Education Committee- House
Video
Transcript
1 document
Bills discussed (71)
| Bill | Title | Sponsor | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
|
HB1805
Act 805
· 6 mentions in chapter, transcript, agenda
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 |
|
HB1727
· 4 mentions in chapter, transcript, agenda
Matched: “HB1727 L. Johnson TO AMEND THE FUNDING AVAILABLE TO ADULT EDUCATIO…”
|
TO AMEND THE FUNDING AVAILABLE TO ADULT EDUCATION CHARTER SCHOOLS. | L. Johnson | WITHDRAWN BY AUTHOR |
|
SB545
Act 564
· 4 mentions in transcript, chapter, agenda
Matched: “100. Uh, I am the house sponsor on Senate Bill 545 Senate Bill 545. So it's really a very simple bill. All thi…”
|
TO AMEND THE LAW RELATED TO THE PROPERTY AND FINANCES OF STATE INSTITUTIONS OF HIGHER … | M. Johnson | Notification that SB545 is now Act 564 |
|
HB1017
Act 904
· 2 mentions in chapter, agenda
Matched: “HB1017 A. Collins TO AMEND THE LAW REGARDING PAID MATERNITY LEAVE…”
|
TO AMEND THE LAW REGARDING PAID MATERNITY LEAVE FOR PUBLIC SCHOOL EMPLOYEES; AND TO REQUIRE … | A. Collins | Notification that HB1017 is now Act 904 |
|
HB1139
· 2 mentions in chapter, agenda
Matched: “HB1139 B. McKenzie TO CREATE THE RELEASED TIME EDUCATION ACT.”
|
TO CREATE THE RELEASED TIME EDUCATION ACT. | B. McKenzie | Died in House Committee at Sine Die adjournment. |
|
HB1283
· 2 mentions in agenda, chapter
Matched: “…D THE FUNDING AVAILABLE TO ADULT EDUCATION CHARTER SCHOOLS. 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. |
|
HB1482
· 2 mentions in agenda, chapter
Matched: “…NT AT EACH MEETING OF A SCHOOL DISTRICT BOARD OF DIRECTORS. HB1482 Gramlich TO CREATE AN EXCEPTION TO THE SCHOOL ATTENDANCE RE…”
|
TO CREATE AN EXCEPTION TO THE SCHOOL ATTENDANCE REQUIREMENTS FOR A STUDENT WHO TAKES A … | Gramlich | Died in House Committee at Sine Die adjournment. |
|
HB1483
· 2 mentions in agenda, chapter
Matched: “…CHOOL TEACHERS UNDER THE PUBLIC SCHOOL FUNDING ACT OF 2003. 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. |
|
HB1484
Act 910
· 2 mentions in chapter, agenda
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 |
|
HB1492
· 2 mentions in agenda, chapter
Matched: “…S A STUDENT MAY OBTAIN IN A COURSE CREDIT RECOVERY PROGRAM. HB1492 Gramlich TO REQUIRE EACH PUBLIC SCHOOL DISTRICT AND OPEN-EN…”
|
TO REQUIRE EACH PUBLIC SCHOOL DISTRICT AND OPEN-ENROLLMENT PUBLIC CHARTER SCHOOL TO IMPLEMENT A MOBILE … | Gramlich | Recommended for study in the Interim by the … |
|
HB1580
Act 801
· 2 mentions in agenda, chapter
Matched: “…ENTS FOR A STUDENT WHO TAKES A GED TEST AND RECEIVES A GED. 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 |
|
HB1672
Act 800
· 2 mentions in agenda, chapter
Matched: “…OOL-LEVEL GRADUATION RATE IF THE STUDENT PASSES A GED TEST. 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 |
|
HB1709
· 2 mentions in agenda, chapter
Matched: “…Hope Duke RE-REFERRED TO COMMITTEE Number Sponsor Subtitle HB1709 Steele TO AMEND THE HUMAN SERVICES WORKERS IN THE SCHOOLS P…”
|
TO AMEND THE HUMAN SERVICES WORKERS IN THE SCHOOLS PROGRAM; AND TO INCLUDE MENTAL HEALTH … | Steele | Died in House Committee at Sine Die adjournment. |
|
HB1710
· 2 mentions in chapter, agenda
Matched: “HB1710 Vaught TO PROHIBIT A SCHOOL FROM USING OR REFERENCING A PUB…”
|
TO PROHIBIT A SCHOOL FROM USING OR REFERENCING A PUBLIC SCHOOL RATING IN ANY ADVERTISING, … | Vaught | WITHDRAWN BY AUTHOR |
|
HB1719
Act 905
· 2 mentions in chapter, agenda
Matched: “HB1719 Vaught TO AMEND THE DAYS INCLUDED IN THE TOTAL NUMBER OF MA…”
|
TO AMEND THE DAYS INCLUDED IN THE TOTAL NUMBER OF MATERNITY LEAVE DAYS APPROVED BY … | Vaught | Notification that HB1719 is now Act 905 |
|
HB1728
Act 906
· 2 mentions in chapter, agenda
Matched: “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 |
|
HB1747
· 2 mentions in chapter, agenda
Matched: “HB1747 Vaught TO CREATE THE BABIES AT SCHOOL ACT; AND TO ALLOW SCH…”
|
TO CREATE THE BABIES AT SCHOOL ACT; AND TO ALLOW SCHOOLS TO PERMIT EMPLOYEES WHO … | Vaught | Recommended for study in the Interim by the … |
|
HB1755
· 2 mentions in chapter, agenda
Matched: “HB1755 T. Shephard TO REQUIRE EACH PUBLIC SCHOOL TO PARTICIPATE IN…”
|
TO REQUIRE EACH PUBLIC SCHOOL TO PARTICIPATE IN THE ARKANSAS PREVENTION NEEDS ASSESSMENT SURVEY. | T. Shephard | Died in House Committee at Sine Die adjournment. |
|
HB1761
· 2 mentions in chapter, agenda
Matched: “HB1761 D. Garner TO INCREASE FISCAL RESPONSIBILITY THROUGH THE EST…”
|
TO INCREASE FISCAL RESPONSIBILITY THROUGH THE ESTABLISHMENT OF INCOME LIMITS FOR STUDENTS ELIGIBLE FOR EDUCATIONAL … | D. Garner | Died in House Committee at Sine Die adjournment. |
|
HB1766
Act 907
· 2 mentions in chapter, agenda
Matched: “HB1766 Ennett TO CREATE THE ARKANSAS RESPOND, INNOVATE, SUCCEED, A…”
|
TO CREATE THE ARKANSAS RESPOND, INNOVATE, SUCCEED, AND EMPOWER (RISE) ACT. | Ennett | Notification that HB1766 is now Act 907 |
|
HB1793
Act 804
· 2 mentions in chapter, agenda
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 |
|
HB1806
· 2 mentions in agenda, chapter
Matched: “…MITISM IN STATE-SUPPORTED INSTITUTIONS OF HIGHER EDUCATION. HB1806 Vaught TO PROVIDE CURRICULUM TRANSPARENCY FOR PARENTS OF KI…”
|
TO PROVIDE CURRICULUM TRANSPARENCY FOR PARENTS OF KINDERGARTEN THROUGH GRADE TWELVE STUDENTS; AND TO ALLOW … | Vaught | Died in Senate Committee at Sine Die adjournment. |
|
HB1825
· 2 mentions in chapter, agenda
Matched: “HB1825 Wooldridge TO ALLOW A PUBLIC HIGH SCHOOL TO REQUIRE AN ENRO…”
|
TO ALLOW A PUBLIC HIGH SCHOOL TO REQUIRE AN ENROLLED STUDENT TO EARN ONE UNIT … | Wooldridge | Recommended for study in the Interim by the … |
|
HB1864
· 2 mentions in agenda, chapter
Matched: “…T OF SELECTED LIBRARY MEDIA MATERIALS FOR HIS OR HER CHILD. HB1864 Andrews TO AMEND PROVISIONS OF THE ARKANSAS CODE TO IMPROVE…”
|
TO AMEND PROVISIONS OF THE ARKANSAS CODE TO IMPROVE EFFICIENCY IN STUDENT INSTRUCTION; AND TO … | Andrews | Recommended for study in the Interim by the … |
|
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 |
|
HB1874
Act 795
· 2 mentions in chapter, agenda
Matched: “HB1874 B. McKenzie AN ACT TO AMEND THE USE OF PROFESSIONAL DEVELOP…”
|
AN ACT TO AMEND THE USE OF PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT FUNDING THAT EXCEEDS THE MAXIMUM AMOUNT … | B. McKenzie | Notification that HB1874 is now Act 795 |
|
HB1903
Act 911
· 2 mentions in agenda, chapter
Matched: “…CATION TO INCLUDE CHIROPRACTORS OR CHIROPRACTIC PHYSICIANS. HB1903 Walker TO AMEND PROVISIONS OF THE ARKANSAS CODE TO PROVIDE…”
|
TO AMEND PROVISIONS OF THE ARKANSAS CODE TO PROVIDE SCHOOL DISTRICTS WITH FLEXIBILITY REGARDING ALTERNATIVE … | Walker | Notification that HB1903 is now Act 911 |
|
HB1919
· 2 mentions in agenda, chapter
Matched: “…TH FLEXIBILITY REGARDING ALTERNATIVE LEARNING ENVIRONMENTS. HB1919 McAlindon TO CREATE THE PUBLIC SCHOOL ACCESS AND TRANSPAREN…”
|
TO CREATE THE PUBLIC SCHOOL ACCESS AND TRANSPARENCY ACT; AND TO REQUIRE PUBLIC ACCESS TO … | McAlindon | Died in Senate Committee at Sine Die adjournment. |
|
HB1924
· 2 mentions in agenda, chapter
Matched: “…CY ACT; AND TO REQUIRE PUBLIC ACCESS TO LEARNING MATERIALS. HB1924 Puryear TO REPEAL THE REQUIREMENT THAT THE STATE BOARD OF E…”
|
TO REPEAL THE REQUIREMENT THAT THE STATE BOARD OF EDUCATION ESTABLISH RULES REGARDING THE IMPLEMENTATION … | Puryear | Died in House Committee at Sine Die adjournment. |
|
HB1933
Act 912
· 2 mentions in chapter, agenda
Matched: “HB1933 McCollum TO AMEND THE LAW CONCERNING A SCHOOL DISTRICT BOAR…”
|
TO AMEND THE LAW CONCERNING A SCHOOL DISTRICT BOARD OF DIRECTORS; AND TO CREATE A … | McCollum | Notification that HB1933 is now Act 912 |
|
HB1938
Act 807
· 2 mentions in agenda, chapter
Matched: “…MOVAL FOR A MEMBER OF A SCHOOL DISTRICT BOARD OF DIRECTORS. 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 |
|
HB1940
· 2 mentions in chapter, agenda
Matched: “HB1940 Walker TO ESTABLISH THE REQUIREMENTS FOR A PUBLIC SCHOOL DI…”
|
TO ESTABLISH THE REQUIREMENTS FOR A PUBLIC SCHOOL DISTRICT THAT INITIATES AND MAINTAINS A FOUR-DAY … | Walker | Died in House Committee at Sine Die adjournment. |
|
HB1941
Act 809
· 2 mentions in chapter, agenda
Matched: “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 |
|
HB1945
Act 913
· 2 mentions in agenda, chapter
Matched: “…FFICIENT DISPOSITION OF ETHICS COMPLAINTS AGAINST TEACHERS. HB1945 McCollum TO AMEND THE ARKANSAS OPPORTUNITY PUBLIC SCHOOL CH…”
|
TO AMEND THE ARKANSAS OPPORTUNITY PUBLIC SCHOOL CHOICE ACT; TO AMEND THE PUBLIC SCHOOL CHOICE … | McCollum | Notification that HB1945 is now Act 913 |
|
SB352
Act 721
· 2 mentions in agenda, chapter
Matched: “…OF POSITIVE BEHAVIORAL SUPPORTS IN PUBLIC SCHOOL DISTRICTS. SB352 Stone TO PROHIBIT ANTISEMITISM IN PUBLIC ELEMENTARY AND SEC…”
|
TO PROHIBIT ANTISEMITISM IN PUBLIC ELEMENTARY AND SECONDARY SCHOOLS; AND TO PROHIBIT ANTISEMITISM IN STATE-SUPPORTED … | Stone | Notification that SB352 is now Act 721 |
|
SB373
· 2 mentions in agenda, chapter
Matched: “…ED TO EMPLOYEE ORGANIZATIONS AND PROFESSIONAL ASSOCIATIONS. SB373 Irvin TO AMEND THE ARKANSAS FINANCIAL EDUCATION COMMISSION.…”
|
TO AMEND THE ARKANSAS FINANCIAL EDUCATION COMMISSION. | Irvin | Died in House Committee at Sine Die adjournment. |
|
SB390
Act 695
· 2 mentions in agenda, chapter
Matched: “…Irvin TO AMEND THE ARKANSAS FINANCIAL EDUCATION COMMISSION. SB390 J. English TO ESTABLISH THE STATE APPRENTICESHIP AGENCY ACT…”
|
TO ESTABLISH THE STATE APPRENTICESHIP AGENCY ACT. | J. English | Notification that SB390 is now Act 695 |
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SB402
Act 725
· 2 mentions in chapter, agenda
Matched: “SB402 C. Penzo TO PROHIBIT A PUBLIC SCHOOL DISTRICT AND AN EDUCAT…”
|
TO PROHIBIT A PUBLIC SCHOOL DISTRICT AND AN EDUCATIONAL SERVICE COOPERATIVE FROM REQUIRING OR TAKING … | C. Penzo | Notification that SB402 is now Act 725 |
|
SB425
Act 722
· 2 mentions in chapter, agenda
Matched: “SB425 J. English TO AMEND VARIOUS PROVISIONS OF THE ARKANSAS CODE…”
|
TO AMEND VARIOUS PROVISIONS OF THE ARKANSAS CODE CONCERNING ENHANCED TRANSPORTATION; AND TO DECLARE AN … | J. English | Notification that SB425 is now Act 722 |
|
SB470
Act 646
· 2 mentions in chapter, agenda
Matched: “SB470 J. Dotson TO REQUIRE AN ADULT APPROVED TO OVERSEE THE ADMIN…”
|
TO REQUIRE AN ADULT APPROVED TO OVERSEE THE ADMINISTRATION OF A STATEWIDE STUDENT ASSESSMENT TO … | J. Dotson | Notification that SB470 is now Act 646 |
|
SB515
Act 647
· 2 mentions in agenda, chapter
Matched: “…STUDENTS IN A VIRTUAL SETTING TO MEET CERTAIN REQUIREMENTS. SB515 J. Petty TO REQUIRE THAT A UNIT DEDICATED TO ARKANSAS VETER…”
|
TO REQUIRE THAT A UNIT DEDICATED TO ARKANSAS VETERANS AND THEIR FAMILIES BE INCLUDED WITHIN … | J. Petty | Notification that SB515 is now Act 647 |
|
SB522
Act 648
· 2 mentions in chapter, agenda
Matched: “SB522 M. McKee TO AMEND THE LAW REGARDING THE ARKANSAS SCHOOL FOR…”
|
TO AMEND THE LAW REGARDING THE ARKANSAS SCHOOL FOR MATHEMATICS, SCIENCES, AND THE ARTS; AND … | M. McKee | Notification that SB522 is now Act 648 |
|
SB547
Act 728
· 2 mentions in agenda, chapter
Matched: “…OLLS, FEES, AND OTHER CHARGES RELATED TO ATHLETIC CONTESTS. SB547 D. Sullivan TO REPEAL THE REQUIREMENT THAT A HOMESCHOOLED S…”
|
TO REPEAL THE REQUIREMENT THAT A HOMESCHOOLED STUDENT LIVE WITHIN A CERTAIN RADIUS OF A … | D. Sullivan | Notification that SB547 is now Act 728 |
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HB1020
· 1 mention in agenda
Matched: “…YPES OF ASSESSMENTS PUBLIC SCHOOLS MAY PROVIDE TO STUDENTS. HB1020 A. Collins TO REPEAL THE ARKANSAS CHILDREN'S EDUCATIONAL FR…”
|
TO REPEAL THE ARKANSAS CHILDREN'S EDUCATIONAL FREEDOM ACCOUNT PROGRAM; TO CREATE A NEW EDUCATION FUNDING … | A. Collins | Died in House Committee at Sine Die adjournment. |
|
HB1023
· 1 mention in agenda
Matched: “…PUBLIC SCHOOLS AND OPEN-ENROLLMENT PUBLIC CHARTER SCHOOLS. HB1023 A. Collins TO AMEND THE STATE TEACHER EDUCATION PROGRAM; AN…”
|
TO AMEND THE STATE TEACHER EDUCATION PROGRAM; AND TO AMEND THE ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS FOR LOAN … | A. Collins | Died in House Committee at Sine Die adjournment. |
|
HB1025
· 1 mention in agenda
Matched: “…EPAYMENT AMOUNTS UNDER THE STATE TEACHER EDUCATION PROGRAM. HB1025 McGruder TO CREATE THE TEACHER FAIR DISMISSAL ACT OF 2025.…”
|
TO CREATE THE TEACHER FAIR DISMISSAL ACT OF 2025. | McGruder | Died in House Committee at Sine Die adjournment. |
|
HB1027
· 1 mention in agenda
Matched: “…ARDS REVISION CYCLE. DEFERRED BILLS Number Sponsor Subtitle HB1027 D. Garner TO CREATE THE BRIGHTER START ACT OF 2025; AND TO…”
|
TO CREATE THE BRIGHTER START ACT OF 2025; AND TO REQUIRE THE TREASURER OF STATE … | D. Garner | Died in House Committee at Sine Die adjournment. |
|
HB1030
· 1 mention in agenda
Matched: “…TING AND FUTURE ARKANSAS BRIGHTER FUTURE FUND PLAN ACCOUNT. HB1030 T. Shephard TO REQUIRE A SCHOOL RESOURCE OFFICER OR LAW ENF…”
|
TO REQUIRE A SCHOOL RESOURCE OFFICER OR LAW ENFORCEMENT PERSONNEL TO OBTAIN CERTIFICATION IN YOUTH … | T. Shephard | Died in House Committee at Sine Die adjournment. |
|
HB1031
· 1 mention in agenda
Matched: “…OUNSELOR TO RECEIVE YOUTH MENTAL HEALTH FIRST AID TRAINING. HB1031 D. Garner TO CREATE THE ARKANSAS HEALTHY LIFESTYLE EDUCATIO…”
|
TO CREATE THE ARKANSAS HEALTHY LIFESTYLE EDUCATION ACT OF 2025; AND TO ENSURE THE HEALTH … | D. Garner | Died in House Committee at Sine Die adjournment. |
|
HB1081
· 1 mention in chapter
Matched: “HB1081 B. McKenzie TO REPEAL ADDITIONAL FUNDING FOR THE DEVELOPMEN…”
|
TO REPEAL ADDITIONAL FUNDING FOR THE DEVELOPMENT AND ADMINISTRATION OF PROFESSIONAL LEARNING COMMUNITIES. | B. McKenzie | WITHDRAWN BY AUTHOR |
|
HB1144
· 1 mention in agenda
Matched: “…McGruder TO CREATE THE TEACHER FAIR DISMISSAL ACT OF 2025. HB1144 Wooten TO REQUIRE A PARTICIPATING SCHOOL UNDER THE ARKANSAS…”
|
TO REQUIRE A PARTICIPATING SCHOOL UNDER THE ARKANSAS CHILDREN'S EDUCATIONAL FREEDOM ACCOUNT PROGRAM TO COMPLY … | Wooten | Died in House Committee at Sine Die adjournment. |
|
HB1197
· 1 mention in agenda
Matched: “…REPORTING REQUIREMENTS TO WHICH PUBLIC SCHOOLS ARE SUBJECT. HB1197 S. Meeks TO PROHIBIT SCHEDULING, HOSTING, OR REQUIRING AN O…”
|
TO PROHIBIT SCHEDULING, HOSTING, OR REQUIRING AN OUTDOOR PRACTICE, SCRIMMAGE, GAME, OR ACTIVITY FOR AN … | S. Meeks | Died in House Committee at Sine Die adjournment. |
|
HB1239
· 1 mention in agenda
Matched: “…IC SCHOOLS ADDRESSES CERTAIN HEALTH ISSUES FACING STUDENTS. HB1239 A. Collins TO AMEND THE PUBLIC SCHOOL FUNDING ACT OF 2003;…”
|
TO AMEND THE PUBLIC SCHOOL FUNDING ACT OF 2003; AND TO ADD AN ADDITIONAL CATEGORY … | A. Collins | Died in House Committee at Sine Die adjournment. |
|
HB1242
· 1 mention in agenda
Matched: “…DITIONAL CATEGORY OF FUNDING FOR SPECIAL EDUCATION FUNDING. HB1242 J. Mayberry TO AMEND THE MECHANISM BY WHICH SCHOOL NURSES A…”
|
TO AMEND THE MECHANISM BY WHICH SCHOOL NURSES ARE COMPENSATED. | J. Mayberry | Died in Senate Committee at Sine Die adjournment. |
|
HB1312
Act 909
· 1 mention in agenda
Matched: “…ENT DISTRICT. PENDING FISCAL IMPACT Number Sponsor Subtitle HB1312 Brooks TO AMEND PUBLIC SCHOOL FUNDING AMOUNTS UNDER THE PUB…”
|
TO AMEND PUBLIC SCHOOL FUNDING AMOUNTS UNDER THE PUBLIC SCHOOL FUNDING ACT OF 2003. | Brooks | Notification that HB1312 is now Act 909 |
|
HB1490
· 1 mention in agenda
Matched: “…ION CATEGORY OF FUNDING FOR SPECIAL EDUCATION. Page 4 of 5 HB1490 Wardlaw TO REPEAL THE REQUIREMENT THAT A PUBLIC SCHOOL STUD…”
|
TO REPEAL THE REQUIREMENT THAT A PUBLIC SCHOOL STUDENT RETURN TEMPORARILY ISSUED ITEMS, RESOURCES, MATERIALS, … | Wardlaw | Died in House Committee at Sine Die adjournment. |
|
HB1528
· 1 mention in agenda
Matched: “…AMEND THE MECHANISM BY WHICH SCHOOL NURSES ARE COMPENSATED. HB1528 McGruder TO REQUIRE A REPORT CARD TO INCLUDE A STUDENT'S CU…”
|
TO REQUIRE A REPORT CARD TO INCLUDE A STUDENT'S CURRENT READING GRADE LEVEL. | McGruder | Died in House Committee at Sine Die adjournment. |
|
HB1539
· 1 mention in agenda
Matched: “…RT CARD TO INCLUDE A STUDENT'S CURRENT READING GRADE LEVEL. HB1539 A. Collins TO AMEND THE PUBLIC SCHOOL FUNDING ACT OF 2003;…”
|
TO AMEND THE PUBLIC SCHOOL FUNDING ACT OF 2003; AND TO ADD AN ADDITIONAL EDUCATION … | A. Collins | Died in House Committee at Sine Die adjournment. |
|
HB1541
· 1 mention in agenda
Matched: “…THE HOURS WHEN AN EXCESSIVE HEAT WARNING HAS BEEN DECLARED. HB1541 Wooten TO REQUIRE A PRIVATE SCHOOL THAT ACCEPTS STATE FUNDI…”
|
TO REQUIRE A PRIVATE SCHOOL THAT ACCEPTS STATE FUNDING OF ANY TYPE TO PROVIDE TRANSPORTATION … | Wooten | Died in House Committee at Sine Die adjournment. |
|
HB1542
· 1 mention in agenda
Matched: “…TRANSPORTATION TO CERTAIN STUDENTS ENROLLED IN THE SCHOOL. HB1542 Wooten TO REQUIRE PRIVATE SCHOOLS TO ADMINISTER AN ANNUAL S…”
|
TO REQUIRE PRIVATE SCHOOLS TO ADMINISTER AN ANNUAL STATEWIDE STUDENT ASSESSMENT; AND TO REQUIRE PRIVATE … | Wooten | Died in House Committee at Sine Die adjournment. |
|
HB1642
Act 916
· 1 mention in chapter
Matched: “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 |
|
HB1756
Act 803
· 1 mention in agenda
Matched: “…UNDING AMOUNTS UNDER THE PUBLIC SCHOOL FUNDING ACT OF 2003. 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 |
|
HB1946
· 1 mention in agenda
Matched: “…D MAINTAIN THE COMMUNITY SERVICE HOURS THE STUDENT OBTAINS. 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. |
|
HB1962
· 1 mention in agenda
Matched: “…HUMAN GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT INSTRUCTION IN PUBLIC SCHOOLS. HB1962 Vaught TO PROHIBIT A SCHOOL FROM SERVING OR SELLING ULTRA-P…”
|
TO PROHIBIT A SCHOOL FROM SERVING OR SELLING ULTRA-PROCESSED FOOD ON THE SCHOOL CAMPUS DURING … | Vaught | Recommended for study in the Interim by the … |
|
HB1966
Act 914
· 1 mention in agenda
Matched: “…SED FOOD ON THE SCHOOL CAMPUS DURING THE NORMAL SCHOOL DAY. HB1966 Barnett TO AUTHORIZE AN INCORPORATED TOWN OR A CITY OF THE…”
|
TO AUTHORIZE AN INCORPORATED TOWN OR A CITY OF THE SECOND CLASS TO PETITION THE … | Barnett | Notification that HB1966 is now Act 914 |
|
SB183
Act 724
· 1 mention in agenda
Matched: “…Y AT THE RESIDENT SCHOOL DISTRICT UNDER CERTAIN CONDITIONS. SB183 J. Dotson TO AMEND THE UNIVERSAL ACT ASSESSMENT PROGRAM ACT…”
|
TO AMEND THE UNIVERSAL ACT ASSESSMENT PROGRAM ACT; AND TO AMEND THE TYPES OF ASSESSMENTS … | J. Dotson | Notification that SB183 is now Act 724 |
|
SB303
Act 644
· 1 mention in agenda
Matched: “…SCHOOL IN ORDER TO BE ELIGIBLE TO ENROLL IN A HOME SCHOOL. SB303 Dees TO ALLOW A RESIDENT SCHOOL DISTRICT TO PERMIT A PRIVAT…”
|
TO ALLOW A RESIDENT SCHOOL DISTRICT TO PERMIT A PRIVATE SCHOOL STUDENT TO PARTICIPATE IN … | Dees | Notification that SB303 is now Act 644 |
|
SB450
Act 915
· 1 mention in agenda
Matched: “…ENTARY SCHOOL OR SATELLITE SCHOOL UNDER CERTAIN CONDITIONS. SB450 B. Davis TO REQUIRE THE DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION TO INCLUDE…”
|
TO REQUIRE THE DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION TO INCLUDE A HUMAN FETAL GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT DISCUSSION … | B. Davis | Notification that SB450 is now Act 915 |
|
SB467
Act 645
· 1 mention in chapter
Matched: “SB467 C. Penzo TO MODIFY THE DEFINITION OF "HEALTHCARE PROVIDER"…”
|
TO MODIFY THE DEFINITION OF "HEALTHCARE PROVIDER" REGARDING STUDENT ATHLETE CONCUSSION EDUCATION TO INCLUDE CHIROPRACTORS … | C. Penzo | Notification that SB467 is now Act 645 |
|
SB90
Act 902
· 1 mention in chapter
Matched: “SB90 J. English TO REQUIRE MEMBERS OF THE PUBLIC TO BE AFFORDED…”
|
TO REQUIRE MEMBERS OF THE PUBLIC TO BE AFFORDED THE OPPORTUNITY TO PRESENT PUBLIC COMMENT … | J. English | Notification that SB90 is now Act 902 |
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- Processing date
- October 2, 2026
Good morning. Really, yes. Good morning members, uh, good morning guests. Welcome to House Ed on a rainy Thursday. Hopefully everybody's well after the storms last night, uh, if you would please
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stand with me and we're representative Cozart to start us in prayer, if you would please remember folks who are impacted by the storms.
