additional federal grants, and that's something he possibly could go into. He had a federal grant for some other safety issues that he was able to take advantage of, which is about $600,000, which he initiated himself. But then also, again, you know, I put it out the shall to the 27-28 school year because I wanted us to see what implementation was like as we started moving forward, as we had adoption to allow us to address additional funding needs should we have to outside of the safety grant within a fiscal session or within the next legislative session.
Senator Reginald Murdock
Unverified
2:19:59
Yeah, I guess so my only concern would be the shall part without a condition to ensure that the district would not have this as an unfunded mandate. So, I mean, I don't know how we get that worked out, but
then secondly, you've done this, right? You've implemented this. Yes, sir. So privacy
and some of those things that that just obviously comes to concern with whenever you have a
device that's a conspicuously displaced device and human beings there just becomes a and children there becomes a real concern about that end up in the management of that certainly not saying you know who will do what but we know people will so a little bit more on
Speaker 344
2:20:52
how you manage that and what we we are fortunate enough as as representative Brooks
Speaker 323
2:20:59
said we were fortunate enough to
apply for a cops grant and it was six hundred thousand dollars and that put recording devices and audio cameras in every classroom and hallway so we've been familiar with this before the only people that have access to this are the building principals and myself so no no other no other person on campus has the ability to pull the audio or video footage from our cameras in the classrooms or the audio devices in the locker rooms except the building
principals and the or myself so privacy issues hasn't been been an issue at all Senator Murdoch right and
Senator Reginald Murdock
Unverified
2:21:41
it's so the way we have to do this obviously is we have to legislate to the for something like this we have to assume the worst if that makes sense and obviously it hadn't been an issue for you but we have to put in writing something that is there for issues to protect from those that would
perpetrate. If you understand what I'm saying, you kind of got to legislate to the other side to protect for protection. So we just can't count on people being as good as you all have been with this type of access. So but anyway I definitely understand the intent of what we're doing here. Go ahead.
Speaker 346
2:22:29
Respectfully, Senator, I mean, I would I would respond that I would hope that we could
Representative Keith Brooks
Unverified
2:22:36
trust our administrators. I mean, those who are
tasked with being the superintendents and administrators of our 200 plus school districts in the state of Arkansas who are all highly qualified and they wouldn't be there if they're not and highly paid. Well, as you know, I goodness, I hope we would be able to trust those people with private, because I would
hope they wouldn't be in a position if we couldn't
Senator Reginald Murdock
Unverified
2:22:57
trust them. No, certainly not. I'm certainly not saying superintendents are not trustworthy. What I'm saying, and usually superintendents are in their office somewhere, and they have parceled this authority out to
someone else, to a principal who then gives it to that lead director, and that lead director then gives it to the coach. No, no, you're saying your situation. Yes, sir. See, and I'm saying, I'm giving you credit, but I know in real life what happens in these down-the-line situations. Not that the superintendent anywhere wants this to happen. That's not what I'm saying. But I do know that superintendents give authority to someone else, who may give authority to someone else.
Everybody well-intended except for that one person in that region. So that's all I'm talking about, and generally what we do is we put safeguards there to protect that. And so I understand the intent. I just want to have the discussion. And I appreciate
Representative Keith Brooks
Unverified
2:23:56
that. Again, I think the most important thing about this is the discussion because I've been not pleasantly but very unpleasantly surprised by the amount of my colleagues who've come to me and said we had no idea that something like this had taken place in the state of Arkansas. And I refer back to Huntsville. I refer back to Lamar to two very public Title IX investigations that if you read the transcripts from what these students experience,
it'll make your blood boil and and so I would go back to ensuring that as
we move forward in the process which again is
Speaker 349
2:24:28
why I put it far enough out sure to allow us to kind of maybe deal
Representative Keith Brooks
Unverified
2:24:33
with some of the challenges that come up because as
you know every school district operates within a silo of themselves and has their own particular challenges and issues so I want
to make sure as capable as possible as we move forward to implementation
Senator Reginald Murdock
Unverified
2:24:48
of something like this And with the department being on board with this, I think implementation, with districts, education, implementation,
it may be even, I'm not trying to give you something to do, utilizing someone that have implemented these type of things to help, you know, put this into place. I
Representative Keith Brooks
Unverified
2:25:05
said his name about five times on the House floor yesterday, so
Senator Reginald Murdock
Unverified
2:25:09
everyone should know how to get in touch with him. Yeah, we got him out there, so certainly have all the sympathy for those
Speaker 323
2:25:16
that have been victims of this situation. Certainly, I'm very empathetic. Video cameras have been in place in many classrooms for many years, and it is an ethics violation to break these things. So if that were to happen, a coach or whoever that broke that,
they would fall under ethics violations for giving out that information. That would be an ethics violation also. So there are repercussions for those things. And as I said, cameras have been in classrooms with audio for years. We're just wanting to, you know, see them in locker rooms like we have done. Appreciate it. Thank you. Thank you,
Speaker 331
2:25:51
Senator. Other questions from the committee? Seeing none.
Senator Jane English
Unverified
2:26:02
We have one to speak for the bill. Audio on both. identify
yourself you'll be recognized is this on yes audi allen
Speaker 360
2:26:24
ball madam chair and committee members thank you for the opportunity to speak today huntsville lamar and the most recent being quitman i will tell you when the quitman parents reached out to me on june the 14th 2024 my world
stood still. This is one of the most horrific things I've been told about in the world of education. If these things had occurred in a home, these children would have been removed from that home and the fact that this went on in a public setting that we are all paying for makes me sick. The locker room should not be a torture chamber. After months of denial and attempted discrediting of the parents and the victims, the courthouse confession and snippets from cell phone videos and pictures yielded all the results were true. When the judge asked three of the perpetrators, "Why did you do this?" we found out that our suspicions and past stories were true as well this type of behavior had been
going on for years. I hope you've not I hope we have not gone to a world that has moved from accountability from the shoulder of the bully to the back of a victim. After going through this with these families in my mind prevention is key it's the only way for student safety and to adapt a quote from Ben Franklin announced the prevention is worth a pound of protection. Child safety should always be a top priority and installing audio recorders in locker rooms can serve is a crucial tool in preventing and addressing abuse. While maintaining privacy is important, the reality is
that the locker rooms can be vulnerable places where misconduct can occur unnoticed. Audio monitoring implemented with guidelines can deter potential abusers, provide evidence when necessary, and create a safer environment for children. By ensuring that these recordings are assessed when concerns arise, we can strike a balance between protection and privacy, ultimately prioritizing the well-being of children. Thank you. Thank you very much. Madam Chair, I
Representative Keith Brooks
Unverified
2:28:06
just want to add a comment to Audie. So I've known Audie for 12 or 13 years.
She has walked beside me. She's walked beside my family. I'm going to start crying here. She's walked beside me and my family with my son's own challenges with learning disabilities and other issues. She was there at the very beginning. I've seen her advocate for literally hundreds and hundreds of kids in Arkansas. She's a tough young lady. She's a cattle farmer. And she will whip people into shape. She's a tough person. I've never seen her with all the students that we've talked about throughout the years, all the people I've seen her advocate for, I've never seen her break down and weep.
However, this situation, I've heard it more than once, which is one too many times. Because you see the impact that it's had on her as a child advocate. You see the impact it's had on the parents as dealing with this and the impact that it has on a school district. So I just want
to add that additional comment. And again, I'll be happy to take additional questions from the committee. Senator
Senator Jane English
Unverified
2:29:09
Johnson. Thank you very much. There's nobody else to speak for against what is the will of the committee?
Senator Jim Dotson
Unverified
2:29:17
Motion do pass as amended. Second. As amended. All in
Senator Jane English
Unverified
2:29:20
favor? All opposed? Thank you very much. Thank you, Madam Chair. Thank you, committee. Appreciate it. Okay, let me see what we have here. That
was your last bill, wasn't it? All right. Let's see. Representative Mayberry.
You have House Bill 1283.
Senator Jane English
Unverified
2:30:16
you will be recognized.
Oh, goodness sake. Can you turn on
Speaker 375
2:30:38
your microphone? Thank you, members. I'm going to start all over
Representative Julie Mayberry
Unverified
2:30:43
again. I'm State Representative Julie Mayberry. We'll do introductions first. Yes. Ashley Cooksey. And who are you with? I am
Speaker 379
2:30:53
representing school libraries in the state of Arkansas. Okay.
Representative Julie Mayberry
Unverified
2:30:56
thank you go ahead okay members this is a very powerful tool that I have in my hand and an instrument that we don't really give a whole lot of information to our students on how to navigate the world that they can view through this tool as well as on a computer in a Chromebook on an iPad their world is
limitless and in in this device and all across the country we are seeing states recognize this need you should have handed to you something from Excel and Ed may be familiar with the organization Jeb Bush is the chair of it that talks about the need for this type of legislation in all of our states. Currently there are 21 states that have comprehensive media literacy education
in their schools and there's nine still pending some legislation so we're not the only state looking at this and recognizing that we need to do something to help educate our students at the very youngest of age all the way through high school in an age-appropriate manner. And as you can see, I have worked with librarians to be able to put this into our library media standards. And I'm going to let
Ashley share a little bit of what we're talking about. Thank
Speaker 377
2:32:39
you for allowing me to speak today. Arkansas
Speaker 379
2:32:42
has legislated school library media standards. We've had them in place since 2003, and they have gone through a couple of iterations as the cycle comes around to be revised. Our standards currently are competency-based, and they do include some of this information in our standards. This is just in addition to what school librarians are already doing.