The grips members, as you see, we have a very full agenda. We're gonna try to prioritize house bills
as much as possible this morning to to run through those quickly, uh, which I know can be somewhat of an oxymoron in our committee, uh, but we're gonna do our best, um, I anticipate that we'll be here for a very long time. That's why we started early. Anticipate will be here till probably 12:30ish, at least to try to knock some of these out. We'll also, we, we'll do our best to be accommodating of members who are running bills and other committees.
running other committees to make sure that we get their bills in and out. So without objection, the first order of business is gonna be uh Representative Dalby, uh, with the Senate bill, then we're going to hear. Um We're going to hear representative Childersville and then uh after that represent Mayberry. So these 1st 3, 1st 3 on the docket this morning, uh,
and so Representative Dalway, if you would please introduce yourself for the record and you're recognized. Thank you, Mr. Chair. Carol Doby, District
Representative Carol Dalby
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100. Uh, I am the house sponsor on Senate Bill 545 Senate Bill 545. So it's really a very simple bill. All this bill is doing is updating a 75 year old law that allowed higher ed institutions to find. um, Building projects and to buy land. What this is doing is this is going to allow them to, uh, finance other needs other than construction and purchase of real estate, all the safeguards that are in the law now in
regard to issuing a bond to remain in place. higher ed institutions still have to get all the approval. There still has to be the feasibility, all of that, and with that. I'll take any
questions. Are there questions about the committee? Representative Duke, it's a surprise, but I'll let
Representative Carol Dalby
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you go ahead and ask a question. Repent Duke, remember you're appearing in my committee next week. I I'm gonna be very kind, just, just a slight reminder.
Representative Hope Duke
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Thank you, Mr. Chair, and uh thank you, Representative um Dalby, and I think if you, there
may be a reason why I asked Representative Richardson to run that bill for me next week. Just joking. We'll find out. I'm just joking. No, I just had a quick question because I read in section 3 about the
rents tolls, fees. And what I didn't hear what I'm sorry, on page 2 and section 3, when we talked about the rents, tolls and fees, and it talks about activity fees, have the universities just said anything about are they going to look at raising student activity fees. I mean,
Representative Carol Dalby
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I know that's possible in this, it's always possible, but no, I mean in that language is
not changing, that's, that's in the law now, none of this is changing, so nobody's indicated to me, but as we all know, higher ed has to look at all of that, but that's not an an. ip ation for this bill. OK, and thank you very much for that. And
Representative Hope Duke
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the main reason why I was asking that is I wouldn't you agree that it would always be nice to
not have that some of that burden go to our students on activity fees if possible, always. Thank you very much. Are there additional questions
about the committee? Seeing none, we have no one signed up to speak for or against this
Representative Carol Dalby
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bill. Representative Dalby, would you like to close for your bill? from bill and ask
for a motion to pass. We have a motion to pass from Representative Volt is there any discussion on that motion? I see no discussion all in favor say aye I post. Congratulations, Representative Dalby. You've passed your bill. Thank you, Mr. Chair. Thank you, members of the committee. Uh, members, uh, another notice scheduling so you can mark off uh HB 1727 from Representative Johnson. Uh, he has pulled that bill, not gonna be running it, uh, so just letting you know that uh now without objection we're going to move to the 2nd
page of the calendar to uh representative Childers for HB 1805 represent Childers, you are, uh, recognize if you would please introduce yourself and Paul Childers State Rep District
Representative Paul Childress
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83. Uh, thank you, Mr. Chairman, and with permission, I would ask Jeremy, uh, Laster, the attorney for the Bright School District, to
join me at the table. Mr. Laster, if you would please, uh, join represent Childers and introduce yourself for the record, please. Morning, Mr.
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Chair, members of the committee, I'm Jeremy Lasser with Bryant Public Schools.
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Mr. Chair, uh, House Bill 1805. What we've done
Representative Paul Childress
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on this bill is we've came in and tried to define bullying, add to a couple of lines on page 2 at the top. We actually added 3 lines to kind of help with the definition of bullying. The other thing this bill does, and I've seen it firsthand as a school board member where we would have investigations and these days when investigations occur, there we to do them right, we have actually hired
law firms to do our investigations at school districts. Well, when they start an investigation. This, this bill will allow them if they detect on a bullying bill or bullying investigation. Currently, what they'll do once they get the bullying, they'll say, hey, there could be a Title 9 violation also, so to prevent there being a conflict, we will at that point in time hire another firm to do another investigation on the Title IX. What this bill would do would allow the one investigation to encompass.
Multiple incidents, a bullying incident that led into a Title 9, and you could also that same investigation could deal with the Title 9 issue and do a report. It just kind of helps school districts save money. Because I at Biton, what we do is we, we, it's so important to get these things right. We, we do hire firms to have investigators or attorneys and they're very expensive to do that. So we want to be good stewards of taxpayers' money and I'll let Mr. Jeremy, uh, talk a little bit about their concerns and what they're seeing in
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Bryant to help generate this bill, Mr. Chair, members of the committee, I think Representative Childers did a good job in explaining the bill. Uh, we have a very strong anti-bullying law on the books right now. It's good for students, it's good for teachers, uh, but what we're asking you to do two minor changes to the law. One is to clarify the definition that helps us better understand and be able to communicate to parents and students what constitutes bullying and what doesn't. And then the second thing is Representative Childers mentioned is that sometimes when we get into bullying, uh, we realize that we have another issue on our hands. It must be
investigated under another state or federal law, uh, when that happens we're just asking to be able to roll the bullying investigation into that investigation so that we
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don't have to have multiple investigations where we're interviewing witnesses and victims multiple times. I'm happy to answer
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any questions that you might have. Vice Chairman McKenzie, you recognize for a
question, um. I'm not, you're an attorney? Yes, sir. OK. Um, I'm not. This is not. bullying by definition in the state of Arkansas, the language
you're adding is it's intent or perceived intent of bullying. Um Involves an actual or reasonably perceived power imbalance. Can, without defining it in the in the code section above, can you define for me today reasonably perceived
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power imbalance. Just what you might remember from elementary school, you've got a bigger kid and a smaller kid, and one's bigger and
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stronger, picking on a kid just because they can. And if you would let me address that particular definition so we consulted the department on the definition and that particular phrase and some of these other
phrases come from, uh, the United States Department of Health and Human Services as well. There's a stop bullying.gov website uh that people go to, uh, this allows us to, um, be sure and, and kind of track that. We don't want to be confusing to parents. We don't want to be confusing to students
and sometimes we find that that's the case. Um, that's great that you found it on a website. Was the website intended for model legislation to change the definition of bullying and in other
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states. Well, it was not model legislation, no, sir, uh, but it
was from the US government, um, continuing, uh, we have a pretty strong definition like you, I'm gonna read it to everybody in the committee. I don't know if they know it yet, but bullying means the intentional harassment, intimidation, humiliation, ridicule, defamation or threat or incitement of violence by a student against another student or public school employee by a written verbal electronic or physical. Act. How
is that not all encompassing enough? To get what you're desired outcome is
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and you're right, that is all encompassing and that can be part of the problem, uh, so that when we have a broad definition like that and and that part of the definition
remains as you can see in the legislation. Uh, when we have a broad definition like that without any other qualifiers. What happens is is it's very difficult to determine what
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is, is this going to be bullying or is this something that's addressed in another section of
the, of the interrupt, that's for a judge to decide. We've given
the, we have a definition here. We have a definition here that that's again very all-encompassing. What you're now at like lumping
in is intent or perceived intent of bullying and I think you know, anyone that you think may be bullying, you could take them through disciplinary action, either whoever your objectors are, your arbitrators and say, here's the definition. How does that, is there, am I missing something, is there like a underlying
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problem, um, there is, and this, this definition doesn't necessarily go in front of a judge. It goes to uh school administrators, you have to make a call on the spot about whether something constitutes bullying and does not. And so if something constitutes bullying
later on in the law, there's a 5 day turnaround period for being able to Uh, to, to do a written report, talk to all the parents, uh, what this definition would allow them to do is be able to use as a checklist. The part of the definition that you mentioned would still be there, uh, but it also involves an actual or perceived power imbalance is repeated or a high likelihood of repetition and causes or creates an actual or reasonably foreseeable and then you have other uh parts that remain in the law, uh, from the prior definition and so what are the
issue that we're trying to address here is trying to cool down. And be able to clearly identify for folks what constitutes bullying, what may constitute misconduct, it would have to be addressed under other uh parts of the student handbook, uh, and to make it uh easier to communicate to parents and students and also be easier for administrators to see uh what those differences are. Represent fault
Chair
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you're recognized for a question. Answer your question. Represent Beck, he recognized for a
Representative Rick Beck
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question. Thank you, Mr. Chair. And I, I
read this earlier and I had a little problem with that. Reasonable perceived power imbalance, and, but I, I, I justified myself with it, but something that you just said kind of got me back on the other side of the fence now. You said, well, you know, kids are some kids are larger than other kids. So, I cut in line, uh, in front of somebody. Is that bullying? I'm bigger. That's
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part of the component. So then we'd have to look at
Representative Rick Beck
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the other pieces, but here's my point though. So,
so now, uh, someone that just happens to be a larger student. gets cut in line, I guess, and
all that stuff all the time, but now he sees a smaller individual do it. It's OK for that person to do it. It's not OK for the person that's larger to do
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it. Because just because of their size. I, I think if you look, you'd have to look at the other parts of the definition too, so that's only just one piece. You'd have to look separately at is this a repeated or has a high likelihood of repetition and then does it cause or create an actual reasonably foreseeable physical harm, uh, substantial
interference with the educational environment or hostile education environment. I think what you speak to is the problem that we see, so, uh, using your example, if a student who is bigger just cuts in line, uh, are we gonna do a bullying investigation? And just for that, uh, we think that this law would not require that. Now we would not address that under other parts of the student handbook, uh,
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but we wouldn't address that as a bullying incident unless it met all of those other components of the
Representative Rick Beck
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definition. And, and, and I'm, I'm just trying to
get it right with myself so. A, a parent comes forward and says, Johnny, who's bigger than And my daughter, right? Cut line in front of her. He is bullying her. OK, and it meets this perceived imbalance thing, uh, so now how walk me through the logistics how you would, OK, I'm, I'm sorry, Johnny was just fine. He's just doing
what kids normally do. How, how would you go with that? How would you get
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to that point? So if it's just a one-time event of a
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larger kid cutting a line in front of a smaller kid. That's what we're trying to avoid in terms of, of constituting bullying. So what we would do is we'd sit down with the parent, we would show them this definition of bullying and say, yes, there is that part about the power imbalance, but What we don't see are these other components of bullying and so we're not going to investigate this under bullying, but we will address this in another way. So that that's what we're trying to avoid. Thank
Representative Hope Duke
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you. Representative Duke, you're recognized for a question. Thank you, Mr. Chair. Um, thank you
all for bringing this bill. I appreciate your work on this. My question, quick question, and I'm apologize if I missed it whenever
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you were testifying earlier, who all worked on this together on this bill. We consulted the Department of Education, the Bryant School District consulted the Department of Education on this brought the issue of, you know, for instance, I can give you the statistics, you know, we had 74 allegations of bullying in one year, you know, we have 36 weeks of school. A lot of those were not substantiated because they just didn't meet the definition of bullying. So what we were trying
to do, and I think is help parents help administrators and students have a better idea of what constituted bullying. We worked with the department, they in turn helped us with uh language on how to better, um, put a definition in there that would help, uh, that was more consistent with what the uh bullying definition is, you know, nationally, uh, without unnecessarily, you know, destroying what we already had, so we did work with the department on
Representative Hope Duke
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this bill, ma'am. Did you work with any other School district superintendents,
other parts of the state, have other people besides your school district and the department looked at it and being a part of this. I
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know that our superintendent has shared it with other school districts to, to and as, as
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is common, uh, to, to find out, you know, if they were seeing some of the same issues. I don't want to speak for her, but I, I believe that she found that
Representative Hope Duke
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they were. I don't, I mean, I, I don't question some of the issues and there's pieces of pieces of it at the end of it, I kind of understand where you're coming from. I just was curious.
What's driving this and, um, How is it going to look and play out everywhere if the if the support is wide wide range for these changes or if it's just kind of localized. So if you could Wouldn't mind explaining that a little
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bit, that would be great, and thank you very much and I've spoken with some of uh my uh attorney colleagues who represent school districts around the state too. The issue that we have is that right now the definition is good, but it is McKenzie pointed out earlier, it's a very broad one, and so a lot of times it's difficult for
our administrators to know and to be able to communicate to parents, OK, this is something that constitutes bullying that would require a 5-day investigation and a written report and we would get back to you as opposed. To these are some of the things the misconduct that we could deal with on the spot, address, and so what we're hoping to do with this definition is to make it clearer uh as to what constitutes bullying as opposed to what may be a violation of just misconduct in other parts of the student handbook.
Representative Hope Duke
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Why does this, oh sorry. Why Can they not do this on their
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local level as opposed to doing this statewide? Well, the problem is we do have to make those calls locally anyway, uh, as to whether there's something constitutes bullying or not. The problem is that it can get confusing under the current definition. It's it can get confusing to communicate to parents. You can get can be uh confusing to communicate to students at times, uh. Where a parent or a student or an administrator might think something is bullying sometimes, it, it does not fall into that definition, and it can be hard to determine. We're really just
trying to outline a bright line, uh definition for them to follow, much like a checklist so that they would know
Chair
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uh what constitutes bullying and what does not. Give
Representative Stephen Meeks
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additional follow up representative represent you recognize. Thank you, Mr. Chair. I know we're kind of in the weeds on the definition of bullying, but if I understand correctly, a a student can't be disciplined until all the investigations are closed. Would that be a correct statement?
Yes, ma'am. And that is really what you're trying to do here. Just get it where you don't have so many investigations going on on one student and get to the point of where you can discipline. Is that correct? That's correct, yes ma'am.