Standards provide guidance in how curriculum is taught. It's not a curriculum, but it helps teachers and school librarians create lessons, co-plan with other educators, and to create a comprehensive curriculum specifically for the students in their schools. We want to make
Speaker 379
2:33:22
that we have in place and on our campuses. The digital media standards, I believe, are really important because I'm unaware of any school
Speaker 377
2:33:33
district in the state of Arkansas where students do not use devices
throughout the day. Aside from their personal devices, such as cell phones, beginning in kindergarten, we see our students with iPads and Chromebooks and learning how to use their devices for educational purposes. And I believe that having this set of standards can help school librarians and teachers create and facilitate a more digitally responsive students in our schools. And I'll be happy
Speaker 386
2:34:07
Questions from the committee? Senator Sullivan. I'm scrolling down through
Senator Dan Sullivan
Unverified
2:34:23
the bill and it I think on page two line nine it talks about digital wellness physical emotional mental health informational literacy so the and you're a librarian correct I am an
Speaker 388
2:34:40
educator of school librarians I've been a school librarian now I'm in
Senator Dan Sullivan
Unverified
2:34:44
higher education okay so librarians have taken a stance very publicly and I think you as a school librarian are still involved in that they've refused didn't take a stance on how they were going to protect children that even would protect children and they said they would not make a statement on that topic so if If you won't make a statement on how you're going to protect children,
how do you go about teaching them about the safety of media literacy and being online?
Representative Julie Mayberry
Unverified
2:35:18
I think that's actually why we need this
bill, Senator Sullivan. I think that it puts into play our division
of elementary and secondary education shall revise the kindergarten through grade 12 library media standards. I'm
Senator Dan Sullivan
Unverified
2:35:31
agreeing with you. I agree with you. I'm asking why the libraries are taking the stance on one side and say librarians are taking the stance on one side and saying we're not going to take a position on helping children.
We won't do that. On the other side, now you want to teach them about doing that. And I'm asking your witness why she
Speaker 377
2:35:56
can take such a position, why librarians take that position. I'm unsure of what librarians you are referring to. In our state statutes, we do have challenge policies in place as well as challenge procedures. There are selection policies that are board approved and our school librarians in the state have master's levels of degrees in which they have learned collection development. So the materials that they are procuring for their learners are
designed to be for those age groups in which they serve. They review everything. They look at multiple sources. So adding this into being able to extend the wellness and safety to digital information i think is really important well nobody's
Senator Dan Sullivan
Unverified
2:36:35
saying it's not important so we all agree it's important and you have a role as a professional librarian to play we have a role as legislators to play in how we fund and what we do with things my question is the the library
board state library board refused to take a position on protecting children the state library board
Speaker 377
2:36:59
is separate from school libraries. I understand. You're
Senator Dan Sullivan
Unverified
2:37:02
a librarian. I'm asking why librarians stand behind that. I'm not really clear on your question.
Speaker 377
2:37:10
School libraries and school librarians, I'm trained much differently than a public or academic library would be. I'm not going
Senator Dan Sullivan
Unverified
2:37:16
to follow up on it. I think I made my point that it really seems odd that people would be
training some people other people in how to use media while on the other hand saying we refuse to make a statement on how to protect children that just seems odd to me thank you
Representative Julie Mayberry
Unverified
2:37:37
thank you madam chair I hear what you're saying senator Sullivan and I agree and that's why I think the need for this is so great because it goes beyond what's in a school library everything that you're concerned about them reading in a library is right here in their hand and I think we need to make sure that
we have those standards that our department has put out there to provide those protections that you so desperately want and advocate for and I understand that and that's why I think this bill is so incredibly important. Questions from the committee? Give a minute.
Senator Jane English
Unverified
2:38:43
Do you have a question? Are there questions from the committee? I'm not seeing anybody in the audience to speak for or against the bill.
What is the will of the committee? Do I
Representative Julie Mayberry
Unverified
2:39:28
get to close? Yes, close. Okay. This is needed to help protect our children. We just banned cell phones from the classroom because of the access that they have here. going to go home and grab their phone or computer or Chromebook or whatever it is
and we're gonna have the same problems at home I want to remind everybody that our governor on her address to all of us in session on the second day of session talked about a family a mom named Jenny and the 16 year old son Mason who was watching videos on TikTok and took his life at home. This wasn't in the school, it was
at home. We need to do a better job educating our students on what they're seeing, what they're hearing, how to look and decipher all of this. This bill also goes beyond social media. It talks about personal security, your name, your credit card information that might be out there and how you can protect that, protecting your social security number, all of those things. It deals
with the cyberbullying that we see so much of, cyber security and artificial intelligence. That is a big, big thing that we know is coming forward and this will help give our students the tools. It puts it in their tool belt to know how to deal
with this. I would appreciate a good vote. Will of the committee.
Senator Jane English
Unverified
2:41:27
Seeing no votes. Thank you very much for your presentation. You do have that
other bill. Do you want to go ahead and do it now? Oh, sure. Why not? House Bill 1370. It has an amendment. It has an amendment. Thank you.
thank you okay would you just look at the
amendment first if you identify yourself you'll be recognized state representative Julie
Representative Julie Mayberry
Unverified
2:42:29
Mayberry thank you go ahead hey members already presented this bill. I'm here today because I heard you. I heard those concerns, and I want to
show you the amendments that I brought forward. So we talked about AMI days, just briefly reminding you that a school district would only be able to make use of an AMI day if they got to day 8, 9, or 10 of school being closed or canceled. You all were concerned. Senator Davis, I know, had specifically concerns about canceling school so that you could work remotely on a day when there's
an athletic event. We certainly want to make sure that that's not a possibility. So if you see on the amendment, it says, this section shall not be used to make up a school day missed due to an event sponsored by or associated with a public school district. So they would not be able to do that we're putting some frameworks around those AMI days to make sure that we have learning going on on those days if you'll look at the next page that
virtual learning or the AMI instruction I've outlined two sections a B and C focuses on current areas of weakness associated with students in the in the teacher's classroom reinforces or improves upon lessons and curriculum currently being taught by the teacher or comports with the current curriculum being taught by the teacher and associated classwork that would have been given by the teacher during the time of the missed school day so I I
heard what your concerns are and put them in an amendment to address those concerns and I'd appreciate a good vote yes go ahead
Senator Jane English
Unverified
2:44:23
oh you just the motion okay to the amendment okay
all in favor all opposed okay going into your bill okay so
Representative Julie Mayberry
Unverified
2:44:42
now that we've adopted the amendment thank you very much again I'll make it short and sweet we've had this discussion ami days i know um senator bryant you had asked does this mean that a student that the school district could add an ami day at the very end of the school year and just like kids work remotely the last three days of school or something like that and that that's not possible so i want to make sure that that question was addressed and answered this would allow in the state of arkansas if a school district had to cancel
school seven days they get to day eight nine or ten they could make use of remote instruction or some other alternative method of instruction only on that day some i think we great suggestions i think we put some nice guard rails around this to make sure that it's not abused but an example think when I was here before most school districts were probably at about five six days of winter storms we just had this horrible weather luckily it was
over the weekend and so schools didn't have to cancel but to give you an example my school district was without power and luckily Intergy got the power back on on Sunday night and they were able to then go to school but they would have probably had to cancel school and what was unique about that is that only part of the district had no power the other part did but you're faced with having to cancel school for everybody because one school might be without
power if you have the flexibility of AMI all the students that are going to schools that have power can go back to school and then the school the the actual school that had no power could have worked an ami day and worked remotely on that day that allows actually for students to be in school which i think is is a goal here the other thing i want to point out which i think is so very very important to make sure that we are covering in in reasons why a
school district can close is we have added in here on page three line 11 any other unforeseen circumstances caused or created by humans including without limitation an active shooter event or a threat of an active shooter event that acts as a principal cause of a public school district's inability to conduct a portion of the minimum number of hours required for a school day under law we We have events, unfortunately, that may cause, that are done by man, by people, and currently that's not covered in our law, and I want to make sure that it is, because certainly a school district should be able to close
if there's concern of safety in the school district because of something that people are doing.
Speaker 409
2:47:49
I close. The questions from the committee, Senator
Senator Joshua Bryant
Unverified
2:47:58
Bryant. Thank you, Madam Chair, maybe I'll ask we just go through a couple more facts scenarios Just because I'm clear that we're not looking at an event that takes over a two-week period all at once That these are accumulating school days that then we're looking at addressing subsequent school days So just a couple of facts scenarios of maybe some real-world examples that you've experienced or could hypothetically happen from a
two-week snowstorm to just a very sporadic snow cycle that would eliminate a lot of days and then what this bill would allow sure i mean
Representative Julie Mayberry
Unverified
2:48:35
just what we went through i you know in in january and in february i at my particular school district i think had to close three days the the first um snowstorm and then another three days so it was three days and then three days my particular school district still hasn't even
had a seventh day of closure so most school districts in the state if they're along that that lines I think probably between five and ten school days a year are closed for various reasons whether that's a power outage or winter storm or a tornado or something like that most school districts probably will never make it to that eight nine or nine or tenth day but back in 2014 when we began And realizing that we had all these missed school days, February 10th of 2014, we already
had a whole bunch of school districts that were already up to 18, 17, 16, 14 days of school of closure. And by the end of that school year, you had some school districts that had over 20 days to make up. So it happens. Emergencies happen. And all I'm trying to do is give local control to a school district to make those decisions on a
local level as to what's best.
Senator Jane English
Unverified
2:50:08
There are further questions from the committee. But is
there anybody here to speak for or against the bill? No. no nobody's here would you like to close for your bill i'm closed
i appreciate a good vote thank you what is the will of the committee motion do pass do i hear a second
thank you very much thank you thank you members y'all have a good day Senator Davis, would you like to do 625 as amended? There's an amendment.
Senator Jane English
Unverified
2:51:45
if you all will identify yourselves you'll be recognized brian davis state senate
Senator Breanne Davis
Unverified
2:52:02
district 25 jay believe it department of education like to address the amendment yes thank you madam chair This is an amendment to Senate Bill 625.