Representative Rick Beck
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Thank you. Represent Beck you recognize her question. Thank you. In I apologize because you said something else that kind of trips something. So, You're working with the department on that. I appreciate that. But then and I thought back to your answer to my questions as well in our
handbook. you know, it would. The balance in power thing again it would we would go back, so. But your hand, could your handbook or would your handbook be different than other school districts' handbooks and therefore have different meaning as far as this is concerned. You, you, you follow what I'm saying? Like, like, uh, there could be a confusion factor related to, well, this school's saying this is bullying and this school, it seems like we really
ought to have the department say this is bullying and that's it and you don't add or take away from it
because if, if you don't, we're gonna have a whole lot of different Perceptions of what bullying is, and that could create
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confusion if a child went to a different school district. Yes sir, and uh to maybe address your question, uh, You have as a general assembly established what the definition of bullying is statewide, so there should not be um any changes from district to district uh on what bullying is, and that would be the case too if you pass this legislation, this would become the definition
of bullying that's included in all handbooks uh around the state. They can, where I mentioned the other parts of the student handbook are those things that fall outside of bullying. So when your case of the larger student just pushing the smaller student out of line and it's just a, a one-time incident that it doesn't meet the other components of the definition of bullying. We might have an administrator or a teacher just deal with that on the spot, uh, to correct that behavior, um, but it would not fall under the definition of bullying that you would have said that would require a 5 day investigation
report, things of that nature. Thank you. by Sha McKenzie, recognize for a
question. Yeah, of course It's been a light season for you, so I wanna make sure we're getting you at the table, Dr. Hernandez, if you would please introduce yourself for the record and you're recognized too. The end of the gauntlet. Uh, Mike Hernandez executive,
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uh, executive director of the Arkansas Association of
Educational Administrators. Thank you for coming. I apologize just calling you out of the blue like this, but following up on Representative Duke's questions.
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I'm guessing you've been consulted about this bill. We have, you know, we have a process where we've got committees, representatives from all over the
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state that come and review these bills, uh, that I believe we recently reviewed this bill and I know that overwhelmingly our membership chose to support this, um, I, I think much to what uh. Mr. Laster said is it it's trying to clean up some language
and give clear guidance for both parents and administrators. Uh, I know that's always a a wonky kind of thing when you're talking about bullying and it's very passionate emotional issue sometimes with schools, uh, but I think we believe this is kind of a do right type thing to try to, you know, mitigate some of the things where there's an overabundance of time spent on this and each important issue is important, but this, this does seem to streamline the process a little more. Was there
a vote in your committee that is that how that works? It's like a vote of, hey, this is the proposed legislation, hands up, OK, we're supportive of it. Yes sir. OK,
and so had this been a concern that you had heard from your association that, hey, we're not getting the air cover we
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need with the bullying definition. So we do, um, I think going even back to the history of When some of the bullying legislation originated.
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I know there was a lot of concern about how to actually function and do this with all the different, you know, accusations of bullying and who determines, I mean, you see a lot of people calling things bullying and so it's always been something that's been talked about and so I know that this issue has has been
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brought up as a uh something that was wanting to be worked on and
so I think this is a result of that work. Thank you. That's all I just wanted to make sure because we, anytime we talk about
Representative Jessie McGruder
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other superintendents, I want to make sure we get a full picture. Oh wait, sorry. McGruder, you recognize for question. Thank you, Mr. Chair and Vice
Chair. Thank you, Mr. Hernandez for the work that you all do. Uh, I represent a small portion of uh the state District 35, and um, my question is, are there any
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Administrators from my area that are part of your organization. Uh, yes, sir, uh, Marian, West Memphis, uh, there's several folks that are from around that
Representative Jessie McGruder
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area in that zone that, uh. Work with us a lot. OK. Uh, what about some of the rural areas that represent Earl and uh
there are some other districts, um. That are also in Phillips County and Lee County, uh, where they are also a part of this uh discussion. They're, they're
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also part of the organization. I mean, we can't make everybody be
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there every time, but I know a lot of the discussion information gets shared with them. Uh, we do have representatives, uh, usually by co op and the greater Pulaski County area, um, and so we do have representatives from their regions too that go back and consult with them as well, um, specifically, uh, we've
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got some from those. Thank you Mr. Chair. Are there additional questions about the committee?
See none. We do not have anybody signed up to speak for or against this bill. Would anyone like to speak for or against the bill? Seeing non-represented children, would you like
Representative Paul Childress
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to close for your bill? Yes sir, I would. Both of the witnesses did a good job explaining. Uh, the bill way better than I did, so I appreciate them for being here and I would close and I'd appreciate a good vote and a do pass.
Represent Childers has explained the bill and closed for the bill. We have a motion on the table to do pass from Representative Vault. There's a discussion on that motion?
Shimkins of your thank you, Mr. Chair. I'm gonna have to be opposed just because, and it's not bullying apologists, this and it's a fine bill, and I think you're trying to do right, so are the
folks from Benton and Bryant, but um, Let's just think about this for a second. The the language that is not defined, and I know that lawyers will get in here and say, well, uh, reasonably perceived means x. OK, was that a Blackstone definition, is a common law definition. We don't do the work in the front of this bill to define that, but when we say reasonably perceived power
imbalance of or that can create a reasonably foreseeable hostile and educational environment. That's minority Report. That's saying, well, we're gonna start. We're going to start going after potential future crimes, potential future bullying, and it's just, I don't think the language is tight tight enough for us to lug in top of on top of as a bracket everything that defines the physical, ontological, metaphysical definitions of bullying. I just think it's going to create too broad of a definition because
reasonably perceived power imbalance can be that that boy getting knocked over in the, in the lunch line and Anytime someone, you know, 3 days beforehand, brushed into them. That's a reasonably perceived power imbalance. I just don't think it, it, it puts too much onus on um Words and definitions of of of of a legal nature that aren't clearly defined. So I would, I would ask people to also vote against.
Representative Bruce Cozart
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and codes are recognized for discussion. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
You know this may not be a perfect bill. We don't have a whole lot of them that are, uh, but I think it's a bill that will help. You know, I, I'm just gonna say we have a lot of kids that get bullied in ways we don't even see and we lose a lot of them and uh we just buried a girl in a cemetery as my family cemetery last year that. Just she finally gave in to the bullying. The hard way and so I want to stop it in any way we can. It's not a perfect bill if it doesn't work perfectly, we can come back
and fix that the next session, but let's let's give it a start to try to
Representative Justin Gonzales
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26:10
keep going and keep our kids bus. Is Gonzalez worthy you recognize. Thank you, Chair. I, I am also in favor of this bill because it does add language, um, if you will, additional checklist, um, when we're unsure if um to to clarify uh what bullying is and additional language to, to
help determine if bullying is occurring, and then also if it was just a one time thing, uh, one time incident, then, then the principal, um, or administrators, they. They handle that, they intervene, um, but I think that this, I think this is what's needed because bullying does occur in a lot of different places in the school and sometimes it's Reported even though the students know they can report it, um.
Some of them don't, and I think anything that we can do to protect our kids, um, further in the school environment, we need to do that. I vote yes. Thank
Representative Stephen Meeks
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you. and makes you recognized for discussion. Thank you Mr. Chair, just real short, you know, uh, we can, uh, bullying is definitely a problem, and we can, what if and all this to death, but at some point we've got to trust the people that we've put in charge of our kids, and that's what this is doing. This is allowing local control,
allowing common sense to prevail to try to take care of what is usually a very difficult issue, so I
appreciate you bringing the the the bill and would encourage it, yes. Purpose fault you're recognized for discussion. You're good. Awesome. Additional discussion, see none. What's the rule of committee all in favor, say I. All
opposed. Congratulations, Representative Childers, you passed your bill. Thank you, committee, Mr. Chair. Members without objection, uh, we'll move to HB 1283 with Representative Mayberry.
Epson Mayberry, if you would please introduce yourself for the record
Representative Julie Mayberry
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28:22
and you're recognized to present your bill. State Representative Julie Mayberry and I do have a handout that I had given y'all the other day. Hopefully it's still here.
My apologies, we do have an amendment on this. OK, I, I'm sorry, I, because we were gonna do this on Tuesday. And I had it and I left it and I should have reminded them to make sure that they had it so I'll. Get to that in just a second, um, I do have a guest with me as well, so I'll let her introduce. Ashley cookie and I'm here
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to represent school librarians across the state of Arkansas. Well, the, oh, sorry. Give us just a moment please.
So that's the handout's gonna have to come from the bureau,
Representative Julie Mayberry
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so it's gonna be a couple of minutes if you would want to go ahead and we'll go ahead and don't,
I don't wanna hold it up. I'll, I'll tell you what's in this. OK, this is from Excel and Ed, um, many of you may know Jeb Bush, chair of Excel and Ed. Um, and this just outlines some of the things that some other states are doing regarding media literacy in our schools, um, starts out by saying in 2021, a Stanford study found that fewer
than 1/10 of 1% of 2019 high school students correctly identified the true origin of a video on voter fraud filmed in Russia but falsely claimed to be from an American election. In the era of AI, students need skills to access online. information identify credible sources, protect their digital presence and make informed decisions to navigate the digital landscape responsibly. That's what I'm trying to address here. The bill that I have before you. Will help improve mental health
in our state and will help protect our students. We have in our hands all the time. One of the most powerful things anybody can hold. And it's this cell phone. We have so many things out there we're we're, we're telling people, you know, in our schools, you can't use your cell phone. Well, why? And then they're gonna go home. Our students are gonna go home and it's in their hands. And They're gonna go online, they're going to go on social media.
There's nothing you're going to do, and I realize a parent can add certain controls, but sometimes parents don't even know. And we need to educate our students that's part of our role in the world in which we live in, we've given them this power, yet we don't address it in our schools and give them the tools that they need to navigate it, and that's what this bill is starting to address. I do want
to tell you that there's another organization called Media Literacy Now and um according to them, there's 21 states that have comprehensive. illiteracy in their schools and there's 9 states pending legislation. I've worked with, um, Ashley Cooksey, um, on this bill, and I'm going to let her kind of share what you hope to be able to do with this bill. Thank you. Thank
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you for having me here today. Um, I saw this
bill post and it's nice when you can email a legislator and say thank you, I appreciate this bill, um, and I had emailed Representative Mayberry stating my appreciation, but finding a few um areas of the bill that I was concerned about. I emailed out to our um school library list serve that has approximately 500 school librarians as members and got the same feedback that I was feeling, so we worked together with a small group of school librarians across the state. Um, myself, another program director at a um at UCA that
also educates future school librarians in a master's program to add language to ensure that these standards would benefit our students with things that we were already doing. School librarians already teach some of this, but our standards are competency-based, so specific language is not necessarily present, and we want to add to that to make sure that that addresses media literacy, information literacy, and we can bring our students into a world where they
are competent users of information literacy. I also noticed, you know, the, the bell to bell no sell policy is great, and I think that cell phones do, um, cause some issues in our classrooms, but we also need to teach our students what to do once they leave our classroom and being able to identify what is um accurately produced and what is not as well as how to read some of that information. Our math standards say to that students should be able to read charts and graphs, but it doesn't say that it has
to be in a math tech. Facebook or on a math worksheet. So why not let them read the news or a locally published article that includes a chart or graph, a weather chart from social media to see the differences in it, um, and as I see several of you with iPads and computers and you know the information is presented differently on a laptop or computer device than it is on your phone. Do you know how many times I've resubscribed to Amazon Music because when I open it, that subscribe is right where my finger goes, and it's designed that way, right? Our
students need to be aware of some of these features and um something that I had taught our students is about zombie accounts of creating an account on an app and then deleting the app but not your information. So then you have the zombie account floating out there where all of your personal information is just hanging out. So some of these things I think can be addressed through um this legislation and adding these standards into already existing standards, um, if you'll notice there was a year on there the 26, 27, the school library standards were already set to be revised.
Representative Julie Mayberry
Unverified
34:31
in the 27th school year, so it's just moving it up one
year. And I, I would just also like to remind you that Our governor spoke to us. And shared with us a very heartbreaking story, um, about a family mom named Jenny. 16 year old son Mason. Who took his life. Because of TikTok.
I want to remind you that happened at home. And I think we need to give our students the tools that they need. To handle. What they're seeing, what they're reading. We don't address AI in much of our education and I think that's gonna really change our world to heading forward to know what's real, what's not, you know, it used to be you could tell if someone photoshopped something.
And now it's really hard to tell the difference, and we want to give them those tools to understand. We just passed a bill dealing with bullying. We know bullying is a big issue, and I believe that this is one other tool that we can make use of, um, to help our students deal with all of this. I'd be happy to take any questions.
Representative Matt Brown
Unverified
35:59
Represent Brown, you recognize for a question. Thank you, Mr. Chair. Um, Representative Mayberry, um, uh,
one of the other things that's going on on the Internet and I don't know if this legislation would address it, but maybe it could include some cautionary cautions for. Young people and young adults really, uh, I know that anybody can take a picture out of a yearbook. And um There's all kinds of apps now. You can just, I mean a ton of apps where you can manipulate photos and add different bodies to the face.
Uh, or whatever, um. And, and children are being bullied that way by having obscene pictures that look real of them posted on the internet. Um Could, is there anything in in the program that would tell children or young people don't send pictures of yourself that you wouldn't want to see on Facebook or or uh whatever those apps are that they use, I don't use them, but um, but they, they
use lots of apps, TikTok and what have you, and you know, if you
Representative Julie Mayberry
Unverified
37:12
don't want to see it there, don't send it to your boyfriend. That that's exactly what we're trying to address here. There's so many different applications,
but that is exactly one of them. Thank you. Other additional questions by
Representative Jessie McGruder
Unverified
37:29
members. Representative McGruder do you recognize? Thank you, uh, truly appreciate the work that was done on this legislation. Anytime anybody tries to come before this committee. I know it's a
difficult task, uh, but you being a librarian, this question is directed at you. Uh, I'm trying to get a better understanding of how this will look in the schools, uh, What, what do you visualize this being like on a, in a normal school day or,
Speaker 140
37:53
or you are presenting this. So currently, and that's actually addressed a little bit in the bill as well. Um, there is statute for most elementary schools are on a fixed schedule where every classroom comes into the library at some point in time throughout the week. Middle
school, junior high and high school, um, that tends to drop off a little bit as teachers are in their own content area in classroom with block scheduling, so this bill does add that the standards would be taught in collaboration with content area and classroom teachers so that teachers will work with the school librarian and embed some that and content that they're already doing, for example, the math that I gave you of, you know, your teaching charts and graphs, we can learn that content in the classroom, but let's also apply it to media literacy and show them what it looks like online, things that they'll see in news articles, social media posts, and things
like that. So I envision it as educators working with school librarians to ensure that the standards are embedded across curriculum rather than just a school librarian teaching it because we know as most of us have children, that when you learn it in one area and it's not taught somewhere. else it tends to stay in that one room. They don't transfer it across, so having this as collaborative standards and teaching across that I think will help our learners. Did I answer your question? Maybe sort of.
OK. So are there questions about the committee? Had a couple of questions myself, um, to
page. 2, page 2 of the bill, um, talking about media literacy, uh, ability to decode media messages. Um Assess the influence of media messages. I'm
trying to kind of think through how How we would teach that from a standards perspective because some of that can be very
subjective in terms of opinion, right? So I'm kind of trying to figure out how, how would we do that and may, maybe even bring somebody to the apartment because obviously they would be propagating rules for the standards, so I'll be, uh, that may be more of a question for them on if if. If there's somebody sorry and and you guys are just hanging out the back there today so far if you
would please uh recognize yourself. For the record, um, just try, trying to kind of, I'm trying to think through how we do that, um.
Speaker 167
40:13
A standard perspective. Sure, Jacob Oliva, Department of Education. So, um, I think we've heard as stated before, we have what
Speaker 169
40:21
we refer to as library media standards that cover kind of the K-12 spectrum. The standards are going to be due up for review, which we do as a state every few years. If this bill were to pass, we would have to take the language in. That's prescribed in this bill and add a component, I guess that would be under the digital
media standards and see if we can embed those into the existing library standards. I think the question you're asking and, and if I was to say, well may be helpful for implementation is um. There's some some vernacular definitions that I think could maybe be really hard to navigate towards your components. So like if, if I was to say, Um, like there's a. component on media literacy and then defining news literacy as a
subset of media literacy, like why can't we just have media literacy and then do we really need to define what that is and then start going to um the kind of task and component. If I was to Make suggestions or provide feedback. Some of it's really listed as K-12, and I wonder how K-12 specific digital uh media standards really need to be for kindergartners. I worry about conflicting messages around the definitions of digital wellness and the positive effects for
kindergartners. I think we've been kind of saying we want to keep these devices out of students' hands, but then we're going to teach students how to put them in their hands and use appropriately. I, I would like to see if we would just narrow the scope to. more middle or high school and say this is where we're, this is where we know it's a problem. I don't wanna start introducing these topics to kindergartners because we're required to from a K-12, even though it says it's age appropriate, we would still have to navigate how we're managing that that component. So, um, I, I think there's some
good definitions in here. I, you talked about the need of like how is artificial intelligence hitting classrooms and standardized some definitions, updating standards to be more reflective. of the challenges that Teachers and administrators and students are facing is a good idea. I may be a little bit less prescriptive and let the experts that are leading that define those definitions would be something that I, I probably. Thank you, Mr. Secretary, that,
that was kind of where I was going with it, with thinking about things like teaching
Representative Julie Mayberry
Unverified
42:53
news literacy to a 1st or 2nd grader. Well, first of all, ADE would have the option. This is, this is in your hands to promulgate these rules and that curriculum and, and the standards I should say, so, so it would go back to you all, um, I, I will say that I was open to any changes in this in any definitions. I, I did express that if there's
anything in here you want me to change this bill got filed quite some time ago and I said, if you to change anything in here. I, I, I was told of one specific wording, um, that they did not like and I went and I happily changed that, happy to make anything clearer, happy. Happy to help, but here
we are. It's been out there for a while, so.
Speaker 140
43:48
And if I could also the school library standards again are competency based, so what a kindergartner is able to do is going to be different than 3rd grader, 8th grader, etc. There is an existing um media standards framework that I just pulled up. It's um Teach Di sit, um, and for the enduring understanding, which would be the standard it's digital citizens have collective responsibility for ethical design, use, and regulation of new technologies. That's like a big, big thing to meet, right? But for kindergarten. that could look like describing
how tools and technologies make task easier or more efficient. For example, what technologies do you use at home that make your life easier, microwaves, lighting systems, you may have a blink camera or ring camera, that type of thing, but when we move up to 6th to 8th grade, it's looking at examining innovations through various ethical lenses like impact on environment, quality of life, human connection, and power. So
Speaker 179
44:47
it's that same standard but measured different competencies. Yeah.
Speaker 180
44:52
Some issues down there. We needed to teach someone how to use their, their, um, audio, turn their audio off. Wouldn't you
agree, Representative, that maybe we have a course for all of us
Representative Julie Mayberry
Unverified
45:09
I, I mean I, I, I will say that my hope is, is that the more education we can provide our students they can come teach us as
parents because we didn't grow up with these things and,
Representative Rick Beck
Unverified
45:30
and we don't know either, um, Beck you recognize for a question. Thank you. Uh, just a, a concern. I, I like what you're doing. It's, it's very important and, and probably everybody here knows someone who's Child has had a big problem with this and, and, and in, in some cases we've we've lost individuals as a result of this,
not knowing. So my concern, I, I, I I think like uh and I don't know 6th, 7th, 8, we, we have to really hammer it because that's where the social part of this thing comes in and, and that seems to be a real troublesome point, but, but I want to talk about the, the kindergarten part of this thing. I, I'm not opposed to it, but I, I do have a concern about, so everything that child, you know, you keep saying, well, when they get home they're gonna have it. Well, not all kids, right? Uh, some of
Representative Julie Mayberry
Unverified
46:24
them won't. So you don't think a kindergartner goes and grabs mom's phone or has an iPad and is
playing with it, walking through the grocery store, kids playing on the iPad to keep them, keep their attention. I think you'll like it if you let me finish. OK, so, and so
Representative Rick Beck
Unverified
46:43
my concern is that when we do it in the kindergarten, which I'm saying you should be doing it in the kindergarten, but you have to
make, we, we just make sure that the student who You know, doesn't have something at home to do this to make sure that we're training them with what they have the library has what they, what we want to teach them because not all students will have the same thing, exposure when they get home and it's important that they, they be able to do that. And I show that I see it's no physical impact. So, so I, I mean I I like it, but that, that is my concern is that there will be some, you know, there are
gonna be different levels as far as their exposure, uh, now I think once you get to uh long before you get to 6th grade if, if you don't have an iPhone, people go crazy,
but, but it's, it's really that early age to make sure that everyone has access to the stuff that you're talking about so they understand what you're doing. So thank
you. much Are there additional questions about the committee? Vice Chairman McKinsey, you recognize?
I'm just the one thing that kind of. I don't know, I'm just going to say it. The news literacy part concerns me. Um, like deeply, um, and I'm not, this isn't from a place of partisanship, but I don't trust or listen or, or truly objectively trust anything that I'm hearing from mainstream media right now, left, right, center, any way you cut it, it's sensationalized. News smut frankly, that's what it is, and I get that what you're trying to
do is, OK, because it even says in the definition credibility of journalistic news sources and news practices or news media practices. And this is my personal opinion. I'm not trying to, you know, cast it on everybody. I don't want my children or if I were to run, put them through a public school to have that be a second of their time or attention. That's my responsibility as a parent when I get home. So I, I understand like that we, we, our feet landed in the world today, of course these things will be around it. What you're
forcing on students is going to be proficient in illiteracy that I'm not sure my kids aren't going to be, that I, that my family and I are going to say we want them to be fluent in at a reasonable age. 13 to 15 and to your point about access grandmom's phone. Our children, my children have no access to any devices, period, full stop, and that is a lot of people in this state. Um, so to get them trained and ready to work on one of these things when I don't plan on giving them one until they're 17 years old is, is forcing the hand of a parent. So I I would
Can you help me how, how to understand how you got to a place of
Representative Julie Mayberry
Unverified
49:35
where we need to start teaching people
about kids about news literacy. I think you need to give them the tool so they understand. The difference in what is real and what is not, what's facts, you, you need to make sure that they can verify that information. That's what we're teaching our kids every day in school is how to verify information. They're taught to research facts and that's.
This is now just a different way of researching those
Speaker 140
50:06
facts, uh, I'll, I'll let you, yeah, sure, um, so I also think that that dives into how these standards would be applied as a lesson. So we can't develop curriculum here in this committee. We don't do that, but having this come into a law would allow for a group of school librarians and educators to develop the standards and when you're discussing news literacy, you're proficient in knowing what is. Sensationalized and what is not
accurate, but our learners generally are not, so having those skills embedded into the curriculum, and it may be not necessarily looking at current news articles, but creating fictitious things that they can discern from. For example, there is a website out there called the Pacific North North Pacific tree octopus. It looks very real. It looks like there is an octopus out there, that website has been out in existence for a long time, and that's one website that we generally use to teach credibility because we know that it's fake and what are you looking for the copyright date,
who created the website? Are they a legitimate company and organization and also reading laterally, so when you pull up a news article and you think this doesn't sound correct, open another article and see if that news agency is also reporting the same thing and looking across to find inconsistencies that may be one of the Standards as we build into this that is only high school and upper, you know, junior high and not necessarily something that would
be at elementary. OK, so two things you said, just ended with one, not necessarily. It doesn't say not necessarily.
It says based on the way the bill is written, to create a standard for all students. And 2, did you, did you You create, you assumed, I'm sorry. You create stimuli that's fake news for kids to spot is fake news. Is that what you
Speaker 140
51:51
just more or less said? Most of the time it's on like a PowerPoint, like a slide or something where you will have a misspelling on a word so that they can point out like this is generally fake because it doesn't have, it's not spelled correctly
or there's typos in it, but the North,
Speaker 140
52:07
North Pacific octopus is a website you can Google it. It's a website. There's also one about explorers and something else. I did not create those. They have been
out in the land of education for a
very long time. Of course, I'm just. Is that, is that really How much time are we dedicating to students to to source and to verify if a website or a That is I'm, I'm really trying to like wrap my mind around any time of any students stays committed to spotting fake news, but, um, why is that germane to their day to
day? Need to think critically want
Representative Julie Mayberry
Unverified
52:40
to know what is real and what is not. Why would we want them
to There is fake news out there. There's, there's fake sources out there. We need to give them the tools to understand how to verify information. That's what we're teaching in English classes all the time. You have to go back and verify information and, and cite sources. That's all that we're trying to do here.
Let's go primary sources for the purposes of some other critical thinking exercise, writing a book, staging a bibliography, spending time, children. Spending time in school, and I agree with you, they should be able to verify, you know, primary, secondary, 3rd, tertiary sources, but We do that in current construction within standards for English composition and for, you know, natural sciences so that they can write book reports and and surveys for this. What you're telling them is digital
news, modern literacy. I agree. I think that's the role of a parent or the role of a community or the role of a church, but All of those critical thinking, all of those deductive reasoning skills can and are achieved within our existing course loads. So I, I'm just, I'm struggling to understand why any shape form we would need to have something that would promote news literacy to our children, so, uh, wouldn't you agree? I don't get it.
Representative Hope Duke
Unverified
54:09
So do you recognize for a question? Thank you, Mr. Chair. Thank you, Representative May for bringing this bill and, and
thank you for all your work that you do with the kids, um. My question is, and Representative McKenzie kind of made me think along this line. I'm one of the ones probably in here, there may be more of us that raised kids on the front end of phones and then raised another kid after I, they had, they didn't have, I mean, just had a lot of
experience, raised 3rd kid different than I raised 1 and 2, OK, after what I
learned with 1 and 2. So, um, so 3rd child number 3 did not, the other ones didn't get phones very early either, but he was way more restricted all the way up into high school and So my question here is thinking about if I were raising kids now and how I advise parents is like no phones and all of those pieces. So my kid went to school and didn't have a phone for a very long time, and he also didn't have the social media, didn't have all of these things. Are you, is there some type of
Would there be some type of process in which if I don't want my kid to have that exposure to some of those pieces until I'm ready for them to have that exposure. Understand everything you're doing here. That they can be waived out of that because I don't necessarily want them and I know there's lots of people, kids on TikTok at 5 and 6 years old, because my daughter teaches first grade, and I know it. So I understand the need for all of this, but I don't necessarily want my kid at 5 or 6 years old, learn about TikTok. Although he's going to get it from the peers, right? So I get that too. So is there any
mechanism in here for a parent to go, yeah, no, we're not doing that one or other than what's probably already in policies or somewhere else. So I just want to make sure we, we've got the control to control as a parent, what they're doing or not doing in
Speaker 140
55:56
this particular thing. I think I know the answer, but I want to make sure. I'm gonna take it. Yeah, so, um, just from my personal experience and being involved in our state organization, knowing school librarians, TikTok has an age limit. It wouldn't be brought up, um, and anything that I had taught. Now I'm not saying other educators wouldn't, but that is something that we should
consider and it doesn't necessarily mean that these standards would be strictly for social media or phone use. All of our students have computers or some type of device at school for the most part. Many schools have gone 1 to 1, whether or not the school the child takes the device home or it's in the classroom, they still have access to the device of teaching them how to use their device. for educational purposes. I did a class with an algebra class that was basically how to student better, just teaching them how to use their device,
um, for education and not necessarily just for games or playing, um, so I think that that is where the standards would be going. I don't necessarily think it would be in any way advocating for any type of social media. It's just using the technology and the device correctly and understanding um the parameters around. Media. OK, I, I understand
Representative Hope Duke
Unverified
57:03
that. I appreciate that. Thank you. I'm just, I mean, I would assume in these discussions there
would be talk about. Social media and how to use that and how to control it because
that's one of the biggest issues out there, and it is with young kids, even if they're not supposed to be on it, they may be on mama's TikTok, but they know about it. So I, I would. maybe are those things do you anticipate those being discussed. I kind of just assumed it was part of those discussions and if they are, would you agree that there may need to be some mechanism for parents who do not want to maybe have their kids exposed to certain parts of those discussions about that yet, maybe at a later age. I, I'm open
Representative Julie Mayberry
Unverified
57:41
to ideas as I've said from the beginning when I
filed this bill, if anybody has any suggestions on wording or anything I've said all the way along, um, I got feedback. Thank you, um, specific changes. I did that. I'm always open to ideas. Here I am today. So if, if I need to clarify language in this, um, as Representative Richardson has done many times. Is he in the room? I don't know, um, happy to change some wording in here to make it, um,
clearer Uh, but this needs to be done. We are doing a disservice to our students when we're not giving them the tools they need to operate in the world in which we live in today. This is for security, for their security and to help them in their mental health. Just taking something
Speaker 162
58:38
away is not going to solve that problem. So I appreciate that and I,
Representative Hope Duke
Unverified
58:46
I hope that you will look at that again. I think there may be
something already in like code or policies or whatever where they do that. I just wanted that just popped onto my radar. Uh, that would probably be an issue at some point in time, and I see heads
nodding. I thought so. Just wanted to make sure. Thank you.
Representative Stephen Meeks
Unverified
59:07
Oh, Representative Meeks, you're recognized for a question. Thank you, Mr. S. Um, so, um, I've been to many AI conferences and technology conferences over the last couple of years, and this is one of the most important things that they constantly say that we as states need to do. It was actually on
my shortlist to try to get done this go around, but I got bogged down on other things, so I really appreciate you bringing this. I think this is one of the most important pieces of legislation we will do for our kids this session to Representative Brown. that the illicit defects, as soon as I'm done here, I'm going over to the judiciary and I'm gonna try to get a law passed to handle that issue. Um, but, uh, the, the, the question that Representative McKenzie asked about the, about the news stuff. I think that's actually one of the most important pieces to this, and I'm going to eventually get to a question
here, because we, you know, as lawmakers, you guys figured I, uh, get this all the time. I have people who in today's age, believe the earth is flat. Because they see some convincing posts on Facebook and, uh, you know, I've read news articles about a guy who bought a lawn chair and attached balloons to it so we could go up and prove the earth was flat. I don't know why he just didn't buy a plane ticket and enjoy peanuts along the way, but I mean, that's the kind of world we're living in. And if we don't prepare our kids
to be able to do that because we want to teach kids critical thinking, and this is a very important part of that critical thinking aspect. The majority of the jobs that we have today will not be in existence by the time they become adults, you know, Representative Cozart, who, you know, he runs a contracting business. Well, in 20 years, he's gonna be running a team of robots to build houses and not a team of humans. And so our students The jobs of today are
50, 75% of them are not going to be there by the time they're adults. It's gonna be AI. And so this is, uh, I think one of the most critical things that we're going to be doing
Speaker 141
1:01:07
to actually prepare them for tomorrow. Wouldn't you agree? I agree.
Thank you. Recent back you recognize for a question. Or
not. OK uh Are there additional questions about the committee? Represent you recognize?
Representative Jessie McGruder
Unverified
1:01:30
And I thank you, Mr. Chair. As I stated before, I love the, the, the legislation I do, um, I, something that shocked me today is uh. I actually am very similar to representative uh McKenzie. I My phone, my children weren't allow phones until they were in 6th grade, uh, actually halfway through the 6th grade year when each one of them got their phone. I would, I asked about implementation. I would prefer if this was implemented at the
middle school age, uh, on through high school and I actually would prefer if the uh students were actually went to The librarian got a lot of education. I, I think this is important. I know it's important. And I think, uh, and it's something that I know we have to do. I just would prefer it being done at a later age, the middle school age over starting in kindergarten because Uh, everybody does not introduce their children to technology early on. I know there are some that do, and that's why we are in this society that we are in today, but uh.
I, I love it. Um, uh, supportive of it. I just wish
it would change to at the middle school age and actually in the classroom aspect. So is there any way
Representative Julie Mayberry
Unverified
1:02:41
we can get something like that done. Well, here, here's, here's my thought. They're exposed
to this in the classroom already. They, they have laptops, they have access to internet in the school, whether they go home and and use it or not, and again we're just giving them the tools that's age appropriate and that curriculum
would be developed by experts and and the team. that develops that curriculum with ADE. So I, I think that flexibility is there, um, we're just saying we want you we want you to do this. That Thank you. Are there additional questions about the committee? See no
additional questions. We do not have anyone sign up to speak for or against this bill. Would anyone like to speak for or against the bill? See represent Baberry we
Representative Julie Mayberry
Unverified
1:03:31
actually would you like to close for your bill? I'm, I'm closed for the bill. I'd appreciate a good vote. I think this is something that we need to do. Um, I do hear your concerns, um, if this does not fail, I'll be happy to. Take whatever amendment suggestions you all want me to make, um, but I would ask for a due pass and see where we go.
Mayberry his clothes for a bill HB 1283 and made a Du pass motion. There's a discussion on the motion. As it as amended?
Oh sorry, no, not as, uh, discussion on the motion
Representative Stephen Meeks
Unverified
1:04:06
represent makes you recognized for discussion. Yeah, I won't be this, but again, I think this is one of the most important pieces of legislation that we will pass this session related to our our kids because of the future they're facing, uh, to the concern about, uh, you know, should we start middle school? I, you know, maybe some of the social media stuff maybe doesn't start in middle school, but like Representative Mayberry said, they're, they're, they're, they've got their hands on a computer in kindergarten. And so they need to learn how to use that tool properly, that aspect of it. least in kindergarten or first
grade, you know, some of this more heavier stuff, sure, that, that'll wait. So I'm, I'm not concerned about that. I don't think we need to be putting this off until middle school because by middle school, the vast majority of our kids know more about computers than we do. And if we don't teach them how to use that part of them, uh, you know, when they get to high school, the social media aspects, the mental health, um, there's so much to this that, uh, uh, I just think we need to get it done and I appreciate it. Is there additional discussion about the committee?
Say no additional s discussion. We have a motion on the table of do pass. All
in favor say aye. All opposed. Congratulations Representative Mayberry, your bill is passed. Thank you. I've got thank you members. members without objection, we are going to move To the
2nd page. The Volt was gonna run, but she is out in transportation. Uh, we're gonna move down to the 2nd
page, uh, HB 1866. I'll yield a chair to Representative McKenzie.
Pardon me? Your, uh, if you could recognize yourself, you'd be prepared to present your bill.
Thank you, Mr. Chair, Keith Brooks State Representative District 78. Uh, members, um, Mr. Chair, without objection, I'd like to bring, uh, a couple of ks to the table with me if I could please, uh, Eli's family. If you would please join me up here, Eli and his mom, and then Doctor Ferris Smith from White County Central. Doctor Smith, actually you can hang out,
not enough chairs so we can, we'll wait a second.
Put yourself Thank you so much. Thank you, Mr. Chair. Thank you, committee, uh, HP 1866 is actually a pretty simple bill, um, the reason I brought this family here with me is because I want their story to be told. So HB 1866 came to me from some friends, some some constituents based upon situation that happened in Quitman that was beyond awful. There really are no words to describe it, and so
the, the purpose of the bill, the nuts and bolts are very, very simple. Uh, the nuts and bolts are requiring schools to put recording devices in locker room setting to keep that audio for a certain time frame, uh, and then to uh to allow that to be requested, uh, should there be an event um that would be similar to what this family has experienced, um, so that they can, can frankly prove what has been going on in, in allow uh allow their story to be heard. So with that, uh, that's all I'm
going to talk about about the bill, but I want uh Eli and his family to uh to let you
Speaker 241
1:07:55
know what they experienced. And the genesis behind this bill. Good morning. First of all, um, I'd like to introduce these two brave gentlemen
Speaker 243
1:08:05
behind me. My son Eli White. And his friend Cash Edwards. They're the real heroes in this group, and they have endured torture torture. Unseen, unbelieved.
Um, but, but we fought just as hard as we can. Um, there was a gentleman sitting up front a while ago that talked about the big kid and the little kid. I'd like to tell you that this started in their 7th grade year to year of football. These kids have grown 2 or 3 inches since then, but I'll tell you they have fought giants as big as that guy. Would you please stand up. 2. Two of the 5 giants that these boys had to fight were as big as him.
One at the head, holding down from the shoulders. One at the feet holding them down while a 3rd 1 crawled on top of them and present. And would hump them. With clothes on, But still out of their control. They had a pretty rough 7th grade year. My son in-law was hurt, humiliated, traumatized, and vi violated during his junior high year at Qhitman Public School.
The administration has gone out of their way to neglect the safety of children in this school. 4 parents reported the physical and sexual abuse happening in the locker room. My child should never have to physically fight. But he fought many, many boys for himself and for him, his friends. The boys would look at him and say, all right, it's y'all's turn now. And they'd go to one boy.
The abuse started um with being bull whipped sometimes with the whip and sometimes with just the stick of the whip. They were shot out at close range with BB guns and Orby's guns. They were told to run from one end of the campus to the football locker rooms way across campus, being shot at. With coach's permission. All the way to the locker room. Then once they were inside the locker room, they were ambushed at close range with these guns
again. My son said there were so many you could pick up handfuls and throw them. There's no way that this was unseen. The last day on May 10th that Eli did. was the last day he attended school. His head was slammed into the lockers 7 times by one of these big boys physically grabbing him by the head and throwing him into his locker, trying to get him down on the floor where they could crawl on top of him and hump him again. Well, everybody
in that locker room watched and laughed. The torture went way past this. For a child that was not mine. My son considers himself a pretty tough kid. He's a fighter. He's a bull rider. He's boxed, he's done everything football was his dream. He had dreams of playing in the NFL. He had dreams of just being the best kid that he could possibly be because that's
what we've taught him to do. Elis through and through integrity. Eli does the right thing no matter what. And Eli is gonna fight for the underdog, and that's what he did and he got himself hurt
Speaker 246
1:11:38
doing it. I followed protocol at the school. I went and met first of all
Speaker 243
1:11:43
with the principal and the SRO and the coach. They assured me that they would take this very seriously. Our children may be taken to a child advocacy center.
Questioned on what happened that everybody in that 7th grade locker room would be questioned. And it would be taken to the authorities, but it was up to us to press charges against the boys and then let administration handle it. That's not what happened at all. Administration never talked to me again after I left that first meeting. 5 boys pled guilty to assault, battery, and harassment, we could not get them charged with
sexual assault because we could not prove sexual gratification. These laws are very broken. The definition from bullying. Should be broad. It should cover it, but it doesn't. It is up to the individual administration to take things seriously and handle it, but I'll tell you what they did. Not one of these boys that pled guilty to doing this to my son. Missed one practice, they never
missed one game. We had court orders saying they were not allowed to be around the victims that they've done this to. What they did was bench our boys. They made sure that everyone who violated our children, got to play. They played the games, they played at practice. Our boys were the ones told you can't be here because so and so is. The system is very broken. These boys have fight.
As parents have fought in our advocates have fought since May 10th of 2024. We are only to the steps of the 5 boys who pled guilty. Lack of supervision has allowed this to happen. Locker rooms are the only place in the time that students are completely unsupervised. Bullying and harassment is at an all-time high. This opens up a huge liability and opportunity for students to
be targeted. It is imperative to provide a safety net for the vulnerable students and their classmates who take advantage of this 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, fairer investigations for allegations. These audio devices respect students' dign dignity while still offering him protection of those who need it. My son's story could have been
drastically different with audio like we're requesting. From prevention to accountability, audio devices will make a difference. Thank you for Mr. Chair, with your permission,
I'd like to bring Doctor Ferris Smith from White County Central High School. Absolutely. And
to bring Dr. Smith to the table because he has taken the initiative and done this
himself, uh, at his school and so I want him to kind of give some of his perspective on
the process, what the reaction has been, and, and, and, uh, just the overall dynamics of what
Speaker 255
1:15:42
they've seen in White County Central. I'm Ferris Smith, superintendent at White County Central School District. Uh We were proactive on this because of some situations that occurred at various schools and uh other Title 9 incidents. So we looked into the process of, of getting audio recording devices in our locker rooms. We
have 6, We use the ricotta system. It is a very good system It picks up keywords Hurt, it picks up, uh. Voices being raised, it picks up, uh. Anything Basically, anything that's being said in the locker room. We checked with legal
with that, our attorney said that all we had to do was put that we were gonna be, uh, students are being recorded at all times. We sent out to, uh, excuse me. We send out to parents that that this was gonna be in our, in our locker rooms. And after that, uh, we haven't had any. fights, we haven't had any harassment, we haven't had any bullying. We haven't had any Channel 9 incidents since the beginning of the year. Doctor Smith, could you address
Speaker 254
1:17:03
some of the costs associated with it. Sure when we looked into
Speaker 255
1:17:07
this, there were a few devices, uh, we went with the ricotta system. It was $1200 for each locker room and $250 a year for cloud maintenance per locker room, so it costs us about $8000. It was $8000 well spent. Like I said, we haven't had any incidences this year, uh, with, with bullying, hazing, harassment, anything like that. So. Uh
The ricotta system was 15 $1200 per unit and we have 6 locker rooms, so it was around. Uh, $7500 for a. 8, system audio recording systems in about $250 per room for the cloud system and after you buy, purchase the uh audio system, that's yours to keep, but, uh, you do have to pay a cloud storage of $250 per year for each device was about $2000 for us a year for that from
moving forward and you can use safety grant money
for that. Thank you for your testimony. Um, do you have any questions from committee? I see we
have some names signed up, um, we have Audi, Mr. Vice Chair, I believe that there was a question. Oh, I'm
Speaker 256
1:18:28
so sorry, Representative Gonzalez Worthen. You, thank you. um.
Representative Justin Gonzales
Unverified
1:18:37
When you uh sent the information to the parents that what what they
Speaker 255
1:18:41
thought about this, etc. I didn't have any negative feedback at all. I told them that it was for the protection of their children and, uh, uh. we want to As heard testimony earlier today about bullying. It was we wanted to put a stop to anything because it is unsupervised area, so we wanted to get. Anything we could in place for that and I had no negative
Representative Hope Duke
Unverified
1:19:07
feedback from parents at all. Thank you. Representative Duke, you're recognized. Thank you, Mr. Chair and thank you, uh, Representative Brooks for bringing this bill. I know locker rooms are a concern for everybody. I, I'm curious, um, if. What is the feedback been from the coaches, and I know a lot of school districts utilize their locker rooms for meetings with their coaches and things like that. So what does that look like in those circumstances. Our
Speaker 255
1:19:39
coaches are, have been, uh, for it, and AAA has a bill also where if we had a male coach and female coaches to go in before that. So, you know, That was for the safety of students also. So with the coaches, it hasn't been a, a, a big deal at all. um. You know, the question was brought up about opposing coaches when we had games, so you have the ability to turn the recording device off. At that point. So you can turn the device off and then you can turn it back on for ball games
Representative Hope Duke
Unverified
1:20:09
for opposing coaches in the locker rooms, yes. OK, so there's flexibility as far as this is can be turned on for when they're the students are just in there and then turned off. It's not just running nonstop, all like all the other cameras in our lives during
Speaker 255
1:20:22
the school day, ma'am, it's voice activated. It's voice activated during the school day, but at, at night at games, we turned the visiting locker rooms off. Representative Garner, you're recognized for a question.