We're doing a couple things in this amendment. We should be striking lines 35 and 36 on
page 1 and line 1 on
Senator Breanne Davis
Unverified
2:52:47
page three, where the new language is, line seven, we're adding at the end of
that on line 10, just including as required as part of a specific academic modification that was recommended by a clinician, just to make that very clear. And then we're amending the language around committing fraud and striking out has committed. So it says has or intends to commit. That was very vague, so we're striking that out and saying has committed. And then the window of application
should be extended, and I'm looking for that right now, to, yeah, there it is, on page 6, line 32, we're deleting March 31st and putting May 1st. So that's one month before the school choice closes for schools, or, you know, you can submit your application for it. So we're just doing this a month ahead. So we've extended the window of time for parents to be able to apply.
Senator Jane English
Unverified
2:54:04
That is the amendment. Endment. Can I hear a second? All in favor? Aye. All
Senator Breanne Davis
Unverified
2:54:21
opposed? Thank you. You may proceed. All right. Thank you, Madam Chair. So this bill, you know, when we ran LEARNS, we knew that we would come back this session and have some cleanup language, just as we do with anything that is small, but especially something as large as the education overhaul that LEARNS was.
And so what we've learned in the last year through EFAs is there are a few things that we need to tighten up, and I think it's important to do it now before, you know, and not 10 years from now. We just need to make sure that parents are utilizing funds in a way that is consistent with education and not using funds on, you know, the majority of their funds on something like private lessons for tennis or, you know, D1 memberships and stuff like that.
We've seen a lot of different things circulating Facebook, and we just want to ensure that students are getting different diverse educational opportunities, but that it is consistent with the intent of learns and is focused on education. So that's what a lot of this is. If you look at page three, we talk about the cost of transportation, and we just say not to exceed 25% of the funds that that student is eligible that year, and then right below that on line 18, we talk about
reasonable costs not to exceed one-sixth of the funds allocated to a student's account in that fiscal year for extracurricular activities. That is consistent with how we do things now in public schools. If money follows the student, if they do course choice or sign up for an extracurricular activity, a sport or quiz bowl or whatever, that one-sixth of that funding follows that student to that school for that activity. So we just try to be consistent in that manner to ensure that
funds were, there was flexibility in how funds were being spent on what it could be spent on, but that it was, couldn't be, you know, 90% of the funds spent on an extracurricular activity. if maybe your homeschool curriculum is only a thousand dollars or something then you have all this money left to spend on other things that maybe would not be in line with how we want to spend money so um we also kind of give a time frame of of when students can apply like i said
we extended that. It's February 1 to May 1. And then we discuss order, order of students. If in that window we exceed the number of students, then we put an order on starting on page nine of how those funds will be distributed to students. So I'm happy to take any questions Or maybe if you want to speak to anything else that I may have missed We're happy to take any questions
Paula Bean
Unverified
2:57:21
Questions from the committee There's two people two people speak for a Paula bean Right there speak speak against
Senator Jane English
Unverified
2:57:37
the bill you would turn that on
Speaker 213
2:57:56
you know takes a minute oh there we go hello um my name is paula bean
Paula Bean
Unverified
2:58:02
i am a homeschool mom of four brilliant children they were here earlier but they have had to leave to actually go to a tutoring session i began my homeschool journey in 2018 when my oldest daughter entered pre-k. I attended public school my entire educational career, and I actually taught high school English at Quitman, oddly enough, for two years after graduating college. It was during this time that I decided to homeschool my children. While I adore teachers, students, and administration, and I do support the public school education method, there are many cracks in the
system, as we saw earlier, that revealed to me during my time of teaching, which inspired me to homeschool. We are also a family who is receiving EFA funds for one of our children. My other children have already been approved for next year, and they are very anxious about receiving their funds and the opportunities that this will open up for them. As a member of the homeschool community, there was extreme distrust of the EFA funds when they were first presented. In general, there is extreme distrust of the government as a whole in the homeschool community,
if I'm honest. After lots of research, I decided to become an advocate for the EFA. I've had multiple conversations with moms about the blessings that the EFA has brought to our family and the possibility of blessings it can bring to theirs. I'm here today for two reasons. One is I'm fighting for my children. The other one is I'm afraid that I have convinced a whole lot of families to trust the EFA program and that this committee is going to make me out to be a liar. Now I don't want to take up much of your time, so I want to give you three things that the EFA has done for me
and for my family, and then I want to show three quick concerns on what I am about some of the amendments that I saw in the bill. The first was that it was a much-needed stamp of approval from the government on our choice to homeschool. Homeschool parents must deal with an extreme amount of pressure and criticism from society. The EFA, in a way, told us as a homeschool parents that we were seeing and that were Arkansas government. Second, the EFA provided resources for my son that we either could not have provided or we would have had to sacrifice more to provide.
I am talking about access to the internet, technology, stem kits, and basic supplies. We knew the sacrifice we were making when we decided that I would stay home full-time in homeschool. However, with the EFA funds, Arkansas politicians partnered with homeschool families to develop future citizens of this great country who could be prepared to contribute to this country. You may think I'm over-exaggerating when I say that purchasing a pencil is providing for our country and providing for successful citizens, but the research on the positive
emotional, mental, and physical outcomes of having at least one parent at home and homeschooling is everywhere now. Now, I have seen public school teachers, admin, and parents become incredibly offended by the mention of homeschooling, and I get where they're coming from, but you can't deny that the research is there. Finally, my child is currently able to take part in art and music classes at local businesses. We are continuing to local economy, and also he is learning at an amazing rate. He has some learning disorders that would have affected him in a normal public school
setting, but through music, art, therapy, project-based learning programs, and tutoring, almost entirely provided for by the EFA, he has begun to thrive in both social and educational settings. The team of people that I have been able to put together for this child have benefited him in ways that we may not fully recognize until he is much older. The opportunities my children will have in the future are unmatched to anything I experienced growing up. While my children are benefiting, our state is also developing a generation of Arkansans who are incredibly
well-rounded with that being said i have three concerns about some of the amendments being discussed in the committee again i'm not fully familiar with how all this works so please excuse me if i've made a stupid comment but efa funds according to what i read can no longer be used to pay for access to the internet and technology now this language was confusing to me when i read the amendment but like i said earlier we live in a rural area and the only internet available for us with Starlink. Now, we have to pay for our monthly bills
and we do that just fine. However, buying the equipment for Starlink was an issue. We went a long time without proper internet and my children suffered for it. Thanks to the EFA funds, they now have vital access to the internet. In addition to this, my child has been given access to technology that allows him to do tutoring online and play educated games related to our curriculum, especially reading and learning foreign languages. I am begging you to reconsider this amendment. We live in Arkansas. Many of our children receiving these funds will live in rural areas. It makes no sense to block them from accessing the internet
or technology that we live in a time where technology is the method. We want our Arkansas children to be as advanced as possible. Also, the amendment to the art, music, and STEM classes is not only confusing to me and to my husband, but could be just devastating for students who may live in an area with a school that doesn't provide certain types of art, music, and STEM classes. I actually got an email while I was sitting in here from one of the vendors that we use saying that they may or may not be able to provide for students using EFA funds next year, depending on what happens in this committee
and throughout the rest of this legislation. Now, why would a student, why should a student suffer because of their local school district doesn't offer something? And how are we even going to keep up with what district provides what? A student cannot control what their local school does or does not offer, and you want to tell the child that they cannot use the funds to access other opportunities because of something that they cannot control. A dear friend of mine has a child that has decided she wants to learn the heart, which is very confusing to me.
Our local school does not offer heart classes, So now, with the language, that child may or may not be able to continue using her AFA funds for her lessons, even though the cost of those lessons is no more than taking violin lessons. Finally, the language around using the fullest extent of the law to retiree funds used incorrectly from the parents is a tad terrifying. Homeschooled families as a whole do not trust you. If you add language in there that there may be prosecuted to misusing funds, you will see the program crumble. People will not join. And if you want the program to crumble, then you can
leave that language in there. But I want you to remember that I have four children who desperately want this program. And there are hundreds like them who are also counting on you guys. I agree that the majority of the funds should not be being used on private lessons. I also agree that the funds should be allocated for necessary educational material. However, we already have to get approval for everything that we purchase. There are so many strict guidelines in place already for purchasing items with these funds, and honestly, they are getting more strict and more limiting already.
If a mistake is made in purchasing an item, I don't understand why the blame is put on the parent when the program has to approve the funds. The ability to misuse funds is already so incredibly slim. However, because of the language, family has already discussed pulling out of the program. I've been telling moms all year that it's okay to trust this program and now I'm hesitant to trust it myself. This is what I want to say and this is what I'm begging you to hear. You
have the opportunity to really invest in all of Arkansas's children. You have the opportunity to really invest in all of our Kansans. You have the opportunity to tell a huge group of people that you really are on their side or you can continue to live in a bubble and ignore the children that are waiting for their turn with these funds. Please consider what 10 years down the road will look like when my children are graduating and they can say my parents and my state raised me. They fought for me and gave me the opportunities to be the absolute best I could be. My parents and my state realized that education
is not one size fits all and they decided to invest in my future as an individual. My parents and my state gave me the chances to succeed as well-rounded educated citizens and I'm proud to be a product of my parents and my state or they can say my state didn't
Speaker 435
3:06:33
trust my parents so I no longer trust my state thank you
Senator Joshua Bryant
Unverified
3:06:40
thank you for coming down taking the time to testify on this
I think you've you said it from homeschool co-ops and homeschoolers I think you said exactly what they would been telling me for the last couple weeks about the concerns about this bill my question for you is at some point the the vendors are going to show us the legislature receipts of items that we are just we cannot be complicit in and whether the vendor made a mistake and let those receipts through whether there was a clear direction what can you do as maybe a homeschool parent member
a co-op member of an online community to tell this to a lot of industries and a lot of different groups that come down here and advocate for something if you don't police yourself we will police right we will police you right and so I guess my question is what what can you do to combat this because eventually the department will come to us with receipts if they are haven't already been able to present that now to say hey we are going to go we're gonna run out of money faster than we anticipated because there's these items that do not benefit
a homeschool parent do not benefit certain people so can you address that
Speaker 429
3:07:58
for me well I can just address that from my point of view which I am
Paula Bean
Unverified
3:08:04
very opinionated but we are given an allocated amount of money so whether or not the funds run out or don't run out does not really matter on what we're spending because we only have a certain amount of money to spend. Okay now the vendor system on the class wallet is what we're using now. So vendors list certain objects that we are allowed to purchase from that vendor. We cannot
purchase anything outside of what is on that vendor market. The other thing that the the class wallet has is that there are a list of vendors providing services. now the the committee the board whoever approves those vendors they are responsible for approving those vendors in what they are allowed to offer we get to take advantage of those the only thing that we have is that if we purchase curriculum or we pay tuition online tuition for like online
classes or whatever we may be able to submit those for reimbursement but then those things have to be approved by the board so our hands really are tied as to what is approved and what is not approved now i understand this first year we were kind of all guinea pigs and so there were some things i saw that that probably wasn't appropriate that that probably shouldn't have happened however the board that have that has all the zoom calls and that we have been talking with
They have been making so many changes over the last couple of months that we are already at a system where Whatever the board approves. That's all that we can purchase. We can't purchase anything outside of that other than Concrete curriculum which we can intuition which we can submit for reimbursement Thank you, Madam Chair.