Representative Denise Garner
Unverified
1:20:43
Thank you, Mr. Chair. I just have a quick question about uh logistics. How does, how does it work? Who hears
Speaker 255
1:20:48
the video and then what happens? Uh, it goes to a cloud, and then if there is an incident reported, the administration, the the principals, and, uh, myself only have, uh, Control of hearing what's being said and then We take that to If there is
Speaker 267
1:21:01
an incident, which we haven't had one, but we take it to the proper authorities. Representative Nazarenko. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Representative Jason Nazarenko
Unverified
1:21:17
And I know this is, uh, just about the, uh, locker rooms,
Speaker 273
1:21:20
but with you kind of being proactive, putting it in the locker rooms. Do you
Speaker 255
1:21:26
have listening and like audio and video in classrooms. Yes, sir, we were fortunate enough to get the cop's grant, which is around $600,000 so we have audio and video in every classroom, every hallway, uh, we have We don't have audio, but we have security cameras completely engulfed in our campus, uh, parking everywhere, uh, we're fortunate enough to get that
Representative Jason Nazarenko
Unverified
1:21:48
grant. So, uh, it is in classrooms also with
Speaker 255
1:21:52
audio. OK, was that, was that a match grant or was that just a full grant? It was a full grant and we had to pay. we pay I think 20%, which is
about $100,000 for us to get $700,000 worth of equipment. And one reason committee that I wanted Doctor Smith to to be here is because he is from, uh, what I would consider a, a, a rural, um, not, uh, cash flush
school district, uh, White County Central, uh, is, is just a few miles outside of Cersei and, uh, it's a very rural, uh, very typical school districts in terms of what many of us would serve in the state of Arkansas, and I think it's an outstanding example of um where there's a will, there's a there was a will to protect the needs of students in, in Doctor Smith was very, very intentional in ensuring that happened under his leadership.
Representative Denise Garner
Unverified
1:22:52
Representative Garner, do you need another question? you reckon your, your mic is off. That's good. Um, I, I am concerned about the
unfunded mandate. Um, so tell me again about how much it costs and. The equipment is required in every locker room,
Speaker 255
1:23:11
so the school districts that have we had 6 locker rooms and the cost was $12 apiece and then for cloud is it was 12 no.
$1,299 per unit, which was around $7500 and then the cloud fee is $249 per year per device, so that's about $2000 for us. So it was around $9000 with an upkeep now of about $2000 a year. And
Representative Denise Garner
Unverified
1:23:37
I, I guess that's, that's a big concern for a lot of school districts,
I think. I understandably. You know, I have Springdale, largest and several smaller ones that have Just as many issues, but I guess
what do we do if we require this and they. Obviously, you know, they're, there is not
a specific time frame in the bill in terms of it is a shell, so it's, it's required, but there's not a shall be done by a certain date, uh, my goal again in in insuring the story is told is to hopefully prompt school districts to, to look at the example of, of outstanding leadership and say what, what is, uh, what's our goal here? Our goal is to prevent a student
from being sexually assaulted, frankly, uh. And, and, uh, not, obviously not necessarily to that extent, uh, but prevent a lot of things hazing we, we know that there have been numerous situations in other school districts that have been very well publicized in the state of Arkansas, uh, where I believe that resources such as this as of such as this, uh, would have prevented, um, frankly terror to a student's life. And so, um, my hope is that, that as we have the
discussion and see opportunities. To address the issue that um schools would, would, uh, find a solution to do that and and granted, yes, as as you deal with larger school districts, um, the cost certainly would increase, and that's something that have to be addressed and looked at there, I believe it's the potential that there may be some additional grants that can be utilized for this, you know, from school
safety perspective, um, but again, I think that it is, it's more than a worthy,
Representative Denise Garner
Unverified
1:25:27
worthy undertaking. I just would love to hear from Doctor Hernandez still in
Speaker 288
1:25:35
the room? Sorry. It's a busy day for you, Dr. Hernandez.
You at the once you get to the bottom table, please recognize yourself for
the record. I didn't mean to cut you off. Were you gonna say something? We've really not heard enough from Doctor Hernandez's session, so I
Speaker 99
1:25:53
wanted, I wanted him to feel wanted, frankly. Bro Uh Michael Hernandez, executive director of AIEA. I'm sorry,
Representative Denise Garner
Unverified
1:25:58
what was the question, Representative Garner? Well, I, I, I love the intent of the bill. I'm worried about the unfunded mandate, obviously, especially and, and both for for large school districts and for small school districts and if that grant is not available and we have a shall in here. What does that mean for some
Speaker 95
1:26:15
of these schools? I do want to say that I, I think the intent of the bill is important, I think the, the, the work that's done, the by, uh, Doctor Smith about what they've done proactively. I hope that's a little bit of a message
to some of our leaders that, you know, this is an ongoing problem. I think there's always concern about invasiveness of, you know, what, what's the limit of Recording people and things like that, that's always a huge concern. I know he's dealt with that, um, as far as you know, anything that, that comes to us in terms of uh requirements that don't have some kind of funding mechanism that always is a concern, no matter what what it is and how good it is. I know y'all heard some of the things about the, you know, potentially panic button, those things coming back and so that was what some of the questions we had is how some of these safety things
are being funded. Uh, we have been fortunate in the state that this body has put together several instances of funding. for school safety grants. Uh, the 1st 50 million, there's another 50 million out there that districts are trying to prioritize, um, I think some of it also kind of depends on where we land on the foundation funding amount through adequacy as well. Uh, that's a hint towards Representative Brooks there, uh, and so, um. I think the, the timeline of when that uh happens it it'd be
good to see something about, you know, if funding, when funding becomes available or some kind of, you know, it's hard, it's a hard thing to say you want to be as much proactively in terms of school safety, addressing bullying and all those things, and I, I would be remiss if that's not a concern, is the funding, uh, but I know just like anything else if, if, if this was required by the state districts would
Speaker 112
1:27:52
do anything they they had to do to make sure that requirement.
It was mad and maybe just to follow up on that and and thank you for the adequacy plug, Doctor Hernandez, uh, maybe just
to follow up on that, you know, just thinking about just some of the earlier testimony we've had this morning, Bryant, you know, one of, one of my schools that I represent, uh. 2nd, 3rd largest school district in the state, and they communicate to us multiple Title IX investigations that they have dealt with and how they've engaged outside counsel for things like that. I don't know what the cost of outside cancel is counsel is specifically, uh, but I can imagine it's nowhere near inexpensive, I would imagine that you're talking tens, if not much more,
thousands of dollars to spend on those and, and hopefully, you know, uh, Doctor Smith has hasn't faced anything like that, and so. I would imagine that the 70 or $8000 that he spent was very well spent in, in the preventive nature of it, um, would certainly probably likely prevent additional costs in terms
Representative Denise Garner
Unverified
1:28:53
of those investigations. So would you, um, would you be amenable to adding as funding is available. I'd certainly be
glad to, to look at things that would make
this bill palatable to committee to ensure that we get it passed and
signed into law this session. Representative Gardner, are you still, you have any other follow ups, uh, Representative Duke, you're recognized for a question. Thank you,
Representative Hope Duke
Unverified
1:29:21
Mr. Chair. Um. Give me just a second because it just escaped me, um. Well, I'm gonna have to get in the queue,
I guess. uh oh you're gonna say how much you love the bill, I think you agree
I, I remembered, um, and then you made me lose it again. It's been a long session. OK, um. I'm gonna, I'm
gonna have to get back in the queue. I
Representative Rick Beck
Unverified
1:29:49
hope someone has a question. We do have Representative Beck next. He can be. This is, I guess a
question in our suggestion. I always worry about when we record. Young people that there could be recordings that Just things that are said, not nothing related to what what
we're trying to combat here that could be pulled back up later on, that could affect them. and by saying that, what I'm saying is, would you
consider putting something I, I, I see the 10 days in there, but sometimes, a lot of time we miss this idea of these things will last can be out there forever, right? To actually get rid of a, get, you know, a day to get rid of it,
like by the end of the school year, you know, you can make it, but just to make sure that you don't just keep piling this because some of these individuals, you know, later in life, something that they said in the locker room in high
school could, could really come back. to haunt them. And, uh, you know, maybe to get rid of that, you
know, obviously give them all the time that they need to be utilized for the purpose they're utilized for, but then have something in the bill that says, OK, then you need to
erase these out, get rid of this audio so they don't. It's not floating out there in the cloud somewhere that someone could pull up lighter. Would
you consider that? Again, uh, certainly we consider, um, amendments that would, would make the bill better, that would make the
bill, um, accomplish the goals that we have, uh, which is protection of students and so as long as there's a time frame to do that, then I certainly would, would be willing to do that and just on another note in terms of funding, um, sitting here received a text message from a superintendent who said that they have explored some of those options and have some options out there, uh, outside of what we do from a, from a state funding perspective. And so I think that they're much like. Dr. Smith has done. There are likely a multiplicity
of options for uh for funding these, we got to make sure that the schools
Representative Rick Beck
Unverified
1:31:41
know what those are, of course, and, and that also that also I don't know this, but that may help with some of the ongoing costs year to year that because you're not keeping all that data up there in the
cloud, it might help a little bit. Representative Nazarenko,
Representative Jason Nazarenko
Unverified
1:31:56
you're recognized for a question. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and so I, I will get to a question, but I wanted to, to say this first. Because I know when we, when we start talking about money, you know, um, it, it's, it's got to be hard because especially as the mother of a child, there's
no dollar value that you could ever put on it and say, hey, how could we ever, you know, talk about money in a time like this, but, you know, to Representative Garner's point, and that's a point that I have as well. We have to look at that from a certain point because it's, it's affecting everyone, um, and I commend you, Doctor Smith, on taking that extra, uh, step to protect the children because that's going to pay dividends, uh, hopefully you never have to pull it up and then to, to, you
know, Representative Beck's point, I'm understanding the system where it's just a continual loop. If an instance ever comes up, you pull the data that you need and, and then it's, it's used, hopefully it's never used and it's tragic that it was ever even something that came up, uh, that's a very, it's a it's a tragic situation, but from mine. I'm in the same boat with, with looking at it from a funding standpoint and I feel like I, I feel the values there, so then it makes me wonder, well, what's the cost because we can't really vote on something unless we
actually know a cost, and I know there's no fiscal because it was a mandate and it's saying, you know, that the district has it, it, it says on there, uh, the district, and I've brought that up, you know, on other things. So my question is, so I said I was going to get to my question. My question is this, is this something that we could say instead of having it be a responsibility of the districts. Could it be something that says, let's look at this, let's get a dollar value, let's figure out what it costs, and then let's figure out as a state. What can we do because it may
actually be better to not just have this in locker rooms. What about the bathrooms? bathrooms aren't monitored. I love that the classrooms, I love to see the colleges recorded for, for certain reasons. So it's kind of like, could that be something that we would look at is could we say let's see what it would cost the state, and then we can maybe make a more educated
decision. That's, that's the question. And obviously there's not a, a specific line item in the matrix relative to something like this, um, so as we discuss other potential funding we'd have to,
you know, figure out where that would fit. But again, I'm, I'm certainly amenable to make sure, uh, that we find a way for this to happen. Um, that, that's my, my bottom line goal is to ensure that this happens, and this service happens quickly on
Representative Jason Nazarenko
Unverified
1:34:27
behalf of students and I completely agree with that. I mean, this brings up the attention. I had no idea this was happening, uh, you know, so it's tragic that it's happening and so I think for us to just not do anything, I think is, you know, not the right thing, but what if we, could it be possible that we say, hey, let's let the state
look at this, how much would this cost so that when we look at it, we can say X is the cost, can we afford it? If
we can't, what line items need to change. Thank you for that question. And Mr. Chair, uh, so I would be willing to, to pull this
down for us to amend. However, I would ask for the chair and the committee's leniency to allow additional people who've come to talk on this bill, uh, to speak today so their stories can be heard because I know that uh Cash's mom also has, has signed up to speak, you know, we have a couple of people who are very passionate advocates for children who have signed up to speak, and I want to make sure
they're heard, and here's, here's kind of my bottom line on this and I want this to be heard and known, uh, which is why we do it in a very public setting. I want school leadership to be on notice that our primary objective in this committee and as a legislative body when it comes to educating our students is to ensure their safety, number one, and to ensure that the students' needs are put before everyone else's. And if a school district or if leadership within a school district is not doing that. I want them to know and to hear very clearly that we will ensure
that that is done, and if you're not doing that, then we will ensure that you are held responsible for that as a school district and as leadership because there's been a total failure in a situation such as this and again this is not the first time something like this has happened in the state of Arkansas or in the United States of America, uh, but there has been a total failure in terms of leadership that allowed this to happen on their watch. in children's lives have been impacted forever, and that is unacceptable in my view, and it should be unacceptable in all of our views. And so again, I will agree to pull the bill down, but
I want to make sure that the that this story is told if the the chair
and the committee would would give us a leniency. I think that's totally fair in the waning days of session, I think it's important with people traveling
that we get all the. All of the folks who've come here today to give their testimony on, uh, Representative Duke, you're back in the queue, but if you're amenable, can we move to the public testimony? Um, Oh, and then we also have Representative Mayberry. Do you have a OK. Of course, perfect. Thank you. Um, we have some folks here to speak for the bill. I, uh, Ms. Edwards, you're second in line.
Um, I have an Audi Aimba. Columba. fantastic, uh, Miss Edwards, you're recognized.
Speaker 107
1:37:00
Mr. Vice Chair Rexson McGruber, I apologize, sorry.
Representative Jessie McGruder
Unverified
1:37:05
And thank you for the bill and all the work that went into it, uh, as a athletic coach, uh, first and foremost, I want to, uh, apologize for the behavior of the coaches that did this. I am a junior high coach. I know everybody sees me now. I'm like, gosh, he's such a big guy, but I
was a very small guy until 9th grade, all of it happened at once, so I experienced bullying. I detest bullies. That is not something that's allowed in my program. I purposely Don't use profanity. So as you're putting leadership on notice, we need to put these athletic coaches on notice also. We need to hold ourselves to a higher standard. Uh, this should not be allowed in any program across the state of Arkansas and leaders need to make sure that they're looking at the character of the individual that they are
hiring to be over our children, uh, I love the show Last Chance U that says we all like sausages, but we don't like the process. The process matters. In shaping and molding the future and leaders don't become leaders if you don't have good leadership in place, teaching them and training them. So I support you 100%. I know there's some changes that have to be made, but we need to put everybody in the state on notice that we're gonna act in a certain manner or we will not have tolerated here in the state of Arkansas. So thank you.
Thank you, Representative McGruder. Uh, Ms. Edwards,
Speaker 321
1:38:30
if you mind saying your name and for the record, Angie Edwards. Very good for you to make a and thank you, Mr. Chair, and the committee for allowing me to come before you today, um, mainly I just wanted you to have a face to what we are trying to help in these schools. My son, um, I love football. He joined a team as the smallest kid on the
Speaker 323
1:38:57
team at barely 5 ft, maybe 90 pounds at the time. And he put his
Speaker 321
1:39:04
heart out on the field. Um, unfortunately, that came with the cost of his dignity. Something that shouldn't be transactional in any way. He had, um, kids double his size, 6' 200 pound kids laying on top of him. Another would hold his head still while another would put his crotch in his face.
They were humping him, torturing him as he screamed. Although his story is tragic and the trauma that he
Speaker 323
1:39:38
will carry with him will last a very, very long time. He isn't the only one. There are several Mily probably before him that this has happened to, and there will be kids happening right now today, that bullies and sexual abuse are happening in the locker room, and it's, it's a
place that is hidden. by um Administrators and educators, and it's almost forgotten. If you were to invite, uh, say 25 teenage boys to your home, would you leave them there and walk out the door and expect your house to still be standing. Yeah It wouldn't. In this locker room, there is not one adult that gets to go in
Speaker 321
1:40:31
there. There is a hallway and uh an office where these administrators and educators sit where they supposedly can hear what's going on. They
Speaker 323
1:40:44
would have heard my son's screams. That scream echoes in that locker room. To a point. His friend Eli finally went to his parents and said, I can't
hear him scream anymore. If these devices are in the locker rooms. It's guaranteed that their voices are heard. There isn't any doubt. There isn't any misconception. It holds not only these children because they are still children. They're going left to their own devices, they are going to do what. teenage boys do. It will hold them accountable, but it'll also hold these administrators and educators accountable because they're
getting lazy in letting these locker rooms be unsupervised because they can't, right? They can't physically be in there to watch kids change or whatnot, but they're using that as an excuse not to monitor these places. And horrific. Things are happening in these locker rooms. And it has to stop in some way or form. This has to stop. It isn't fair to these kids. We as
Speaker 321
1:42:07
parents drop off our kids every single day. To a
Speaker 325
1:42:12
place that is supposed to be safe for them. And it is a nightmare that I live with. I can watch my son walk up to that locker room every single day, and I cannot even fathom. The anxiety. Knowing what was on the other side of that door. No one to help him.
Speaker 323
1:42:38
Kids like Eli who would try to stand up for him, others would put their head down and just pretend it wasn't happening because they were afraid it was going to happen to them. And the other thing is they These kids don't know, so they protect a coach. They protect these administrators. And they're monsters and sheep's clothing who know better. And you don't have just one kid in that locker room who's being abused. The kids that had to watch.
were also abused and traumatized. And it has to stop. My son had to quit. That school. He ran away from the school, actually. He just couldn't take it anymore. We've had to take him out. He's thankfully found a school that um. Like you, sir, will not allow this to happen. But it doesn't mean when he goes to that locker room, that little bit of anxiety doesn't come over him.
And that is what we are here to fight for. His
Speaker 325
1:43:48
screams need to echo in our hearts and say change needs to happen, and I understand it's a a money issue, but I wanted you to see a face of what you're
fighting for, and I thank you. Thank you. Thank you, Ms. Edwards. Um. I'm just gonna dive in and say you uh cash and Eli, you guys have two incredibly strong mothers and um um it's Unfortunately, not the rule. It's the exception, but you guys
have strong moms and I also want to commend you too because, um, one of the hardest things you can do is, um, young boy coming a man is talking truth to power, so commend
you guys for standing up for yourselves. Any questions from committee. Nunn, thank you,
Ms. Edwards. Representative. Oh, we have, sorry, we have
Speaker 329
1:44:48
more, um, Audie, if you'd like to come to the table and introduce yourself, Mr. Chair, and Education Committee members, thank you for the opportunity to speak today. Huntsville, Lamar, and the most recent Bean Whitman. I will tell you that when the ipman parents reached out to me on June 14th, 2024. My world stood still. It is one of the most horrific things I've ever been told about in the world of education. that home and the fact that this one in a public setting that we are all paying for makes me
absolutely sick. The locker room should not be a torture chamber. After months of denial and attempted discrediting the parents and the victims at courthouse confession and snippets of a cell phone video and pictures yielded that all the events were true, and when the judge asked one of the perpetrators, why did you do this? We found out our suspicions and past stories were true. This type of behavior had been going on for years. The perpetrator admitted it had happened to him. I hope we have not gone to a world that has moved from the accountability on the shoulder of the bully to the
back of the victim. After going through this with these families, my mind, in my mind, prevention is key, and the only way to For student safety. Child safety should always be a top priority in installing audio recorders in locker rooms can serve as a crucial tool in preventing and addressing abuse while maintaining privacy is important. The reality is that a locker room can be vulnerable, a vulnerable space where misconduct can go unnoticed. Audio recording implemented with guidelines can deter potential abusers, provide evidence when necessary, and create a safer
environment for children. By ensuring that these recordings are are accessed when concerns arise, we can strike a balance between protection and privacy ultimately prioritizing the well-being of the child. Thank you. Thank you. um are there any questions
Speaker 330
1:46:33
from committee for this witness? Nunn, thank you for your testimony. Um, Ms. Melanie Fox.
If you wouldn't mind just uh say your name and who you're representing to the microphone for the record.
Speaker 331
1:46:51
Good morning, Melanie Fox. I am a former Little Rock School District board member and community advisory board member. I'm not gonna keep y'all long, I've got a lot of work to do, and I appreciate your work. Um, I'll go with Benjamin Franklin announced the prevention provides a pound of protection. And I can tell you why this is needed. We've got school districts with cameras all around the building with the exception of bathrooms and locker rooms. Um, they're not in bathrooms that long, so stuff happening in
there is not as, um, it's not happening as much as it is in locker room when they have dead time. And hang out. Um, as far as money is concerned, so far on this case, this has caused the school district probably 3, 5000 to date. They could have spent that money on this and taking care of it immediately. And made money, saved money. So I'd ask for a good vote on this. Thank you. Thank you, Ms.
Fox. Any questions from committee? See you then. Thank you for your testimony today.
We have no one else signed up to speak for or against anyone in the audience to speak for
or against the bill. Um, Chairman Brooks, you recognized to to close for your bill. Thank you, Mr. Chair, so I'm
not going to close for the bill, but I will pull the bill down to discuss with Nazarenko, anybody else who wants to, uh, amended language to, to tighten this up, uh, in, uh in address the issues, uh, and then I will bring it back
on Tuesday for a vote. Thank you, Mr. Chair. Thank you. And just as a primary representative committee members, if you do have amendments, go seek the sponsor. We're at the, you know, the last
few days of sessions, so as opposed to voting to build up
or down if we're going to make commitments to it, please do see the sponsor if I could just from a personal privilege uh perspective, I'd like to just highlight Eli and in cash, uh, again, as you did, Mr. Vice Chair, these two young men are beyond brave, um, you know, when I was 1314 years old, uh, definitely not worried about, um, a lot of big picture. Things like this, things that, that I should never have had to experience, uh, but to be two young men who are willing to not just uh hit the issue head on,
but to come out in public in a very, very public form in a committee of the House of the Representatives of the state of Arkansas, that's live streamed that is reported on and that is widely known, uh, I think that speaks to these young men's character and frankly to their desire to ensure that this doesn't happen to another young man or woman in the state of Arkansas. So I would like to commend them, uh, for being here and I hope that the committee and the audience would would join me in that.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. Thank you. Thank you. um. Being that the actual juror didn't give me a note who to call next. I'm going to
Speaker 340
1:49:58
call Representative Gramlich to present a series of bills. OK. I Uh thank you committee. Thank you, Chair Zach Gramli State Representative, District 50, Fort Smith. We're gonna start
with House Bill 1580 at the pleasure of the chair. Yes, so you recognize. Uh, how about 1580 is a bill that I brought before you, um, a few weeks ago. I, I mean, it feels like
Speaker 343
1:50:18
a couple of years ago now, but uh a few weeks ago concerning uh diabetes, uh, education, um, in our schools and there was some concerns about liability. There was, there's some concerns like that and so we what we did is just made the bill a lot more permissive, um. And I think one of the things
that will really um help help like make some people comfortable is it's very clear this is just providing educational information on stuff, and most specifically the last line, uh, the diabetes-related educational information, uh, provided by school districts of parents and guardians of students as required by the subsection is solely for the purpose of educational information and shall not be considered or construed to be for the purposes of providing medical diagnosis. Um, so again, you know, I, I actually talked with a member of the committee this morning about this. We have a, we have a lot
of kids who are, um, and families who are wholly ignorant to diabetes type 1 and type 2, and this is a way where schools are already giving out information on a variety of other things. We want to ensure that we get our families and our children educated, um. And, and honestly, the earlier we, we figured it out, um, the, the, the quicker and the ability to protect their lives in the future is much greater with that, I appreciate any questions. Are there any
Chair
Unverified
1:51:36
questions about the committee for Representative Grambly?
See none, I don't believe we have anybody else or anybody. Sandra to speak for or against the bill. What we
like to speak for or against the bill? See non-represented gram would you like to close rebuild? I'm closed and I would appreciate a motion to pass. Representative Grandma is closed for his bill. We have
a motion to pass on the table. Is there discussion on that motion? Did have discussion Representative Gonzalez for them. OK See no discussion, all in favor say
Speaker 340
1:52:09
aye. All opposed. Congratulations, Representative Gramick. You've passed your bill. Thank you, Chair. Thank you committee. Now, if it
pleases the chair, I'd like to run House Bill 1483. You're recognized
Speaker 343
1:52:18
HB 1483 1483 uh kind of supports some legislation or a bill that we ran a couple of days ago in here dealing with GEDs during the school day, um. One of, during my thought process when I had a suite of bills, and we'll talk about a couple more of them in a moment. Um. We discussed like incorporating GEDs into public schools so that a public school student could, you know, take a GED and they wouldn't have to drop out, which
would allow students to be able to, you know, have transportation to school, have meals, etc. and still be able to achieve their goal of getting something, uh, in this case a GED this meets the needs of some high risk kids who would rather just drop out and we might be able to give them the option of saying, hey, instead of dropping out, give us 2 or 3 months, we'll get you to the point so you can have a piece of paper and, you know, go and be. successful. Um, what this bill will do is it will allow for uh funding from uh adult ed to be to go and support that adult
education process during the school day. Um, I will, I will say we'll be amending it on the Senate side. It won't come from adult ed, it'll come from a different source, um, but the name escapes me, I could get my phone out and look unprofessional and figure it out, but, uh, the name escapes me, but I have that amendment ready, um, in the
Senate. Um, but that I, uh, take any questions. Represent Brent, no. No question, sorry, do you have a question? OK, in Brown, you
Representative Matt Brown
Unverified
1:53:43
recognized for a question. Uh, thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Graham, uh, Representative
Graham Graham ledge, um, one thing that I, I really like about this is that one point we had a youth challenge program out there at Camp Robinson, and that has been shut down and that youth challenge program did allow students to get their GED and um and
this, this might help some of those kids who don't have access to Youth Challenge anymore,
Speaker 343
1:54:08
yeah, I believe so, and, and to, yes, I would agree, um, and I think, you know. By implementing a program like this, it also helps, you know, districts all across the state
meet the needs of, of our kids. Um, also, um, as a clarification, it'll come from the skills development fund, um, that's where the funding would come from if the school chose to use
Representative Matt Brown
Unverified
1:54:26
it. And, and this is limited to a certain age group, yeah,
Speaker 343
1:54:29
it's gonna be, I would juniors and seniors, um, would be the ones who would be eligible for this. If they chose to, I, I, and to be clear, I don't want to push people down this path, you know, I would like kids to get high school diplomas, but to meet kids and their needs, I think they need to have it as an option. Thank you.
Representative Denise Garner
Unverified
1:54:48
Garner, you're recognized for a question. Thank you, Mr. Chair. I just have a question about the, the. Private contractors, do they have any oversight? Do we have any oversight
Speaker 353
1:55:00
over what they're doing or or. If they're getting public funds, do we, private contractors would be like adult
Representative Denise Garner
Unverified
1:55:06
education centers specifically. Um, what, what part? I'm just, I'm just wondering if If, if we're
giving. adult education centers, any adult education, I would say it's
Speaker 343
1:55:21
It's a great question. In my, in my, in my thoughts, this I would only allow, I would say I wouldn't allow, I don't know what this bill does, um, if a public school did not have the ability to provide its own GED classes during the day. It could contract with a third party, um, I can't imagine a third party who's an already involved in this being contracted with just because I feel like it'd be very nuanced. I know my specific situation, um, you know, we have Fort Smith Adult Ed, um, that already has a very close
partnership with the city and in my head. The district's gonna choose how to do it however they want to do it, but um if they wanted to have their adult ed teachers come over and teach the classes during the school day at the school, you know, that's, that's how that would be
Representative Denise Garner
Unverified
1:56:07
able to be supported using the funds like this. OK, so you're The folks that are doing Doing this sort of or or looking into this sort of thing. I, I'm just a little bit
Speaker 343
1:56:21
concerned about that they're credible. Well, I mean, I would say that, you know, these programs and would already be um accredited under, you know,
Speaker 359
1:56:30
workforce, you know, the Department of Do ed, um, but
Representative Denise Garner
Unverified
1:56:33
yes, I would hope that's the case and I wouldn't have any problems with that. Well, and, and to, you know, this is
Speaker 359
1:56:40
already contracts between public school districts and adult education programs. So Just kind of a little accountability and transparency,
Speaker 343
1:56:52
I appreciate that and, and, and I, and if, if you're amenable, we can figure out some language and I'll incorporate it
into in a minute on the Senate side. Are there additional questions about the committee? Seeing no additional questions, we do not have anyone signed up to speak for or against this bill. Would
you like to speak for or against the bill, say none. Representative Graham, would you like to close for your bill? I'm closed for my bill, and I would appreciate a motion to pass. Gramli is closed for his bill.
We have a motion to pass on the table. Is there any discussion on that motion?
Speaker 347
1:57:28
See no discussion all in favor say a all opposed. Congratulations for Representative Grandma, you passed your bill.
Speaker 343
1:57:33
Thank you, Chair. Thank you committee. Next, I'd like to move to House Bill 1642. 1642. Yes. Just
Speaker 143
1:57:39
give the committee just a moment for folks to pull that up, please. On the 3rd page of the agenda committee.
Speaker 343
1:57:55
You're recognized, uh. Thank you, Mr. Chair. Thank you committee. Um, a few days ago, we, uh, passed some legislation at a committee dealing with um. How, how, uh School graduate school level graduation rates affect, um, When a student drops out and receives their GED, there is still some discrepancy in how schools are rated, and I think we were trying to fix that a few years ago. Uh, what this bill does is finds another section in the law that connects to if a
student drops out and gets a GED, uh, it shouldn't count as a dropout, so it's an additional placing code that we're just trying to fix. And that I appreciate any
questions. Are there questions about the committee? So no questions. We do not have anybody signed up to speak for or against this bill. Would anyone like to speak for or
against the bill? See no Gramm, would you like to close for your bill? I'm closed for my bill, and I appreciate a motion to pass. Represent Graham is closed for
his bill. We have a motion to pass on the table a discussion
on that motion. See no discussion. All in favor say
Speaker 340
1:59:01
aye. All opposed. Congratulations Representing Grandma, you've passed your bill, and I'm going to do one more bill today, and that's going to be uh you're pushing it. Well, I'll push it this hard and that'll be it, uh, uh, I'm gonna do 1484.
member status on page 2 of your agenda. Representative Graham, like, you recognized
Speaker 343
1:59:22
to present HB 1484. Uh, thank you, Chair. Thank you
committee. Um, a lot of the previous bills that we've worked with have been me trying to set up a program, uh, so 1484 comes into effect. Uh well, 1484 is it aims to look at, uh, credit recovery, um, in our, in our districts. What is happening is our kids are have learned how to game the system. Um, some of you may know, my wife was a high school teacher and uh she had students. look her in the face and say, I don't need this class. I can do it in credit recovery. And so what is happening is students
are not doing the work, they're not in their classes, or they may come to class and they may skip or whatever, but they're not doing what they're supposed to do. They're earning their credits, doing a normal uh semester or normal year of class, um, and what's happening is I'm hearing stories across the state of one student in one district who um of the 22 required credits, he is doing 18 of of them in his senior year, and he's. going to complete that in about 3 months doing online credit recovery, and he's going to get a high school diploma and that's going to be the same diploma that someone in the top 10% of
the class gets. And to me, that's bad for business because a business doesn't know what a high school diploma means anymore. It's bad for It's bad for the student because they think that they were teaching these kids that you don't have to try, you don't have to endeavor, um, and it's, and it's really just bad for the community as a whole because we're really not understanding, you know, how our kids are doing and what our schools are doing because everyone's graduating. Everyone's getting a diploma, and we've kind of set this process process up, um, in a way where if a kid were to drop out and get a GED, you know, it
hurts the school, um, and we've made some fixes over the last few bills, so hopefully, if a student, you know, Gets their GED, they're fine. Um, but I'm, I as a teacher, I'm just, I'm not OK continuing to let this happen. I'm, I'm not OK continuing to let students, um, we push them, we give them every carrot they can. We try everything we can to get these kids engaged, and they choose not to be. And in the end, they just get to get off scot-free and to get their diploma and they move on and I just, that's
not OK for me. It's not OK for my teachers who feel like, why am I even trying? These kids know the system. That's not OK. That's not right. And so what I'm trying to do. There's a couple of things. One, I'm trying to strengthen what a high school diploma means in the state of Arkansas now by limiting the amount of credit recovery that a student can get. Um, and I'm trying to instill values into our kids that no, you, you have to do this, or there will be a consequence. Now, what we have the consequence now, you will not get a high school diploma unless you go further or do more, but we've set it up so we can have a GED program during the school
day so a student can still get. Something so they can go off and be successful in life, and when they get their life together in 10 years, they can go off and get an associate's degree or do whatever they want to do or apply for a higher education, but, but we have to create standards for our students when it comes to like the credits they earn. Now, I've been very, very generous. Uh, when I first dropped this bill, it was only 6 credit um. I, I worked with a number of uh
Uh, people across the state who they wanted it to go to 7 credits. I've had a number of, you know, exclusions for a variety of different situations. Students with IEPs have very specific things where they might need to enter into a course credit recovery program, uh, students who are in foster care and are highly mobile and, you know, they're having difficulties on their own, uh, division of youth services, homeless students, long term placement and mental health facilities, long-term places, placements, medical facilities, uh, pregnant students. I've, um, tier 3 intensive intervention
students, uh, I'm also allowing for open enrollment virtual charter schools, but if you're a student who comes to school and, and you have no reason to not be a part of the program and do the work and earn your diploma. We need to find you a pathway that's not just giving you a diploma through credit recovery. With that, I'll answer a couple of
Representative Denise Garner
Unverified
2:03:28
questions. Representative Garner, you recognized I actually hear lots of teachers talking about
the same thing, so I get, I get what you're trying to do. I would just um wonder if we could add ESL ELL learner because I do think that's one place where Um Depending on when they get there and actually Doctor Gonzalez Worthen could probably talk more about that, but I do think that should be a
Speaker 343
2:03:51
and I, I, I, I, I've thought about that, you know, I, I, you may know, I teach a school that's very diverse. I deal with a lot of that population, and I have kids in
my classroom who come in who speak zero English, um, you know. And I'm supposed to teach them at a high level, um, you know, I have, I have been wrestling with how do I interact with that specific subgroup, you know, like, obviously, you know, they may be able to do the work as far as in their native language, they understand how to do all the math and science but communicating that is difficult, um. I'm open to making amendments on that. Yeah, I'm open to making amendments on that, um, because I also don't think we have a great system set up right now to deal with those specific
subgroups in our, in our, in our
Representative Justin Gonzales
Unverified
2:04:41
schools, but I'd love to hear more. Epson Gonzalez were you recognize for a question. Yes. Um, well, to
follow up with Representative Garner, um, that, that is a group of students that English learners, they, they, they, um, They come in at all Grade levels and so if they're already at the high school level and then and then um they're also learning English. They're doing that along with their content and
And so it would take them. You know, a while, but if they had this. program in place, they could work
together. On that, so that that's, that's one, but I do have a follow-up question, um,
and that is, um, This doesn't impact those students and alternative learning environments, ALEs, or does it, well, I
Speaker 232
2:05:26
would say if unless they fall under one of these other things, yes and no.
Speaker 343
2:05:30
I mean, they could still receive a high school diploma if they
were to continue with their coursework. I guess another piece I would have an argument to on the second question. We'll go back to the first one, but on the second question is, I feel like we have consistently said as a legislature and as a committee, the GED is equivalent to a high school diploma, so. If they are an equal value, and we truly believe that, and they're going to get the same outcomes in life. I mean, how, how, how would we, how would we weigh that? And then I would also just kind of go back to your first part, um, and this is one of the things I did think about with the English language
learners is I've had both ends of the spectrum with my English language learners. I've had kids who have came in and are like, you can tell they're rock stars and they're trying and they're working their butt off and they're being successful, and I've also had kids come in who just aren't, you know, they, they don't want to be part of the program. They're ready to drop out as soon as they can and they never get involved and so, you know, I don't know how to thread the needle. And if I'm open to amendments and we can have some language and I'll amend it over on the Senate side where how I can differentiate between, is it That they're struggling because of their language, or is it that
they're struggling because they're choosing not to engage, you know what I mean? And it's, it's a, it's a high bar to overcome, but
Representative Justin Gonzales
Unverified
2:06:48
I think that's a conversation we could have. Um I was just looking at the, at the exceptions, um, and based on What I'm What I'm seeing there are you, you have students that are in that are in the alternative
learning environment ALE environment who who do have IEPs, some of them are in foster care, um. etc. So many of them fall into this, um, you know, they're, they're at risk for not graduating for a whole host of reasons and that's part of the ALE's role is to help expedite what is it that you need and some of them work and some of them do the credits. I'm just not, I'm just not sure. I know
that they do a credit recovery that's accelerated. I do know that, but what I don't know is how many,
you know, how many of those credits and that, that would be my only
Speaker 350
2:07:47
concern. And I would, I would say two pieces. First off, I did work with an ALE director to get
Speaker 343
2:07:52
this language and so this was a this was accepted and we worked and that's also how we got to 7 credits. I, I would say 2 pieces, 7 credits is a third of nearly 1/3 of the credits that you need. And if you were to do the whole process, you know, it seems like a lot of seniors. Have most their credits by their senior year, and they have 3 or
4 classes full anyway, so I almost see it as we can almost have 10 credits that kids could recover, 3 being in-person retaking the classes and the other 7 being, however, the credit recovery pro. thing would work. Um, and to your point with the ALE students, you're right, many of those ALE students will follow, fall under some of these, and so I, I, I didn't, I think when I think back, I didn't include ALE at the time because I wanted there, why are, why is this student in ALE? Is it because they're in these different environments and
that's why they're here, or is it because the student is chosen not to be a part of the program. We've put them in some, we've put them in a different environment to try to make them more successful. Um, again, I'm open to making those amendments with some conversation, um. But that that was my reasoning originally for not not including that subgroup because they would already follow fall in all these other, other exceptions. OK, thank you. Thank you.
Representative Rick Beck
Unverified
2:09:13
Represent Beck you recognized for a question. Thank you, Mr. Chair, um, I have some, some friends that are that are substitute teachers and, and they've talked just in passing comments about this and how they'll just go and pick up. are we actually trying to fix the symptom and not the problem. I mean, it seems like the problem is, is that for some reason, I can just at my choice
decide I'm going to take this abbreviated class or uh for lack of a better term, and, and, and I certainly an easier class, uh, and, and do this, so it seems like we're almost going after the symptom, not the problem. The problem you almost would say, how is it so easy for these, for these students to just slip into That with a credit recovery or whatever class. Yeah I understand. Sorry, I didn't interrupt, but anyway, I just that concerns me a little bit about. I, I like the bill. I like the intent.
You're obviously taking it in the right direction, uh, but it just seems like the the actual problem is, is that the, the credit recovery program for lack of a better word, is being misused and tighten that up I agree 100%, um, I would
Speaker 343
2:10:25
say a couple of things. There is a place for credit recovery, and, you know, 7 credits is about what a student could receive in one year. Um, and so if something bad were to happen to a kid, it was a bad time in their life, whatever, you know, I'm still giving them the option like. You still have an opportunity to be successful and earn a high school diploma. If, if you choose to do the work and do the
stuff, um, but no, I think you are right. I think we've created a system, and I think some of these GED things will help where a student drops out, but we've created a system where schools are scared to death to have students drop out and get their GEDs because it affects their school rating. And so instead of allowing that to happen, schools are choosing to ensure that everyone gets a high school diploma by putting them through these programs. And so I think. The previous bills that we just passed out will help to alleviate that sum. This most
students are not going to be affected by this. Most students. Will never have credit recovery problems, but some will, and, and a Representative Beck, I would say, yeah, there is, there is an issue that we need to go fix. I, I think this begins to fix it by saying, no, you can't just look at a teacher and say, I don't need you, I'll do this in your credit recovery. You can do that a couple times and then no, you have to do this. You're not going to be able to graduate with a high school diploma unless you are engaged, unless
you do the work, and unless you are, you know, striving to achieve. So I would love to work with you more in the future to figure out how we motivate students to be successful and not allow this stuff to happen, but I think this is a good first step. In
Representative Rick Beck
Unverified
2:12:01
the right direction. I, I, I agree and I will, I will be voting for the bill, but I would encourage you to because you obviously have expertise in this area. I'd encourage you to to keep drilling down and let's fix the problem. Absolutely.
Are there additional questions by committee? See no additional questions. We do not have anybody signed up to speak for or against the bill. See anybody like speak 4
Speaker 346
2:12:30
against the bill. Her Gramlich, would you like to clothes for your bill? I'm close for my bill and
Speaker 343
2:12:35
um I appreciate the conversation. I think this is really gonna start moving us forward in the right direction for um really strengthening our diploma and um graduating kids who can read on grade level because they did the work to make sure they could um with that, I appreciate a good vote,
Speaker 347
2:12:47
um, and I'd appreciate a motion to pass. Representative Grimwick is closed
for his bill. We have a motion to pass on the table from Representative Barker. Is there a discussion on
Representative Matt Brown
Unverified
2:12:59
the motion? Epson Brown, you recognized for discussion. I'll just be brave because I know we're busy, but you know, eventually these kids are going to have to go to work. And they're going to have to produce and they're going to have to be on time and they're going to have to do all the things that they needed to do to advance and if they can't do their school work. They're not going to make very
good employees and they're not going to be very successful, and I
appreciate this bill. I never even knew kids could do this. It's terrible. Thank
you. Seeing no additional discussions. I'm in favor say aye. All opposed. Congratulations, Representative Grandvill. You've pastor
Speaker 343
2:13:37
Bill. Thank you, Chair. Thank you, committee, and we're not going to be running the panic alert bill today, so. Thank you. Have a good one
on behalf of the committee, we appreciate. Uh, members without objection,
we will move somewhere on the agenda. To HB 1672 represented
McCollum. This does have an amendment, so staff will be passing out the amendment. If you're 1672.