Senator Dan Sullivan
Unverified
3:10:04
You know, you made a statement that we legislators are living in a bubble.
I think we all live in a bubble. You have yours, we have ours, and you have your rights and responsibilities and your funds. So, you know, this program is developing, and when you say you don't trust what's going on, I understand. I've been a huge proponent of homeschooling and helped a lot of folks who worked their way through the program, so we get it. I think my bubble gets it I hope your bubble gets it that we're doing the best we can to work through a program that's going to take several years to for there
we develop the trust and before we develop the program that meets all the needs that that you might have you made the statement also that that the funds are not available well the taxpayer funds are not available either you know the taxpayer funds this program and you're asking for their money and there is oversight that goes on with our job oversight how they spend that money
would you agree with that
Paula Bean
Unverified
3:11:20
oh absolutely i would also say
that taxpayer money provides education for all children in arkansas who are in the public school education.
Senator Dan Sullivan
Unverified
3:11:28
Yeah, listen, I agree. Right. We're not, there's no disagreement there. This is a developing program. Right. And you just mentioned that there's been a
lot of changes in the last few months. Right. We're trying to work through that. And I think your bubble and our bubble are trying to work together to achieve that. Right. So if we, if right now the program won't afford harp lessons and it won't, or won't pay for them, and it won't pay for other things,
writing lessons, maybe. Yeah, we're working on those, and I appreciate your testimony. I appreciate your commitment to your family. I don't know how we develop that trust other than work through issues just like the Senator is bringing this bill forward. Can you point me specifically to the lines that are concerned to you? I don't actually have it in front
Senator Dan Sullivan
Unverified
3:12:22
to me i'd be glad to help work through those right but you know when when one says i don't
trust the bubble uh you know what you have to be able to trust is what's written down that's enforceable through the courts right
so if you can text me the lines that you are specifically of concern you know we'll try to work through them thank you for
Speaker 442
3:12:47
your testimony and and just to to comment i understand what you're saying and i have talked to many
Paula Bean
Unverified
3:12:53
of my homeschool parents and we agree that there are some things that need to be shifted there shouldn't be just a free-for-all like we're not asking for that our concern are the certain things like the access
to technology the access to art and music and STEM activities in such of that
Speaker 433
3:13:08
those are our main concerns I think I think we get it our bubble
Senator Dan Sullivan
Unverified
3:13:14
gets it so we're trying to work through these and you know it's going to take it's not going to happen in one year this program is how old I'm asking how old is the program I mean this is what two years this
Paula Bean
Unverified
3:13:30
is the first year that homeschool families have been able to take there you
Senator Dan Sullivan
Unverified
3:13:34
go and to to say we're disappointed in what happened in year one yeah we all are this is not the goal this is year one of a multi-year program and we'll work to develop that trust and I
appreciate your testimony and what you do. Thank you.
Senator Jim Dotson
Unverified
3:13:56
Senator Dodson, you have a question. Thank you, Madam Chair. And so,
if I understood you correctly, I don't think you're necessarily saying you're disappointed in what's happened so
far with the program. Right. You're concerned about what this bill could do to the program. That is correct, yeah. And, I mean, I've, I didn't say anything or ask any questions during the presentation because this bill has frustrated me there's just so many areas I don't even know where to begin personally on addressing any of the issues I see in this but from in a global sense I I'm thank you for sitting
here and articulating many of the feelings that I have had toward this because it feels like we have gone so far with with education choice with learns and an education freedom account program and we're saying okay come jump on here's the bus it's going down the road jump on the bus trust us we're going to make sure that you have the resources needed to have education for your child right the dollars follow the students and we trust parents and then this just
feels like as people are starting to catch up and especially homeschool students and say okay well we're gonna trust you and get on the bus we're stopping the bus and and backing up from where we were at get out of the way so you don't get ran over and so I don't know this like I said I don't know where to articulate the various problems that I have with this to even begin to get to a place normally I'm trying to find some areas on how to pass something that is
helpful but there are so many different areas in here and we're so late in the session that I I'm overwhelmed I can't can't even begin to articulate where it is so thank you I appreciate your your testimony and and I'm still opposed to the bill. You're
Senator Jane English
Unverified
3:16:15
opposed to the bill? We have Jay Robertson speaking against the bill. Thank
Jay Robertson
Unverified
3:16:27
you Madam Chair. Jay Robertson with Opportunity Arkansas. Thank you
committee. My name is Jay Robertson. I'm public affairs director with Opportunity Arkansas. We're a state-based organization that works to simplify government and solve generational problems for the state of Arkansas. One of those deals with giving parents and kids more options and we've made great strides on this thanks to the Learns Act. I want to be sure to thank Senator Davis in particular for her leadership on this issue, but we also speak directly with a lot of EFA families and EFA schools and our commitment to them has been that
whenever this body considers something that could make things harder for them that we will stand up and speak. And so we do have concerns about changes in this bill to the program that could make it more difficult for families to participate. Very briefly the bill places arbitrary caps on certain types of spending that could then permanently ban children from the program if they exceed those caps. It would allow kids to be kicked out of the EFA program if they are expelled from an EFA participating school which would prevent those kids from having second chances if they come from and that doesn't put
students first I haven't seen the amendment yet I think but the challenges were still requiring parents to maintain these expenses threatening to kick them off the program they commit fraud as opposed to focusing on bad actors to ensure these funds are actually used for their intended purpose. The limitations on the enrollment window make it difficult for parents who are deciding later in the year to enroll. The bill also explicitly states in its tiered system for dispersing funds if insufficient funds exist they would be
funded in authority and this reduces certainty for families that rely on the program before the program has even been fully implemented and we're concerned that it doesn't put students first vision to support universal education freedom the state committed hold to funding this program for Arkansas families want it and trusting families to make these right decisions and even
with the best intentions and I do want to say we appreciate the secretary and his leadership on this issue, it can be easy for these new restrictions to families to become and leave. And we would hate to see that they have all the remarkable progress that's been made before. We have every day from families whose lives have been changed because of this program. And we should trust those families and then all other families to come later. So I appreciate your time and the opportunity to present today. Thank you.
Senator Jane English
Unverified
3:19:18
Thank you very much, Senator Sullivan. So,
Senator Dan Sullivan
Unverified
3:19:22
first year of the program, before they were getting how
much money, opportunity dollars, how much did they get prior to this implementation of this program? Are
Jay Robertson
Unverified
3:19:36
you referring to EFA families? Yes. Well, before the program existed, they were... All
Senator Dan Sullivan
Unverified
3:19:42
right, so the answer would be zero. Okay, so now the upside is they're getting some assistance in a lot of things that didn't exist before
Now they're getting some assistance. Is that correct? Yes, sir. And So, you know when I look at it I look at it as is the upside greater than the downside so if you're getting nothing and Now the state has developed a program and I can't think of a program that's in its first year of existence Where everybody goes is great. We're getting everything we need. I'm just not aware of that ever happening What I am aware of is people start and we hear the downside and we come back in a year or two
And change the program So, you know again, I'm
Speaker 457
3:20:34
if the upside greater than the downside in this Senator I don't believe
Jay Robertson
Unverified
3:20:43
that it's beginning nothing somewhere around 15,000, I believe, families around the state. And so if this bill weren't to pass, the program will continue. And so to the extent there are changes needed, I think those should be discussed with families who are utilizing the program.
We've gotten lots of calls for families, not all of them could be here today, who have concerns about the way this is drafted. And so I do appreciate the sponsor taking some amendments on this and working to improve that. But to the extent changes are made, they need to be family-friendly, student-focused. And that's the reason we have
Senator Dan Sullivan
Unverified
3:21:19
concerns with them. Okay, yeah, listen, we all have concerns. That's why the author made changes to the bill, because she agrees, and we made amendments. At some point, we have to run a bill.
And is the bill worth running in order to continue and develop the program? I would say yes, and you would say? Well, to my knowledge, if this bill does
Jay Robertson
Unverified
3:21:44
not pass, it does not end the Education Freedom Account Program in Arkansas. Okay, so you would say,
Senator Dan Sullivan
Unverified
3:21:49
I would say the bill moves us forward down a path of helping people. You would say, no, the bill doesn't move
us forward in helping people. That's what I'm hearing you say. Am I right or wrong?
Jay Robertson
Unverified
3:22:02
I think it creates challenges that can make it more difficult for families to use the program, discourage more families from participating in the program it limits when they can apply to become part of the program okay fair enough yes sir thank you very much any other questions
Senator Jane English
Unverified
3:22:25
from the committee thank you I'm seeing no other are you close for
Senator Breanne Davis
Unverified
3:22:34
you bill not yet thank you so here is here is what we
know based on what we've seen in this first year and again this is the first year that it's been open to homeschool parents and so we're seeing trends and collecting data and looking to have an efficient program on the front end. And like I've said, we knew that we would have to tighten up and make changes. We just needed to see how the first year went. And I understand what some of the people here providing testimony have said, that there
have been a lot of changes. And I think that's natural to a brand new program in its first year. And the goal would be to make changes now on the front end so that there's not a lot of changes in years moving forward that we get it worked out. So what we know is that homeschool families in this year have used around 61% of their allocated funds. 44% of that money is being spent on educational related items, which means 56% is not being used on education related items.
EFAs have an explicit purpose of improving educational outcomes. So while flexibility is certainly a core feature of the EFA program, we must ensure that funds are being used primarily for academic growth and central to academic learning. Research and outcomes consistently show that the most impactful use of funds are those directly tied to learning, high-quality curriculum, specialized instruction, access to educational tools and support. 99% we know of our parents of our homeschool parents are good stewards it and I would like
to speak a little bit to something that one of the parents said they are they are utilizing the program correctly as the law provides for that so this this bill is not to say they're doing something wrong or trying to misuse funds it's that the definition we didn't put any percentages or any standards around how funds could be used within that related to educational items. And we did not update our definition of extracurricular.
Our definition of extracurricular is broad and works very well for public schools and private schools, but it's very different when we talk about homeschool. So there have been a lot of vendors approved, and she's right. There is a list, and they're choosing off the list, and they can't go outside of that. So this is not to say that they're doing something nefarious. It's exactly the way the law is now, which is why we need a bill like this. So we know that, you know, almost all of our homeschool parents are good stewards
and are doing things the right way and following the rules. But we just want to ensure that this program has sustainability for the long haul and ensure that there is money there being used in a correct manner. We absolutely trust families. We want parents to have the choice and to be able to provide different educational opportunities for their kids. But we also value educational stewardship. And we want to ensure that the way that we're spending money in these programs is going primarily to educational-related items.
And like I said, 56% is not. So that is the purpose of this. trying to decide, I guess, right now if, you know, if the committee is willing to work with me on some amendments that get us to five votes, then I'm happy to do that because I do think that doing something is important. If we go and wait two more years, it's, I just, I don't think that that's wise. So I'm open to, you know, pulling it down and amending if the chair is agreeable to having an,
you know, calling an education meeting maybe later today if we can get something worked out. So I'm willing to hear from you guys. If you want me to close, and then we can do a motion and second and have discussion and take it from there. Okay, I'm closed for my bill. I make a motion. Do pass. I hear a second.
Speaker 126
3:26:59
Second. I'm sorry, I didn't hear the motion.
Senator Breanne Davis
Unverified
3:27:01
What's the motion motion do that second Discussion on the motion There a discussion on the
motion I guess my discussion is just Madam sure with pull it if I pull it would you be willing to call an education meeting later today if we get to An agreeable point. Yep
Speaker 53
3:27:33
All right, I withdraw my motion I Withdraw
Senator Jane English
Unverified
3:27:43
my motion Thank you, okay, very good. Thank you. Okay, let's see
representative Kremlin You have a number of bills 1812
Speaker 184
3:27:52
He has an amendment, okay If it pleases the chair, can
Speaker 481
3:28:00
I get can do 1580 first because the other four bills kind of all go together
Chair
Unverified
3:28:06
Run that by me again. Yes, if I could do House bill 1580 first because the other four bills 1580. Yes, ma'am. I will hold the amendment Yes, ma'am We don't
Speaker 481
3:28:27
have 1580. It should be a diabetes education bill. Oh,
Senator Jane English
Unverified
3:28:30
we don't have an amendment on 1580. No, it should be with Senator Petty, who is the Senate sponsor.
Speaker 471
3:28:45
If you don't have it, then I can move to it. We're
Senator Jane English
Unverified
3:28:56
good? We don't have an amendment. Yeah, there shouldn't be an amendment for 1580.
Speaker 481
3:29:02
There should be an amendment for 1580. there should be no amendment no amendment okay and the bill number is 1580 yes ma'am it deals with diabetes all right thank you very much in an effort to save some time i won't read the letter that was sent to me regarding this but essentially what house bill 1580 does is if a school district provides educational information over immunizations infectious diseases medications
other school health issue or other school health issues it also requires them to provide information about type 1 type 2 diabetes and a number of other things dealing with that in an effort to help you know have early detection and save some lives and heartache and pain of children during their k-12 and it there was an amendment in the house where we made clear that this is educational information only and And it is not supposed to be a medical diagnosis in any way.
Senator Jane English
Unverified
3:29:51
I have questions from the committee. anybody in the audience to speak for against the bill what is the
Speaker 185
3:30:25
will of the committee all in favor all those you pass the bill thank you chair thank you
Speaker 481
3:30:31
committee and I would love to see the 1812 now what's the next
Speaker 477
3:30:39
one you do 1812 And there is an amendment. Okay, there's an amendment. Okay.
Senator Jane English
Unverified
3:31:03
Okay. If you will, once again, identify yourself, you'll be recognized. Zach Gramlich,
Speaker 481
3:31:10
State Representative, District 50, Fort Smith. Okay, go ahead. And this is explaining
Chair
Unverified
3:31:16
the amendment first? Oh, yes. Yes, ma'am. So this is an amendment that was provided by the department to change graduation rate to a five-year graduation rate in an effort to differentiate between the number of students who
Speaker 481
3:31:28
graduate with a diploma over four years and the number of students who graduate with a diploma or earn their GED over
Speaker 91
3:31:35
five years thank you so presenting hospital 1812 as
Speaker 481
3:31:44
amended this is a bill that
I was working on over the last few really last few months and what it does is it strives to provide a kind of a high-risk dropout prevention where students who are enrolled in public schools will be allowed to apply for and take the GED as a public school student in my head and in my thinking there are
students who as I said are high risk of dropping out 17 16 17 18 year old girl who may have got pregnant or really honestly a number of other reasons as student may choose to drop out what this does is give them give them like a little bit of a life rap before they go and say hey before you go out into the world let's get you a GED so you can be successful and then you can go and do the things you need to do this is some language that I worked with the director of adult ed to to craft there's also a piece that updates current language
about how we interact with the GED in in our state and so that's like page two there's some amendments that were not and that's with some lines that were struck because those programs don't exist anymore and just interacts with how we actually do adult ed and the GED in the state but the main thing is just allowing well that's two things mainly is allowing students to get this GED during school day and then the second piece the third piece I guess is to not knock a school if a student has to get a GED for whatever reason so when we when
we are looking at their graduation rates we're able to look and see hey they're able to accomplish we are trying to make sure all kids get what they need to
Senator Jane English
Unverified
3:33:33
be successful. So right now a student pretty much has to drop out of high school and then go take
the GED. Yes ma'am. So what you're suggesting is is that that opportunity should be right there with the high
Speaker 481
3:33:47
school. Yes ma'am. In my head I see a
world where their students who meet the who meet this high need high-risk dropout and a counselor would sit down with them be like look I'm we know where you're at we know what you're thinking you give us a few months we'll give you transportation to school take the bus you'll get breakfast you'll get lunch and you get an education we'll prepare you get this GED and then you can go out
Senator Jane English
Unverified
3:34:08
in the world to do the things you want to do they do
Speaker 481
3:34:12
you see the GED preparation taking place advice potentially if a
Senator Jane English
Unverified
3:34:15
school wanted to do that they could do that as well that's pretty much an
Speaker 481
3:34:19
adult education thing that preparation yes ma'am and it's it's totally permissive the school wanted to do that or not but my idea is
that could be a good option for some kids who need that option and it really came part of this came from in the beginning of the year we had to save the state and you know we had that woman who was up at the top of the drop out of school and then talked about going back and forth and taking night classes working at sonic etc this is if this was an option for her before she dropped out she could potentially have had a better quality job and not have had to go through that struggle and then in addition if this kid gets their GED ten years down the road they can go get their associate's degree we're not they're not going to
have to go through this this years of struggle of evenings of lack of pay and and to on top of this all if a student does go through this and they work big decide hey this is a bet right path for me that's potentially tens of thousands of dollars income they would not have realized if they continue to sit in school for me as a middle school teacher I want all my students to earn it earn a high school diploma because I think that's probably best for them but this can meet the needs of some students I think it should be an option well hopefully
Senator Jane English
Unverified
3:35:27
this would be catching them before they drop out that's my goal is
is building having a pathway there so that they because so many times when they
leave school they've left school yes ma'am and then they don't get connect back in. That's
Senator Jim Dotson
Unverified
3:35:49
exactly right. Any other questions? Senator Dawson. Thank you Madam Chair. Mine may just be technical in nature but on page 3 line 23 what is the copyrighted ready?
Speaker 481
3:36:00
That's the test that's used for before you
actually take your GED. That's language that's provided me from Dr. Miles with adult ed who is that the only vendor as far for the ged as far as i know and so unless the entire nation or the state decides to use a another program which i don't even know if that exists um but that's
Senator Jim Dotson
Unverified
3:36:22
why that then we would have like by putting that though in there if something like this would be the only well and
Senator Jonathan Dismang
Unverified
3:36:30
i would argue change that well yeah but i would argue that we've
Speaker 481
3:36:34
been following the wrong thing already like they don't do the minimum composite score 490 on the ged like none of that has been done nor and in language arkansas national guard youth challenge program that's not being used either so um i i hear i hear your point but i'm uh i don't i don't know if there's even another option out there right now i mean i understand the
Senator Jim Dotson
Unverified
3:36:55
youth challenge program doesn't exist today kind of one that's hopeful that maybe at some point he'd come back because it was a good program but totally supported that but uh and again those were
Chair
Unverified
3:37:07
amendments that came from me from the department of adult adult services okay thank you adult ed excuse me
Senator Joshua Bryant
Unverified
3:37:16
senator bryant did you have a question yes madam chair i'm just going to follow up senator dodson and it's just a 30 second google check just to make sure
that we're on the same page the way i the way it kind of dictates is ged ready is the practice
test yes ma'am i'm sorry for a full ged which would make sense in page two line 36 flowing into page three where they are
by original code talking about the ge practice test but what senator dotson bringing up is that not affect a student enrolls must achieve the minimum official ged scores oh it says practice so striking practice so anywhere strike to practice we're just going to default into the ready if this bill went
Speaker 470
3:38:04
through yeah that's what would happen yes sir if there's
Senator Joshua Bryant
Unverified
3:38:07
another company out there that produces a practice exam because i think pearson is the company that
produces the ged test that's approved by the american council on education and i don't know that they are tied together with GED ready I don't know that it matters I don't know if the committee thinks it matters but just commit committing one one company into it but will be the only concern but and and in the future we I would I know I'm
Speaker 471
3:38:38
gonna have a cut some work on some of this language here in a
Speaker 481
3:38:42
couple years to see how this plays out so I'm open to working with dr. miles at the department to get better language
Chair
Unverified
3:38:48
in the future, but I think going forward we should do this today. We'll have to fight ready
Senator Breanne Davis
Unverified
3:39:06
to get changed in the future of the monopoly. Senator Davis. Madam Chair, are there other companies besides GED Ready that offer this test?