Computer. We're thankful that you don't have a computer right now some code sir. Setting off everyone else's
Representative Austin McCollum
Unverified
2:14:13
alarms. Thank you, Mr. Chair. Thank you, committee. We have House Bill 1672 in front
Speaker 384
2:14:21
of you, as was mentioned, we have an amendment. give you
Representative Austin McCollum
Unverified
2:14:36
a few moments to Stare at that. While we're waiting on that and the amendment to be passed out, um, a glance at it with your
permission, Chair, I'd like to go ahead and have a considering. The origins of the bill go ahead and have someone from the
department if they'd like to come up and join me at the table. Yes, if you
Representative Austin McCollum
Unverified
2:14:57
would please, Secretary, introduce yourself for the record and you're recognized to join and then I'd say let's go ahead and make a motion
to uh let's get this amendment added, um, summary here is this is based off of feedback from some of the virtual charter schools. Y'all
can see what it does. Thanks. Person McCollum has presented his amendment. He's made a
motion to adopt the amendments. Is there a discussion on that motion? See no discussion, all I ever say aye. I'll opposed. Congratulations you've adopted
the amendment. You now recognize present HB 72 HB 1672 as admitted.
Representative Austin McCollum
Unverified
2:15:27
Thank you. So as amended, what you have in front of you today and the reason for me agreeing to run this bill, um, you know, my understanding is Over time we've had different types of waivers for really good reasons, different types of learnings, different types of students, um, but at some point, Um, it's got a bit out of hand. We want to streamline. That process in a few ways. Um
You know, I know Representative Graham, like, if he's still here, he, he actually teaches at a school of innovation, his first question to me was, are you putting me out of a job? And the answer is no. We're talking about definitions here, uh, you know, we're not talking about making schools go away, so Let me just run through a few notes here and then.
So for the schools of innovation part. Um, actually,
let me start with the district conversion charter schools. Currently, They do not have a written contract outlining performance standards, so this bill creates that timeline for the conversion charges to renew their contracts. Um, going right ahead. Another reason I wanted to agree. This is just the accountability piece. And you'll see a few of those lines. In the bill specifically.
For some of our schools that have had multiple years of F ratings, uh. We want to have the ability to
Speaker 390
2:17:13
revisit, so. else. You reckon you want You
Speaker 169
2:17:16
want to speak? I mean, you're welcome to speak. Jacob Oliva, Department of Education. Um, as representative, kind of gave an overview with the goal of this legislation does is take some very good legislation that we've operated under over the
past few years, maybe even a few decades, to make sure that we have high quality choice options for parents, students, and families. We believe in empowering parents. We, we want to make sure that when people are opening up as a choice option that they are of quality and value. And with the spirit of this bill does is make sure that when a charter goal or charter network wants to come up and operate in the state of Arkansas that the process in the application has some performance expectations and we
shouldn't just be rubber stamping a school that just wants to come in and open and then not be held accountable for outcomes and student performance. The majority of our charter schools that are operating in the state do a fantastic job. We do have some underperforming charter schools typically where we have some historical underperforming charter schools, they also have some financial um incidents where they're having struggling to maintain balances and uh adequately fund the programs that they were designed
and intended to improve. So what this language does is it makes the process a little bit more streamlined through the charter authorizing panel while maintaining oversight by the state Board of Education that puts and embeds over time performance expectations that are going to be in the application to make sure that the schools are able to demonstrate the intent. The charter To, to, to our agency, we look at it very clear. When we started, we signed a charter uh to be approved. It's a contract. It's a contract that you're going to deliver and meet on
these expectations. So we have some very strong language in here that we have not had in the past that basically says if you're an F-rated charter school for 3 years in a row, your contract is null and void. We're no longer just gonna let you stand in stand up and continue to operate a failure factory. no accountability. So I'm really grateful that uh we were able to work with a lot of our community partners. We did have some amendments because we don't want to hurt our innovative charters such as virtual. We have some dropout prevention folks. We
want to get all of their voices heard, and I think we did a really good job bringing
Representative Austin McCollum
Unverified
2:19:40
this piece of legislation to to be considered today. Yeah, I, I didn't intend to just glance over the amendment earlier. I wanted to get it adopted so y'all seen but to the secretary's point, I mean, we took a lot of input on this. You'll see the bill number. Uh, 1672, so it has been out there for a little while. We did take a lot of input and specifically we want to make sure that students who were learning in a virtual environment, not just Every now and then, but that being the main focus of their
learning that we weren't penalizing them in unnecessary way because they didn't have
some of the physical assets that some of the other schools
Representative Justin Gonzales
Unverified
2:20:19
had, so. happy to take any questions. Questions? Anyone? in Gonzalez. Yes, um, I believe this is already um in, in here, but I just want to clarify because I did have a question, um, and that is those who already have current um schools of innovation.
OK. Can they still get waivers with the conversion charter school. In our district we
Speaker 169
2:20:43
have uh 3 at least. So, so the answer to that is yes, the, the waivers aren't gonna go away. What, what, what we're trying, what we're trying to get away from is over the past decade or so, every charter application that came to the state under innovation checked that they needed a waiver from all rules and laws. Do they really need every rule and law waived in their application,
because now it's happened is through the over the legislative. years we've mirrored that language that says if a charter school gets a waiver, then any public school can get a waiver, and now that everybody's got a waiver and we have over 8000 waivers currently in statute and rules across the state. The work that we do means nothing because we don't hold anybody accountable. So what we've done is put a practice in place that says, let's honestly look at the rolls and waivers we need and make sure they're aligned to the mission and vision of your school, and we want to work with you to help get that across the finish line.
So there's a timeline that this is going to take place. There there there the goal is not to have any unintended consequences. We want to support innovation. We want to support um uh alternative approaches to improve student outcomes and, and this bill will make sure that we take. take
Representative Austin McCollum
Unverified
2:21:54
that into consideration. Yeah, and thanks for your question. So answer is yes, obviously we want to still maintain flexibility, but when I heard some of the numbers that were
mentioned when we started talking about this bill, definitely made sense to me to bring more of a streamlining
Representative Justin Gonzales
Unverified
2:22:10
process to this and I follow up. I appreciate that and, and yes, we do need
to look closely at those who are not performing um at high levels. I mean, that's, we want all of our kids to be performing at high levels, so that's great that you're looking at. Looking at those a little closer. Thank you. Are there additional questions by the committee? Yes. Herson McGruder. Recognize.
Representative Jessie McGruder
Unverified
2:22:42
I was looking at page 77 page 8, Uh, in regard to the certification process and I, and I love what you just stated that we're not blanket cert certifying uh charter schools anymore. I, I love the concept of the bill. Uh, so are we saying that the Waivers for all teachers at charter schools is that is that part of this? It's my question. Sorry, can you say the last part again? Uh, basically charter schools are exempt from certifications, uh, the teachers
aren't, don't have to be certified, are we saying that that no longer will be
Speaker 169
2:23:21
in play or we're we're looking at that I, I think that's an excellent question. So earlier in this session, I think um some of you may remember that we worked on a certification bill to make sure that we get away from just giving a charter a blanket waiver on certifications, a school. district or a public school and put teachers on paths, so the charter schools would work with
our agency for any person that may be um on a a temporary license or not, not on a standard operating license, we can put that teacher on a pathway towards a standard license because that's the goal for everybody. um, they may need to still continue some waivers, uh, just like any other district we would work with on an individual basis, but we want to just get rid of just saying certification doesn't matter, you know, following all the rules and laws doesn't matter. Let let's talk about what you really need to make sure that we're we're doing
what's right for your students in your community. Thank you, Mr. Chair. Say motion chair
at the proper time. We'll take that motion in the proper time. Are there additional questions from the committee. So this, and this won't close schools in the middle of the year, correct? That is correct. Seeing no additional questions. There's no one signed up to speak for or against the bill. Representative McCollum, would you like to close for your bill?
I closed. I appreciate all y'alls time today. Orson McCollum has closed for his bill. He's made a motion to do pass. Is there a discussion on that pass as amended amended. Thank you for correcting me. What should you pass that any discussion on the motion, seeing none all if I ever see a. All
opposed. Congratulations Refson McCollum. You've passed your bill as amended. Members without objection, we are going to move to representative Volt. Who was wow, there we go.
I knew it was going to come at some point. I believe, uh, I'm not going to quote what bill she's going to start with. I believe she's going to attempt to rival Representative Gramlich and do a Bellapalooza for us. Representative Vaugh, I believe
a couple of years have amendments. So I will let you Mr.
Representative DeAnn Vaught
Unverified
2:25:36
Chair, I just want to make sure that you saw Senator English, she might want to go before me so she can
get back to the English and and I did talk with her and Sirley would always want to defer to the Senate chair. however, I don't believe she's here to run
Representative Stephen Meeks
Unverified
2:25:48
a bill. She's here just because she loves us. Oh wow, what an honor it is to have her
in the room then. Always. Is there one that you want me to start with, sir? I don't have them in
Representative DeAnn Vaught
Unverified
2:26:00
order, it is up to your pleasure which you wanna choose. Um, can we go to, uh, I'll
Speaker 5
2:26:07
try to start with the easier ones. How about that?
Representative Stephen Meeks
Unverified
2:26:11
Always appreciated, whatever that means in this committee. Uh We can go to House Bill 1710. You've already heard this one,
I worked with Senator McKenzie have an amendment, I believe. Yes, sir. Yes, will pass the amendment out. Uh, Dan bought District 872. I didn't introduce myself. I'm sorry. Sorry, I should have asked you.
Representative DeAnn Vaught
Unverified
2:27:21
But we all have the amendments Representative, if you'd like to explain the amendment. The amendment is adding Senator Kroll, and then it is also the amendment that, uh, representative McKenzie worked with me on where we just took out a communications out of that, uh, line 29. And
uh yeah, no, that's the only spot, yeah. Sorry. With that, I would appreciate a
good boat. Personal has presented the amendment. Is there any
questions on the amendment, seeing none. We have a motion to adopt the amendment. All in favor CI. Paula Post, congratulations you adopted
Representative DeAnn Vaught
Unverified
2:28:00
the amendment. Now you recognize present HB 1710 as amended. Thank
Representative Stephen Meeks
Unverified
2:28:03
you, Mr. Chair. Again, I think it's really good if schools are cheering for themselves, cheering on what they do at their school. I just don't like to see advertisements where we're knocking down other schools, and that's what this bill will do. Everything but the communications. back you're recognized for a question.
Representative Rick Beck
Unverified
2:28:24
I I was reading as I was reading this and I'm, I apologize for not getting with you earlier, but, but. Let's just needle a little bit about um You know, I have a list of schools and their writing. And the school district puts it out. Is that a violation of this,
not if it's in communication. No, sir. Uh I'm
good with that. Thank you, sir. So I'm gonna follow up with Representative Beck's question
just so I can clarify because I wanna hear when we first uh discussed this one. So publicly available information, which is a school rating, so that can still be communicated by a different school district, by a different communications, yes sir, yes sir. Reson McCollum,
Representative Austin McCollum
Unverified
2:29:09
you're recognized for a question. Thank you, Mr. Chair, I was just curious of like an
example of what you're talking about, like the, the problem at hand that you're trying to solve for? Well, so I'll say that not
Representative Stephen Meeks
Unverified
2:29:27
I think we have a problem with our grading system as it is right now. And this would not be able, this would not allow, say, a private school to go out and do communications against a public school for a rating in which the private school doesn't get rated for, that would be an example. Or you could say that one school building and one district brings down everybody's grade to that entire district, one building. Not that it's not the whole campus, but you could say,
That this school has a D rating when in reality the district may have
Representative Austin McCollum
Unverified
2:30:09
a C rating. Because of one building. Thank you. On your. first part of your answer, so you're saying if a private, you would not want a private school to be able to Show the rating of
Representative Stephen Meeks
Unverified
2:30:19
a public school. They can communications, but they can't in advertising. Correct. Just in advertising.
And it's any school. I just say, I mean, I was just trying to use an example of something that it
Representative Austin McCollum
Unverified
2:30:37
could be. Does that make sense what I'm saying? Uh, yeah, your answer made
Speaker 173
2:30:43
sense. I was. I just didn't understand. Yes, sir. Yeah. Help me understand, understand what would be our
Representative DeAnn Vaught
Unverified
2:30:48
distinction between communications and advertising. I might have to get representative McKenzie to help me with that because he's the one that brought that
Chair
Unverified
2:30:54
to my attention last time. Can I ask a question? You
are recognized last year. Wouldn't you agree? so and thank you for working on the bill and
making it um better, um. Advertising is for the purpose of enticement. So it's very broad level. It could be for the purpose of commerce, but in this instance it's the change of behavior, um, communication and again definitions aren't in here, but communication, albeit it's been now removed, would be any form, and that's the that's what the problem I addressed when you first presented the bill is any, any time that a um a school district or school would be uh to communicate a parent of the school district or otherwise in any form, so any
trace amount of information that was supposed to be sent, um. is considered communication. Advertisement, it's like a funnel goes further down where it's for the purpose of enticement for commerce or for a change in behavior, um, that's, that's why I had a little bit of balk at that because um apparent that that again this is a hypothetical scenario we're to reach out to a school district get interested in transferring, you know, on a choice waiver or on a uh choice transfer, uh, hey, can you tell me some information, some socioeconomic or demographic or course offering, um, anything that school district.
could say, as in a relative comparison would have been uh not allowed under your bill, so this changes it slightly, um, and I still have reservations about advertisements and, and, um. Uh, conscripting what any enterprise, whether they're state or locally owned, says broadly, but
you did make the change that I asked for, so. Wouldn't you agree?
I do agree. So the bill says school, would they still be able to, because it, it doesn't To find that maybe as narrowly
as we need to, so will they still be able to reference a school district because theoretically they can uh mention a school which may be Bob's Elementary that is an F and I apologize to Bob, uh, there is an F-rated school, um, and they mentioned that or maybe um You know, there's a couple of good schools in the district that are A rated. However, the district overall is a D-rated school, so this doesn't say they can't do that with the district. So is that potentially a challenge here? It may be. I
Representative DeAnn Vaught
Unverified
2:33:05
didn't perceive it to be that way. Um I apologize Apologize on noticing that before now. If you go down to
line 32, it just, it tells you what school is. And it does say district a public school district. OK.
Representative Rick Beck
Unverified
2:33:37
Epson Beck, you're recognized for a question. About this And, and I was OK until we started talking. So I, I didn't quite catch it, but how, how can we tell a private entity that we are not, you know, I can see you, we might attach it to the Freedom accounts or something like that, but if they're a private entity, how, how come they not use public
Representative DeAnn Vaught
Unverified
2:34:03
information that but why would we allow a school to use
Representative Rick Beck
Unverified
2:34:09
tax dollars to bash other schools. It's public information that what I'm saying is that's information that's available to the public, and it's already available to them, you're correct. So and there are private entity. And you're saying you cannot say this even though this is public information which one's the private entity, a school, a private school that's a private
Representative Stephen Meeks
Unverified
2:34:31
entity. So you think the private schools should be able
Representative Rick Beck
Unverified
2:34:34
to. Well, I think it'd be extremely tacky if they did it, but, but I, I'm
just saying I don't know that we can say that you couldn't do that because that's
kind of like Big Brother coming in and saying, Whoa, you know, we're we're gonna tell you what you can say and what you can't
Representative Stephen Meeks
Unverified
2:34:52
say and it's like, hey, I'm, I'm just a private entity. So public school. don't have that same right is what you're saying. You don't think a public school should be able to advertise, they should be, not be able to advertise against another school, even if it's proven that that school
isn't doing well. Say it again, I don't think I don't think I quite caught you you think you're saying private should be able to do this,
Representative Rick Beck
Unverified
2:35:21
but you don't think a public should be able to. Because that's not a private entity what I'm saying, what I'm saying is I don't think we have the right to go and tell a private entity that they can't use. or the freedom to tell private entity that you can't use this public information that we put out there.
Whereas I, I can see with a public school, you could say, wow, you know, it's a it's a taxpayers pay for this blah blah blah. We don't want you guys doing that. I, I, I guess I, I'm a little bit wishy on that,
but I'm OK with that. But I think a private entity school would, could do that, but again, I agree it would be extremely uh non-professional, I should say, for them to do that, but I just don't think that we have the right to say that. other I guess we could. I think they were restricting somebody that, you know, we're
kind of overstepping our maybe we're over our skis a little bit
Representative DeAnn Vaught
Unverified
2:36:17
with this is my point. Wouldn't you agree? No, I wouldn't, but that's
Representative Wade Andrews
Unverified
2:36:21
OK. That's part of the process of Andrews you recognize. Thank you, Mr. Chair. Represent, I understand what you're trying to do, but I think there's still somewhat of a First Amendment issue going on here. I, I think I'd rather. I,
I think I'd rather see maybe the rules bank process of saying.
Let's let's not be vindictive, but let's not outright ban that let them, you know, advertise letter grades, um, because I think there is a way that even public schools can, um, Advertising in a good fashion of hey, We, we're this writing our competitors, you know, let's, let's use free market principles into this or this other grade and. Maybe tell them not, let's not do it in a vindictive way, but let's just, I don't agree with
outright banning, you know, advertising of, of letter grades. OK
Representative Stephen Meeks
Unverified
2:37:17
With Mr. Chair permission, I'll pull it down. I'll try again. I'll work on it some more. Certainly your purview to do
that. I'm happy to allow. I believe we still have a couple of
Representative DeAnn Vaught
Unverified
2:37:28
questions. I mean, I'll pull it down. We
ain't got all day, so I'll pull it down very accurate. so members who do have additional questions, if you would please, I encourage you to follow up with Representative Vaught, um, to make sure we get this where it needs to be to
accomplish what she wants to accomplish. So, uh, we're pulling that one down and you are recognized to go wherever you want to in terms of 1806. 1806 that is on the 3rd page I believe it, no, 2nd page. This does have an amendment as well as staffs passing that amendment out. As they pass it out
Representative Stephen Meeks
Unverified
2:38:56
recognize spread in your. Thank you, Mr. Chair. DM District 87. Uh, we're gonna, on page 2, line 5 delete materials and substitute materials if funding is available. Representatives presented the amendment
we have a motion to adopt is a discussion on that motion, seeing none. All if ever say
aye, all opposed. Congratulations, you've adopted the amendment. Now you're recognized to present
Representative Stephen Meeks
Unverified
2:39:20
HB 1806 as amended. Thank you, Mr. Turnittee. The the bill would create an accessible online
source for educators and parents of K through 12 public school students to search for, review summaries, and read the full content of the textbook by district, school and grade. At the Arkansas Division of Elementary and secondary education would establish and maintain a statewide portal of K through 12 instructional and library materials for public school faculty, parents and guardians that, uh, the portal would also provide school
administrators and teachers with uniform access to the Arkansas school standards
Representative DeAnn Vaught
Unverified
2:40:02
and a single spot, uh, which would be automatically updated to comply with changes and rules. rules
and requirements. Families could also opt out of the library materials. the portable,
Representative Stephen Meeks
Unverified
2:40:19
through the portal as desired. The bill would allow families to review, engage with their children's instructional and a library materials.
Um The vendor uh pulls the curriculum by ISBN number. And handles all the organizational of this, uh, and there's really no work for the district. Um 15+ years of delivering this company is, I guess, has 15 years of delivering cost efficient, user friendly platforms and digital solutions,
custom designed by experienced teachers from state education agencies including Texas, Tennessee, and Florida. And it's called the FDOE transparent transparency tool. And with that, I'll take questions, but if there's too many, I got to get somebody to come sit
Representative DeAnn Vaught
Unverified
2:41:17
down beside me. Person makes you recognized for a question. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. So I
Representative Stephen Meeks
Unverified
2:41:30
just reviewing the bill and some of your, some of your, your comments here, uh, and just make sure I understand what we're doing here. So this is the, the DEE will we'll do this. And on this website, they're gonna list every book in every school library across the state and that so parents can review and I guess it would differentiate what's each school, and then it says, um, that a parent may opt out of his or her child.
assessing library media, uh, materials, uh, not necessarily opposed to that, that I'm just kind of interested how that would work and, and, uh, practice. So, you know, if I'm a parent and I say, you know, I don't, you know, book X, Y, Z is concerning to me. I don't want my child to look at that. So as every school librarian going to have a list of every book that a parent doesn't want or how how is
that just how walk me through that in practice. Also, if you would please introduce yourself
Speaker 454
2:42:26
for the record. Austin Grinder with Moleix and Associates.