Speaker 488
3:39:13
Is that a question or a statement? It's a question. I'm unaware
Speaker 481
3:39:18
and to be like I said these amendments came from the department. They asked that I put them
Senator Jane English
Unverified
3:39:30
in I think there is only one GED Are there And I
Speaker 481
3:39:42
would ask for those and I know it's not my position to ask a question
but since we're discussing this is that like the actual GED practice test or those websites that offer practice for the GED does that make sense you want it amended is there anyone
Speaker 499
3:40:14
from the department here that I think
Senator Jane English
Unverified
3:40:17
they've all left is anybody here from the
Speaker 481
3:40:21
department and and I would say like they've worked with me on all this language and their support of what I'm trying to do so like all these amendments like the five these two here came directly from Sarah and the governor's office with meetings with Oliva as well and like I said in 1812 this is language that came from the director of adult ed. Oh here they
Senator Jane English
Unverified
3:40:49
come. Oh there's Secretary Oliva. They're asking
Senator Jim Dotson
Unverified
3:40:54
about 1812 and the if you
Speaker 481
3:40:57
would identify yourself please. Other vendors besides the GED ready test me neither but they were asking Jacob Lieber Department of Education
Speaker 255
3:41:07
just want to restate make sure I understand the question is if there was any
Speaker 258
3:41:12
other vendors to the GED ready test so I don't know if I I know that answer off the top of my head I know that the GED test has gone through some
Speaker 259
3:41:25
transformations over the past few years and there's different versions of it but I would have to do
Senator Jane English
Unverified
3:41:34
a little bit of research and get back to you on that. I Think we're hesitant to put
a a something a brand a name For a test into legislation and always
Senator Jim Dotson
Unverified
3:41:47
is our problem Senator Johnson Madam chair to the sponsor if if he's open to it I think we could potentially put an amendment on that
taking out ready and just putting it back to practice Restoring practice on that line. I think I would be open to that and that would make it open-ended Still ready is probably the one that still works, but then we're not putting that into code I think I would be I'd be totally fine with that.
Senator Jane English
Unverified
3:42:15
You're good with that then Can you get Taylor to do a quick amendment? I'm sure I can. I'm sure we'll probably
Senator Jim Dotson
Unverified
3:42:22
meet again on Monday Well, it'd have to go back through so we would need to get it out of here Meeting this afternoon is what I heard earlier, right?
Senator Jane English
Unverified
3:42:29
No. Madam Chair. When we get finished with your bills, we've only got
Senator Jim Dotson
Unverified
3:42:37
a couple left. Madam Chair, I would, I think we have a rule in this committee only that all amendments to bills must be in writing. Verbal amendments are not allowed. I would make a motion to suspend that rule and do a verbal amendment in here. Okay. So, for the purposes of verbal amendment on this, if the committee is willing to suspend that rule for this bill.
Senator Jane English
Unverified
3:42:59
Do I hear a second? Second. All in favor? Aye.
Senator Jim Dotson
Unverified
3:43:06
All opposed? Thank you. that that would be so since the rule has been amended there's two places on page three of HB 1812 lines one and two on page three where we would strike through
ready and restore practice in front of it and the same thing on lines 23 of page three line 23 where
so those two places in the bill I think those are the
Senator Jim Dotson
Unverified
3:43:49
if the committee will adopt the amendment so it's on page three both of them are on page
Senator Jim Dotson
Unverified
3:44:18
that verbal amendment and then I'll sign it
whenever whenever they can bring it over but if we can adopt that amendment into the bill okay verbally
and then we can pass it do pass as amended we've just passed
it so verbally i make a motion to adopt it verbally i
need a second all in favor aye all opposed okay and then do pass as amended on the
Senator Jane English
Unverified
3:44:49
bill itself yes do pass as amended as amended all in favor
aye all opposed thank you okay that's our plan
Speaker 502
3:45:04
that's efficient government yeah that's our plan all right so 1812 is good then okay
Speaker 481
3:45:10
right all right and i'm close And if we could look at 1480, 1483 then. And there's an amendment for 1483.
Speaker 324
3:45:48
I have a problem with this I have a problem okay 1483 yes ma'am
Speaker 502
3:46:10
we're looking for 1483 we have three more bills that first one we
Senator Jane English
Unverified
3:46:31
did some work on it a little words identify yourself again
Speaker 481
3:46:37
yes ma'am state representative Zach Gramlich district 50 Fort Smith the amendment of 1483 is language that was provided by the department in the
original language dealing with the things I'm working working on creating this GED pathway during the school day I thought it would maybe a good option for districts to have flexibility for how they might pay for that and so I used in the original bill adult education program to pay and the department suggested
to change that from the skills development fund to pay for a GED pathway during the
Senator Jane English
Unverified
3:47:14
day I would have to vote against this because basically these
are not adult education funds they are not education funds their incumbent worker funds skilled training funds equipment funds for secondary centers but they are not for adult education. To be on to be clear Senator I when I was doing this I was just spitballing if the committee thinks they're not going to want something like
Speaker 481
3:47:39
this I'll pull it down and move to the next bill. Do what? I would pull this bill down and move
Chair
Unverified
3:47:45
to the next one. I think that would be a good
Senator Jane English
Unverified
3:47:51
idea. I definitely could not could not vote for this. Okay can we do
Speaker 484
3:47:58
1642 then before I move to 1642 yes ma'am there's an
Speaker 502
3:48:07
amendment as well and it's a small amendment if I could go ahead and explain it
Chair
Unverified
3:48:39
Do I need to recognize myself again Senator? Go ahead. State
Speaker 481
3:48:46
Representative Zach Amarok, District 50, Fort Smith. This amendment for House Bill 1642 came from the department. It's very similar to language we found in the first bill I presented, switching a graduation rate to five-year graduation rate for the
Speaker 380
3:49:09
same reasons mentioned prior. All in favor? All opposed. Thank you. Adopted the amendment.
Speaker 481
3:49:14
Thank you very much, Senator. Thank you.
Thank you, Chair. 1642 finds another piece in the code dealing with graduation rates. Again, with the bill we just passed previously, we talked about not wanting to nick schools if a student were to get their GED and not be counted as a dropout. Again, this allows the department and the district or schools to differentiate between a four-year high school diploma, individuals who got their four-year high school diploma
and individuals over a span of five years got their high school diploma and a GED or a GED. Questions from the
Senator Jane English
Unverified
3:50:01
committee? seeing nobody here to speak for or against the bill. Are you closed? I am closed and
Senator Jim Dotson
Unverified
3:50:06
I appreciate the bill. Do I have a second?
Senator Jane English
Unverified
3:50:14
So discussion on the motion. All in favor? All opposed? Thank you. Okay. Pass your bill as amended.
Speaker 527
3:50:22
Thank you, Senator. Last bill from me today will be House
Speaker 481
3:50:27
Bill 1484 and there's an amendment for House Bill 1484 1484
Senator Jane English
Unverified
3:51:14
proceed? Thank you, Zach Ramling, State Representative, District 50. This is
Speaker 481
3:51:20
an amendment for House Bill 1484. To give some context 1484 deals with credit recovery and limiting credit recovery for a variety of reasons
This amendment provides an exclusion for students who are currently enrolled in an English as a second language program
Senator Jane English
Unverified
3:51:49
in grades 9 through 12 I have a second All in favor? All
Speaker 481
3:51:54
opposed? Okay, go ahead so this will be a hospital 1484 as amended we
have an issue in our in our in our education where students can look at their teachers and say I don't need
this class I'll do it in credit recovery as verbatim a quote that was said to my wife when she was teaching high school in our city and this is happening to teachers all over the state what has happened is we've created the system where we have online credit recovery programs where kids don't necessarily have to do the work to earn a credit and they have learned to game the system I'm hearing stories of districts across the state where students during their senior year are doing 18 of their 22 required credit
credits online and then within three months they'll earn the same high school diploma that a kid in the top ten percent of the class earns and there's something there's something wrong with that there's something really wrong with that not being able to have these minimum standards that students have to be able to reach so they can be successful this bill specifically I've worked with a number of different groups to find some exclusions for but first couple things to talk about first off this is not affect current students who are in high school it will affect this year's ninth graders as they go in so
it's House Bill 1484 so this year's ninth graders 25 26 will know that they will have only be able to fail seven credits and be able to earn those back through a credit recovery process they will also know that there well they can also find out that there is a number of exclusions that they fall under one of these exclusions and I will read those out really quickly certain ie iep
programs student may if it's listener IEP they may be able to get additional credit recovery students in foster care custody division of youth services considered homeless
Chair
Unverified
3:53:53
long-term placement and mental health facilities or in long-term placement which we identified is in one of these facilities for 30 or more days a student who is is pregnant a
Speaker 481
3:54:05
student who is determined at being high risk or in tier need of tier 3 interventions or a student who's
enrolled full-time in a statewide open enrollment virtual charter school I will make a note there was someone who reached out to me yesterday about another kind of program that I'm open to making exclusions for but I probably will wait until the 27 session to do so and because those students who would fall into that area and would only be at risk until once they hit maybe their junior year anyway so that's something I'm willing to definitely do in the future but what I'm trying to do is I'm trying to provide accountability towards
students where they know that they have to meet certain standards I'm trying to be a morale booster for teachers so they don't feel like you know that they are teaching means something and that students do have to do this work and they do have to succeed and they do have to try but I'm also providing leniency because seven credits is about one year so if something truly horrible happens during a kid's life and you know they're out of whack for a while I give them an opportunity to take a break redo this work
Senator Reginald Murdock
Unverified
3:55:23
and move forward in the future yes representative so I have a group that has talking to me about an
amendment from representative I mean op education group I spoke with them yesterday and
Speaker 481
3:55:39
and I what happened is he apparently emailed me earlier in the session but he sent it to the wrong email my email my email z-a-c-k and he sent his e-a-c-h and and I never saw it I spoke with him yesterday and told him essentially the same thing I told y'all like I was a little late in session to make an amendment but in
Chair
Unverified
3:56:02
27 I'm willing to figure out a way to find some
language to get those kinds of students included
Senator Jonathan Dismang
Unverified
3:56:08
in this he indicates it's going to mess up his program his recovery program well it shouldn't mess
Speaker 481
3:56:14
up any student currently enrolled because it'll only affect this year's ninth graders so any student who is currently in 9th 10th 11th or 12th or has dropped out and is older than 18 it shouldn't affect right now okay
Senator Reginald Murdock
Unverified
3:56:29
all right well hopefully he said he was actually trying to be here or his principal or somebody was coming because I wanted them to have an opportunity to
at least converse with you or whatever their issue is I mean it seems
Speaker 481
3:56:41
to me like obviously similar what you said they were they were afraid that it was going to
hurt their business and no one tend to do that you know I want to meet kids where they're at and if this is the option these that those kids need I would also say this we just passed three bills that kind of set up a GED program during the school day that will hopefully catch a lot of those kids so that they can give them another opportunity to success before they totally drop out and have to re-enter into a program like this so I have tried
to set up a safety net to catch some of these kids so they won't even fall into need this kind of program but like I said before I'm committed to in a couple years when we come back that'll probably be one of the first bills I do is to figure out how we can include a program like that maybe they'll
Speaker 496
3:57:28
show up if not we'll just have to roll with I appreciate that thank you thank you
Senator Jim Dotson
Unverified
3:57:42
Thank you, Madam Chair. Representative, I'm back and forth on this bill, but I think
I understood you say that seven hours, you set the limitation at seven hours because it's about one year.
Speaker 481
3:57:59
Yeah, you have 22 credits that you need to earn to graduate, so your freshman year, you're not necessarily getting all those credits as many, but I originally had six credits, and I worked with an ALE director who had contacted a lot of other individuals, and he asked for seven. I said, okay, that's acceptable.
Senator Jim Dotson
Unverified
3:58:21
So if someone needs eight, they're just out of luck? I would
Speaker 481
3:58:24
say no, and this is why. A lot of times your senior year, if you've been doing everything the way you're supposed to be doing, you end up with about three classes at the end of the day. A lot of students their senior year go half days across the state. And so in my head, they have seven online credits, and then they're able to take three face-to-face classes. And then, too, if they choose to go additional time, they can do that as well. I would also say at some point, like, even then, 10, in the way I just calculated, is redoing half the class, almost half the classes that you take to earn a diploma.
At some point, you know, like these, I also need to preface something else. I've helped do some of these online credit recovery programs, and it's, it's not good education. Like, when I, when our middle school was still in junior high, we had some ninth graders who had to retake credit recovery programs. and quite literally it was find the question copy it throw it into google find the answer you got the answer you move on to the next question like I saw students do that for weeks and then they would earn their algebra one credit like and I think we can both look at each other and say that's
that's not good education and and then we talk about like kids graduating high school who can't read or can't do math and we're like well why is this happening well there's some of these kids who are gaming the system and doing this googling or copying or basically cheating to earn their credits and and I would say I am from understanding there are some districts who are doing it right but I've talked to a lot of districts who are doing it wrong and at some point we've got to create a standard that that we expect kids to meet all right thank you there are other questions from the committee
Senator Joshua Bryant
Unverified
4:00:01
Senator Bryant I just want to see how this affects the credit recovery open enrollment public charter schools?
Senator Jonathan Dismang
Unverified
4:00:10
So I think that was the, well a credit recovery open enrollment charter school. I think that's similar to the question that Senator Burdock was referring to.
Speaker 481
4:00:19
Is that correct? You were asking about the credit recovery open enrollment. They weren't originally included in this, but again this includes 25, 26 ninth graders, right? So the current students who may be in those kinds of programs are not going to be affected. As I as I mentioned
earlier two years from now in 27 I'd like to figure out a way that we can you know thread that needle and give them an opportunity to be successful and work with those would it
Senator Joshua Bryant
Unverified
4:00:47
would it just be to amend this to just add add them as an exclusion can I
Senator Jonathan Dismang
Unverified
4:00:52
can I be honest before coming in here I didn't realize that you can amend things in
Speaker 196
4:00:56
committee and I think we can't time well well as we suspend the rules
Senator Jonathan Dismang
Unverified
4:01:01
yes but that's my point I would say this if you had language right now that you think would meet the intent of what you're trying to do, I could be
open to that. I just don't have that language right
Senator Joshua Bryant
Unverified
4:01:14
here. Wouldn't it just be a student who is enrolled in a credit recovery open enrollment public charter school? I think
Speaker 196
4:01:20
that could be that could meet. Yeah. We got ARSPC back here getting some nods. And you don't have a Senate sponsor? On this bill? You have to do another amendment, Jim. Or is it on your amendment? I've had with Senator Boyd. It's supposed to be
Senator Jim Dotson
Unverified
4:01:41
Senator Boyd. Madam Chair? Yes. I'd like to suspend the rules. Well, that's kind of a substantive
Speaker 495
4:01:54
amendment. We probably need it written down. If you don't want to, we won't. Senator Davis Um, I mean
Senator Breanne Davis
Unverified
4:02:08
again if we want to have it written down, I think it's something That if we recess for a little bit this afternoon after when hearing bills
for the purpose of some committees would like to go back in if we could get a written amendment
have it back here If the chair would be willing to come back in for a
Speaker 350
4:02:28
little bit this afternoon, we can do that now
Senator Jane English
Unverified
4:02:31
yeah we can do all that you want to vote to expunge the amendment
you want to put both of them
together so we're going to expunge the vote for the amendment we'll put both amendments
Speaker 541
4:03:14
together and then we won't do I'm that committee's bill I'm totally
Speaker 215
4:03:18
supportive of that though that's what we're gonna do
Senator Jane English
Unverified
4:03:31
favor all opposed okay we've expunged that vote and now yeah pull it down and then we'll do it okay
Speaker 473
4:03:42
so but to be clear we're gonna recess and meet this afternoon yeah yeah I'm fine with doing that I'll get with Lloyd and we'll
Speaker 481
4:03:48
get so we'll put that amendment together we'll have it here sounds like a plan to me. Okay. All right. Thank you very much, committee. Is that it? Unless you just got some
Senator Jane English
Unverified
4:04:06
bills you need somebody to run. I don't know anything about them. Okay. Thank you very much. Thank you very much, committee. We'll see you this afternoon. All right. We have one more bill. Representative Bentley with 1946.
if you and identify yourself you will be recognized
as House Bill 1946 I want to start out House Bill 1946 with just apologizing for the controversy that was raised with baby Olivia the 1180 bill that we brought forth never meant for it to get to that controversial I just want to publicly apologize yeah sure I I just want to publicly apologize for the thing I've done to make it so controversial.
It had no intentions for it to being so controversial for the members of this committee. So I bring forth with you today House Bill 1946, which has bipartisan support in the House. It passed it off the House floor yesterday with some bipartisan support. House Bill 1946 will simply allow for some human development added to the biology class. It adds a three-minute ultrasound video and also another video showing the major
developments of fetus during development. That's what it adds. There could be any video video chosen. There are a number of videos that have been developed by human development, but to be added there. So again, it brings gives local schools able to decide which video they want to show. So again, I think it's a compromise between another bill that's been passed in here. I think both bills could be passed. I just again wanted to bring an option for us today and again to publicly apologize for what happened with the other bill and That's bill 18 1946 after sixth grade when the students are having a biology class that these two sections will be added to the class
And I'd be happy to take any questions House bill 1946 Do I hear some
questions from the committee? I know you guys have had a
big, busy day, so I'll give you minutes to read it. I know you guys
have had a busy day, so I'm going to give you minutes to read it. Is there
anybody in the audience to speak for or against the bill?
Would you like to close for your bill? Again, this is House Bill 1946 to allow our students to get a fetal development taught in class when they have a biology classes no known opposition had some good support on the house and would appreciate a good vote and what is the will of
the committee they do pass all right so discussion on the motion
all in paper? Aye. All opposed? No. You probably need a roll call. Senator Dotson. Senator Dotson? Yes. Senator
Speaker 551
4:07:22
Bryant? Senator Bryant? Yes. Senator Murdoch? Senator Murdoch? Senator
Speaker 550
4:07:36
King? Senator King? Senator Davis? Senator Davis? No. Senator Flowers? Senator Flowers? No. Senator Sullivan? Senator Sullivan, Senator Murdoch, Senator Murdoch, I'm
Senator Jane English
Unverified
4:08:08
sorry the bill did
not pass. Thank you chairman, thank you committee.
All right folks I think we have done a lot
of work today we will try and come back after the session adjourns our session adjourns this afternoon or maybe a recess or something like that
so yeah whatever call the chair so we can take care of that and that last amendment and I did I think that basically we're about done now I
don't know if you have some bills coming from tomorrow from house education we might have to meet on Monday but we can do that we'll do it at 8 o'clock again Monday morning so at the call
of the chair we'll fix that bill so Taylor's working on that we are
Agenda
Call to Order
SB436 A. Clark TO AMEND THE ABILITY OF A STUDENT WHO TRANSFERS UNDER THE PUBLIC SCHOOL CHOICE ACT OF 2015 TO PARTICIPATE IN AN EXTRACURRICULAR ACTIVITY.
SB438 A. Clark TO PERMANENTLY BAN FROM COACHING A COACH OR AN ATHLETICS PERSONNEL MEMBER WHO RECRUITS A STUDENT.
SB482 K. Hammer TO REPEAL THE ARKANSAS OPPORTUNITY PUBLIC SCHOOL CHOICE ACT; TO AMEND THE LAW RELATING TO TRANSFERS OF STUDENTS BETWEEN PUBLIC SCHOOLS AND SCHOOL DISTRICTS; AND TO AMEND THE PUBLIC SCHOOL CHOICE ACT OF 2015.
HB1684 McAlindon TO CREATE THE PARENTS AND TEACHERS HELPING STUDENTS SUCCEED (PATHS) ACT.
SB607 Crowell TO ESTABLISH THE REQUIREMENTS FOR A PUBLIC SCHOOL DISTRICT THAT INITIATES AND MAINTAINS A FOUR-DAY SCHOOL WEEK; AND TO DECLARE AN EMERGENCY.
HB1495 Hawk CONCERNING THE TRANSFER OF A STUDENT'S PERMANENT SCHOOL RECORD.
HB1646 McGrew TO REQUIRE CERTAIN MATERIALS TO BE STORED IN LOCKED COMPARTMENTS WITHIN A DESIGNATED AREA.
HB1812 Gramlich TO AMEND THE ARKANSAS EDUCATIONAL SUPPORT AND ACCOUNTABILITY ACT; TO CREATE AN EXCEPTION TO ATTENDANCE REQUIREMENTS FOR A STUDENT WHO TAKES A GED TEST; AND TO AMEND THE SCORE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE GED TEST.
HB1833 M. Shepherd TO AMEND THE LAW CONCERNING THE ADMISSIONS AT THE UNIVERSITY OF ARKANSAS COLLEGE OF MEDICINE.
SB625 B. Davis TO AMEND PROVISIONS OF THE ARKANSAS CODE CONCERNING THE ARKANSAS CHILDREN'S EDUCATIONAL FREEDOM ACCOUNT PROGRAM; AND TO DECLARE AN EMERGENCY.
HB1786 Brooks TO PROVIDE ELIGIBILITY FOR A TUITION BENEFIT TO SOLDIERS AND AIRMEN OF THE ARKANSAS NATIONAL GUARD ATTENDING CERTAIN PRIVATE TWO-YEAR AND FOUR-YEAR COLLEGES AND UNIVERSITIES.
HB1283 J. Mayberry TO REQUIRE THE DIVISION OF ELEMENTARY AND SECONDARY EDUCATION TO INCLUDE DIGITAL MEDIA STANDARDS IN KINDERGARTEN THROUGH GRADE TWELVE LIBRARY MEDIA STANDARDS.
HB1483 Gramlich TO ALLOW A PUBLIC SCHOOL DISTRICT TO USE STATE FUNDS TO PAY FOR AN ADULT EDUCATION PROGRAM WITH WHICH IT CONTRACTS.
HB1484 Gramlich TO LIMIT THE NUMBER OF CREDITS A STUDENT MAY OBTAIN IN A COURSE CREDIT RECOVERY PROGRAM.
HB1580 Gramlich TO REQUIRE SCHOOLS TO PROVIDE CERTAIN INFORMATION ON TYPE 1 AND TYPE 2 DIABETES WHEN OTHER HEALTH INFORMATION IS PROVIDED.
HB1642 Gramlich TO AMEND THE MEASURES CONSIDERED WHEN CALCULATING A SCHOOL RATING; AND TO ENSURE A STUDENT IS NOT COUNTED AS A DROPOUT FOR PURPOSES OF CALCULATING A SCHOOL-LEVEL GRADUATION RATE IF THE STUDENT PASSES A GED TEST.
HB1728 Ennett TO REQUIRE REPORTING ON THE NUMBER OF STUDENTS RECEIVING ACCOMMODATIONS FOR A DISABILITY AT INSTITUTIONS OF HIGHER EDUCATION.
HB1756 Vaught TO ALLOW A PARENT, LEGAL GUARDIAN, OR PERSON STANDING IN LOCO PARENTIS TO A STUDENT TO DOCUMENT AND MAINTAIN THE COMMUNITY SERVICE HOURS THE STUDENT OBTAINS.
HB1766 Ennett TO CREATE THE ARKANSAS RESPOND, INNOVATE, SUCCEED, AND EMPOWER (RISE) ACT.
HB1793 Duke TO AMEND THE LAW CONCERNING THE USE OF POSITIVE BEHAVIORAL SUPPORTS IN PUBLIC SCHOOL DISTRICTS.
Recess
Reconvene
HB1805 Childress TO AMEND THE DEFINITION OF "BULLYING"; AND TO CREATE A PROCESS WHEREBY A PUBLIC SCHOOL MAY CONDUCT MULTIPLE, SIMULTANEOUS INVESTIGATIONS INTO THE SAME ALLEGATION OF BULLYING UNDER CERTAIN CIRCUMSTANCES.
HB1370 J. Mayberry CONCERNING MAKING UP MISSED SCHOOL DAYS; AND TO REQUIRE A PUBLIC SCHOOL DISTRICT TO INCLUDE ADDITIONAL DAYS OR HOURS, AS APPLICABLE, IN ITS SCHOOL CALENDAR FOR THE PURPOSE OF MAKING UP MISSED SCHOOL DAYS.
SB634 M. Johnson TO CREATE THE DIVISION OF INTERSCHOLASTIC ACTIVITIES WITHIN THE DIVISION OF ELEMENTARY AND SECONDARY EDUCATION.
HB1672 McCollum TO AMEND PROVISIONS OF THE ARKANSAS CODE TO CREATE A MORE EFFICIENT SYSTEM FOR PUBLIC SCHOOLS OF INNOVATION IN ARKANSAS.
HB1866 Brooks TO CREATE ELI'S LAW; AND TO REQUIRE EACH PUBLIC SCHOOL TO INSTALL AN AUDIO RECORDING DEVICE IN EACH LOCKER ROOM AND DRESSING ROOM ON THE PUBLIC SCHOOL CAMPUS.
HB1938 Joey Carr TO AMEND PROVISIONS OF THE ARKANSAS CODE CONCERNING THE CREATION OF DISTRICT STRATEGIC PLANS AND THE RESPONSIBILITY OF THE DIVISION OF ELEMENTARY AND SECONDARY EDUCATION.
HB1939 Joey Carr TO AMEND ELIGIBILITY FOR TEACHER INCENTIVE AND MERIT PAY; TO AMEND REQUIREMENTS FOR SUMMATIVE EVALUATIONS; AND TO AMEND SCHOOL DISTRICT REQUIREMENTS UNDER THE MERIT TEACHER INCENTIVE FUND PROGRAM.
HB1941 Joey Carr CONCERNING DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION BOARDS AND COMMISSIONS; AND TO PROTECT ARKANSAS STUDENTS BY ENSURING THE EFFICIENT DISPOSITION OF ETHICS COMPLAINTS AGAINST TEACHERS.
HB1946 Bentley TO REQUIRE HUMAN GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT INSTRUCTION IN PUBLIC SCHOOLS.
Adjourn
Documents
| Title | Type | Pages | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Agenda — EDUCATION COMMITTEE - SENATE AND HOUSE MEETING JOINTLY WITH ADVANCED COMMUNICATIONS AND INFORMATION, Apr 9, 2025 | Agenda | 3 | Official source ↗ |
Speakers
Senator Jane English
Unverified
Representative Keith Brooks
Unverified
Senator Breanne Davis
Unverified
Speaker 19
Allison Guthrie
Unverified
Speaker 25
Senator Dan Sullivan
Unverified
Speaker 37
Speaker 38
Speaker 46
Representative Paul Childress
Unverified
Speaker 68
Speaker 74
Speaker 78
Senator Jim Dotson
Unverified
Speaker 111
Senator Kim Hammer
Unverified
Speaker 119
Speaker 121
Speaker 122
Speaker 127
Speaker 130
Senator Matt McKee
Unverified
Speaker 147
Speaker 152
Speaker 158
Representative Richard McGrew
Unverified
Speaker 148
Speaker 198
Speaker 207
Speaker 213
Representative Hope Duke
Unverified
Speaker 32
Speaker 229
Speaker 228
Speaker 244
Speaker 237
Speaker 236
Senator Justin Boyd
Unverified
Speaker 255
Speaker 258
Speaker 259
Senator Reginald Murdock
Unverified
Speaker 290
Speaker 296
Speaker 299
Speaker 301
Speaker 302
Speaker 308
Speaker 313
Speaker 317
Speaker 322
Speaker 323
Senator Joshua Bryant
Unverified
Speaker 329
Speaker 331
Speaker 339
Speaker 344
Speaker 346
Speaker 349
Speaker 360
Speaker 227
Speaker 375
Representative Julie Mayberry
Unverified
Speaker 379
Speaker 377
Speaker 386
Speaker 388
Speaker 409
Speaker 372
Paula Bean
Unverified
Speaker 435
Speaker 429
Speaker 442
Speaker 433
Jay Robertson
Unverified
Speaker 457
Speaker 126
Speaker 53
Speaker 184
Speaker 481
Chair
Unverified
Speaker 471
Speaker 185
Speaker 477
Speaker 91
Senator Jonathan Dismang
Unverified
Speaker 470
Speaker 488
Speaker 499
Speaker 480
Speaker 413
Speaker 79
Speaker 502
Speaker 159
Speaker 324
Speaker 484
Speaker 380
Speaker 527
Speaker 218
Speaker 496
Speaker 196
Speaker 495
Speaker 350
Speaker 541
Speaker 215
Speaker 533
Speaker 473
Speaker 551
Speaker 550