Speaker 455
2:42:31
Yeah, that, that's how it would work, um, exactly kind of as, as you
Speaker 454
2:42:35
detailed it, um, they would pull the ISBN numbers from the relevant library, the parent or guardian would have a portal um where they could go on and and look through those books and search for any books that they're already aware of that they don't want their kids to read or be able to check out, um, and uh they would be able to select those and then The, the librarian would also have a portal where, where she was notified
Representative Stephen Meeks
Unverified
2:42:57
of that. Selection, right, so my, my, my concern is not on the, the
parent side. My concerns on the librarian side. So if I'm the librarian and a kid walks up and wants to check out a book. Do I need to then go to this portal every time a kid wants to check out a book and see if that, you know, is on the list, or are we going to scan something and the computer will flag it or how so
Speaker 454
2:43:17
yes sir, they, they all have ISBN numbers and that they would scan it before they checked it out and it would come up as a
flag. OK. By Sher MacKenzie, you recognize. Two questions. First is I see a potential bogey
written into this bill that view of a of a full textbook, OK, so uh it. On its face, we love that idea because we won't be able to see what our kids read. These are trademarked books. They're copywritten. I don't know how we would get around a lawsuit or any district would get around a lawsuit from McGraw Hill for
publishing their copywritten material for free and public consumption. Go ahead. Yes, sir. It's, it's a good question.
Speaker 454
2:43:55
So the way these school books work is they have a copyright or use if you um have them if you pay to use them in
your school that you also extends to um the teachers, parents, and, and the students. So they would have the ability to to view
that material so just as a follow up, the,
so you're gonna have to refresh me. This is all content. This would be all content, so there's 22 portions, curriculum being one portion and
then and then. books being the portion. So, uh, I'm a 11th grade in British literature, um, professor teacher in a school. I want my students to read um the
writings of either CS Lewis or Beowulf, um, I, I would have to safely assume that they don't have all copyrights for all books that may be on a supplementary curriculum. I get for larger textbooks, yeah, that makes total sense, um, especially as we go through like the use rates of those, um, any teacher that has to, you know, could do a supplement or ask something of it. Now I'm now thinking about another bogey in that. What if a teacher on the fly outside of or supplemental to their supplemental curri uh curriculum wants to ask for a prescribed reading, then they wouldn't be
in compliance with this law if they don't immediately put it on this platform, uh, but B. We could catch ourselves again in the same situation that I bring up, you know, some type of a copyright lawsuit for some school district, and we talk a lot about our districts being, you know, underfunded or underprepared for some of these laws that we do pass, so that would, that would be my first, uh, wouldn't you agree? Second, this seems like this is vendor specific, um, is this vendor specific? No, they're,
Speaker 454
2:45:28
there are other vendors in the space besides the one that I obviously represent. OK, um, you know, we've done
this, this session and last where we're unwinding the spool on um crafty specifically crafted bills that, you know, only allow for our friends at the Department of Education to, based on the way the law is written contract with a specific sole source vendor, so I go to the RFP, well, we have to only fulfill it for this one company because you know there's some line tagging and I'm not gonna go through all of it with lice comb, but I just raise a flag of concern because, you know, I, I've been on this committee now 2 sessions
each time we've had to kind of dig ourselves out of a hole we've
Speaker 455
2:46:10
created for ourselves in the past, so wouldn't you
Speaker 454
2:46:13
agree? Yeah, I, I understand the concern. Um, I would say I think there's vendors in the space, um, and I, I, I've had conversations with the Department of Education that, you know, about there being multiple vendors in the space. In terms of a supplemental curriculum, I mean, our intent is that, you know, for the curriculum portion of it, it's about, you know, textbooks and curriculum and, you know, the library book portion is, is a different portion of that, uh. The bill Represent me you recognize for a
Representative Stephen Meeks
Unverified
2:46:38
question. Thank you. Uh, I, I just uh listening to all the great features that the system would have, I got to thinking, well, surely there's a price tag
to it. So I pulled up the deal and I see it does have a price tag of up to $2.5 million. So, um, with uh this may beresentative Vau, uh, where's the money coming from?
It's going to be my, my question and is the department, uh, you know, what's their thoughts on this? Well, I would
Representative DeAnn Vaught
Unverified
2:47:01
think that we would not be able to vote on this because it does have a price tag, but I
Representative Stephen Meeks
Unverified
2:47:08
could present it and then at the end, we could. Talk about where moneys are at and if
money would be available. OK, uh, and then follow up, uh, has any schools piloted this to see, you know, before we roll it out across the entire state, any local schools actually already doing this and what, uh, what are they saying? Yeah, I'll add to the end of
Representative Sonia Eubanks Barker
Unverified
2:47:30
her response that it does say if funding available, so I mean if if there's not funding available or designated for it, then it doesn't happen. Um, and then not
to my knowledge, in Arkansas, um, for the client that I represent, um, it has it's, um, President statewide in Tennessee, Texas, and Florida, I believe. OK, but,
Representative Stephen Meeks
Unverified
2:47:49
but a school could do this without legislation, correct? Yeah, personal preference. I'm
not opposed to this, but I think I would be interested in seeing a couple of pilot projects across the state just to get, just to see how it works before we tell every school district,
thou shalt do this. I understand, just personal preference.
In a no no process, Representative Valt is correct in terms of the voting on this because it does
Representative Justin Gonzales
Unverified
2:48:20
show a fiscal impact that will not happen until next week. Represent Gonzalezoren, you're recognized for a question. Yes, um, you mentioned that this is already being, um, Done in Texas and what, what were the other states? I don't know all the states that Texas, Florida, and Tennessee. OK, so in, in, in my district we have the largest number of English learners and um predominantly Spanish speaking
and Marshalle speaking. So as a parent wanting to know what that curriculum is, the curriculum and the materials. Would, would it be available in
Representative Sonia Eubanks Barker
Unverified
2:48:51
their native language? I, I don't know that I have a concrete answer for you. I, I would say that if the book is available in both English and Spanish by ISBN then they could certainly, I mean they, they would, they would go and look at IP up once the school notified them,
Speaker 454
2:49:04
that's what they were using and then if there was the Spanish version available, I would think they could also add that into the portal but I. That's, that's me speculating.
Representative Hope Duke
Unverified
2:49:19
Or some do you recognize for a question. Sorry. You're just used to having a light on, um, thank you, uh, Chairman and
thank you, uh, Representative for bringing this. I pretty much think everyone got the questions that I asked before it ever got around to me, but I did have very similar questions as far as the curriculum, the supplementals, the stuff on the fly of teachers. I think the library piece is Could be helpful cause I know that I've had conversations in the districts in my district of
parents who want to be able to opt their kids out of it, but I don't know what that looks like. So all the, and, and the price tag is very concerning as well, but I understand that we're waiting on that, so wouldn't you
agree that I'm just going to turn my microphone off, wouldn't you agree? I would agree.
Are there additional questions about the committee? See no additional questions. We do not have anyone signed up to speak for or against this bill. Would anyone like to speak for or against the bill? See none. Represent vault, would you like
clothes for your bill? I'm closed. Represent fought is closed for a bill. And we're not going to be voting on it, so. We will just hang out. Uh, Representative Bot, would you like to
Representative DeAnn Vaught
Unverified
2:50:30
move to another bill? Yes, sir. How about House Bill 1719. I
believe this one also has an amendment. So staff will pass that amendment out and then we'll let restaurant present the amendment.
And members just while they're doing that, just a note of scheduling, um, you know, not everybody is here, but uh I'm gonna go ahead and throw this out there, uh, so I would like to propose that, that after session today that we come back in, that we just recess, we come back in at least for a time. I know a lot of people have to drive, you want to get home. I absolutely appreciate that, uh, but I think it would be important for us as we try to clear out house bills specifically, uh, that would come back at least for 30, 30 minutes to an hour to knock some more out. The one thing we love about this committee is that we vet everything with extreme. Detail, which is good, but it
also causes us to take a little bit longer on, on bills. So uh I want to just for a note of scheduling and also I likely will call a meeting on Monday, so we will likely meet 3 times next week, uh, likely Monday, I believe that Representative, uh, Barker is, is doing agent children youth Monday morning at 10 or 10:30, so it's likely that I will call a meeting for
perhaps 11 o'clock on Monday morning, uh, so
Representative DeAnn Vaught
Unverified
2:51:45
we can continue to hear more bills. Purpose of all you're recognized District 87, uh, the amendment is adding Senator Davis and on page one.
And on page one, line 26, we're deleting school year and substituting
and contract year. We have a motion to adopt a discussion
on the motion, seeing none all if ever say aye. All opposed. Congratulations you you adopted youritment. You now
Representative Stephen Meeks
Unverified
2:52:11
recognize to present HB 1719 as amended. Thank you, Mr. Chair. When we pass learns, we were given school districts an opportunity to be able to give teachers up to 12 weeks of paid leave, uh, our, we were half it between.
The department and the school had to pay the other half. Representative Andrews ran a bill the other day where it would make it where it would all come from the department side. Um, and I did like that bill. I, I still do like that bill. Um, but, uh, there's a little loophole right now that they're using, uh, to actually kind of, um, punish teachers for having children at a certain time of the year. So, um, I didn't know about this until my daughter had a child.
Uh, and they counted her 2 weeks of Christmas, even though she was going to get those already as part of her maternity leave. And, and which are not contract days. And so she ended up haven't losing weeks, what she thought was gonna be was the two weeks of Christmas that she would normally get as a teacher, plus the 4 weeks for maternity leave, and that's not what happened because of a loophole of how they were reading what we passed through learns. Uh, I
went to the department and asked the department, is that what we intended to do? I was told no, that is not what the intention was, so I'm just trying to fix the loophole where we're not punishing teachers
Chair
Unverified
2:53:41
for having babies at certain times of the year. By Sher MacKenzie, you recognize for
a question? I appreciate this. But that's standard practice in the corporate world. FMLA, the 1st 6 weeks of anyone's leave to extend beyond the 6 weeks because of the way the insurance policies are written because that's how, that's how people
get paid, you know, payment isn't a direct, it's not a direct labor payment. It's we're going to enact a policy to pay for your FMLA and then after that, the, the company typically is on the hook to pay for whatever else they offer as a benefit, but it doesn't allow for any previously, and this is my limited experience that I've worked for some larger companies and State of Arkansas, but that's standard practice, so I understand that that maybe. Perceived as a loophole, but that's that's how the rest of non-state run entities kind of operate and that's
uh no value judgment. I think this is a fine
Representative Stephen Meeks
Unverified
2:54:30
bill. I'm just saying that's kind of how the rest of the world does it. Well, schools are not like the rest of the world though there, it's a completely different aspect of completely different thing. And if we want highly qualified teachers to return back to the school and teach our children at an adequate education or above adequacy even. Then they also should, they should not be punished because they have a child, and they should be able to stay home with that child and nurture that child for how many weeks the school gives and shouldn't be
punished by what days they were already going to receive, regardless, because of their contract. And that's the reason. Because it's not like a regular business because they have different. Holidays they take and and all that. Yeah, and just
to say I guess more of that, that's more of a statement to the fact that Albeit we, yeah, you're right, it's, it's a state run entity. It's it's municipally or state-owned, but insurers don't see that any differently when, when an insurer says, hey, we're gonna provide a short term
disability benefit they you are, you own a contract and we write, we write a policy for you regardless, so I, I do wonder if that will have an impact on premiums if we're gonna say, so as we write the law, We have to supplement the two weeks or however much time of a holiday in direct labor payments versus
having them be able to draw down against a short term disability FMLA plan that they not all the schools
Representative DeAnn Vaught
Unverified
2:55:54
do FMLA just so you know. I don't
Representative Stephen Meeks
Unverified
2:55:56
know how many do and how many don't. I do know the school she goes to does not do that. So
that was not an option for her. And she still had to pay back. Into her insurance. I don't know if you realize that, but they do for every day they're gone, they do have to pay back into the insurance, so she's not.
Representative DeAnn Vaught
Unverified
2:56:15
Basically not getting a check because she's still paying back into insurance makes for a question.
Representative Stephen Meeks
Unverified
2:56:24
OK, thank you, thank you. um, so I just want to make sure I understand this. You're talking about Christmas break, 2
weeks. So under this, a teacher, we did
the 12 weeks. So under this a teacher instead of having a twelve-week break would have a 14-week break.
Representative DeAnn Vaught
Unverified
2:56:40
Is that correct? Not necessarily, because not all schools are actually even
Representative Stephen Meeks
Unverified
2:56:44
doing 2 weeks. They're not, I mean, a lot of schools don't buy into this. and have not done this. There's very few that have done it. Um, so they don't all get 12, but yes, she would, you would already get that two weeks regardless. Regardless, she would be getting those 2 weeks.
Representative DeAnn Vaught
Unverified
2:57:03
So I was just saying, let's don't hurt a teacher by having a baby when, you know, you can't always control
Representative Stephen Meeks
Unverified
2:57:08
when you're gonna have a child, of course, um, but so in essence, if
it falls across the Christmas break, you know, we've got the, the, the 12 weeks. I'm assuming that's going to become law. So 12 weeks becomes 14 weeks. Would that be correct, or is it still gonna be 12 weeks? I would assume it would still be
Representative DeAnn Vaught
Unverified
2:57:25
that 2 weeks would not be counted against that teacher by then it would become 14 weeks,
Representative Stephen Meeks
Unverified
2:57:33
so that would be the same thing for a summer break. A teacher could have a baby at Spring break, and then she could be off until August if they've built in the 12 weeks. So those are also going to get all those
Speaker 487
2:57:46
extra weeks. Which would they would normally be getting off,
Representative Stephen Meeks
Unverified
2:57:50
right? Right, so I, I, I guess the concern I'm, I'm, I'm trying to maybe dance around here a little bit as if that's true if the if the 12 weeks it falls across Christmas, so we add those to the end of the end and now we're 14 weeks
now the teachers out of that classroom even longer and, and, uh, you know, and it's not, not fair to the other employees because that 12, you know, that, that teacher's being paid for that 12 weeks off, regardless of whether it falls across the holiday or
not? No, they're not. So those, the two weeks of Christmas are not considered contract days. They do not get paid for those days. OK,
so, so I'm Mr. Chairman, I hope, I hope I'm not, so just make sure I'm, I'm understanding this, so. As it stands right now, teachers do not get paid for Christmas break.
Representative DeAnn Vaught
Unverified
2:58:39
It's not a day and I'm looking at the department's a day. Can I have Miss Courtney come, Pretty pleased because it's not a contract
Representative Stephen Meeks
Unverified
2:58:53
date. How funny. We appreciate you not being a subject matter expert on that, Secretary Aliva, we appreciate that. I'm gonna try to take what's probably something simple and muddy
it up as much as I can here. The sauceport if you would please, introduce yourself for the record and you're recognized to be the subject matter expert.
Representative Stephen Meeks
Unverified
2:59:02
So, so again the question is, is do we pay teachers for Christmas break? No, it's, it's typically it's
Speaker 489
2:59:11
not considered a contract day with most teacher contracts. So they
Representative Stephen Meeks
Unverified
2:59:14
typically are not getting paid. OK, so under this provision, then what we're saying is, is that if it happens across that, then the teacher
Speaker 490
2:59:25
would be paid for Christmas break. Under the proposed legislation would not be paid the, the 12 weeks would not start until the day that they were scheduled to return. So would they, to your kind of scenario earlier, would they be out for 14 weeks? Yes, but they would only be getting
Representative Stephen Meeks
Unverified
2:59:41
paid for 12 of those weeks. OK, so we are, so in essence what this does in practicality is what I'm trying to get to here. In practicality, this would allow the teacher to extend that maternity break longer than the 12 weeks. Correct. And if it were to happen during the summer, theoretically we could even extend that beyond 1214, 1516 weeks, depending on
Speaker 490
3:00:04
Not for the summer, because those are typically not considered contract days. So again it could, it would depend on some teachers and other
administrators have 200 day contracts, but for a typical 190 day teacher contract, um, any time period between like around the beginning of June and beginning of July would not count, um, but if it was a contract day, even if they were doing professional development and not instruction, they would get paid for
Representative Stephen Meeks
Unverified
3:00:31
that day. OK, and so Under the scenario, the 12 becomes 14, they would be out for
14, but still only paid for 12.
So the only impact to the school would be now we're going to have to hire a substitute for 2 additional weeks in this scenario
Speaker 492
3:00:52
that we wouldn't have had to before. No You don't hire a I'm sorry, they wouldn't
Representative Stephen Meeks
Unverified
3:00:56
hire a substitute for Christmas. OK, OK, OK, yeah, OK, all right, I just wanna
Speaker 490
3:01:02
kind of. But, but if they were currently counting that, then they would only have hired one for 10 weeks, so yes, now they would hire one for 12
Representative Stephen Meeks
Unverified
3:01:09
weeks. OK, OK, so, so there, there would be the cost of that versus what we have
now. OK. I, I think I'm kind of getting the picture here.
All right, thank you. I will. Yield the floor to any other question, Representative
Representative Matt Brown
Unverified
3:01:26
Brown, I think you have a question. You may be recognized. Thank you. Is not the point of the 12 weeks just to make sure that the new mother has 12 weeks off. Is the issue, I mean. 12 weeks is 12 weeks whether they're holiday days or not.
So I think the point is, is to allow a new mother to have 12 weeks off. And Uh, my, my quest, one of my questions, well, is that, that's the point is to make sure she has 12 weeks off, not necessarily that where you know if it falls on a holiday or not, it's 12 weeks but it says 12
Representative Stephen Meeks
Unverified
3:02:01
weeks paid. And two of those weeks, they will not be getting paid for if it falls during Christmas or one week during spring break.
Representative Matt Brown
Unverified
3:02:16
So, uh, let me just ask my other question, um. When a teacher is hired and they have contract days, do they, uh, do they not get a paycheck every month that's pretty much the same. I mean this is their contracts figured out and they're not just paid their paycheck on the
15th doesn't just reflect the days they work during that pay period or or whatever it it it's spread out throughout the year, correct? Right, so they do typically get
Speaker 490
3:02:49
a paycheck every month, but, and I am not an expert in this area. But, um, my understanding of how teacher contracts and teacher pay works is they do have to, like, they get very little leave and so they have to pay back if they take more leave and so it could, there, their check is not always going to be the same every month. It could be reduced based on how many days they took off, based on if they took off so many that they have to pay back for the insurance. Some school districts will require teachers to pay for the substitute that they were required to get for the day that they were off. And so, uh, even
they get a check every month, it
Representative Matt Brown
Unverified
3:03:23
may not be the same amount. So, so what's currently stated in law is 12 weeks paid. Correct. Up to 12 weeks
Speaker 490
3:03:30
paid because it's, it's optional for school districts whether to participate or not. Thank you, Representative Barker, you recognize,
Chair
Unverified
3:03:39
oh. OK. Representative Beck. you recognized for a question.
Representative Rick Beck
Unverified
3:03:46
I, I think I'm all right, uh, with
you, you got me with typically. On, on typically they Don't get paid for
Christmas. Right, it's what you said, right?
Speaker 490
3:04:01
Right, because every school district has can do various different things and, you know, maybe the AAEA can speak better to this than I can or AEA representatives, but, um, some school districts. It depends on the, the contract you have and, and maternity leave applies to not just teachers, but teachers are
typically generally on on a 190 day contracts, they're not getting paid, but you might have an administrator who's on a 200 day contract, they might get paid for Christmas. It's going to be up to the district and the contract that they enter into with their employees. So I can only speak to generalities because I, I don't know how
Representative Rick Beck
Unverified
3:04:39
every school district contracts with their employees. OK, so
Uh, I, I guess, uh, the, the question I was getting at is, Whether you're for or against this, uh. But it
Is it, well, I guess I'm saying that uh, is this gonna help some people, but depending on their contract, it wouldn't
Speaker 490
3:05:02
help those others. I, I think, and I don't want to speak for Representative, I think the intent is to make it consistent in that if you were going to get paid for that day, it will count towards your 12 weeks of paid maternity leave. If you were not going to get paid for that day, you. Won't get paid for your paid maternity leave. What it might do in creating inconsistency is
back to the point of when you're 12 weeks starts is going to depend on whether you got paid for that 2 weeks of holiday leave or not. So if you're an administrator that was going to get paid, your, your time is gonna start immediately. You have your 1212 weeks of paid leave, that is coinciding with 12 consecutive days. If you were not going to get paid, you'll have 2 weeks of unpaid and then your 12 weeks will. start and you'll have 12 weeks of paid leave giving you ultimately 14 days of leave, though only 12 weeks of it is still paid.
Representative Rick Beck
Unverified
3:05:55
So, so it's not, it's really not paid. It's, it's actually just the amount of
Representative Stephen Meeks
Unverified
3:06:07
time that you're getting on. That's the only difference. Yes. Representative Meeks recognized. So just following up up on that. So if it occurs during the Christmas break, we don't currently get paid. Under this, they're still not going to get paid for those two weeks, correct? All right, so what, so what I don't want to happen is, I have a baby now I'm getting paid for 2 weeks that nobody
else is getting paid for. So in practicality, all this is going to do is extend maternity leave for whatever days they would. OK. And, but they're not forced to. OK. Um, and so the only potential the impact to the school would be potential substitute for those two weeks and then that teacher being out even more than normal. Well, they normally
would not be teaching those two weeks. I keep
going back to that Christmas. They would not be teaching that two weeks. There's no sub
needed for that 2 weeks. OK. I don't want to call Doctor Nahade
to the, to the table again. I do have a question just based on, I said I don't, but you can if you like, um. listen, I think we've we've worked through it. Not all contracts are the same, not all FMLA policies are the same, not all, yet, not all, not all, and we're hopefully gonna pass that 12 week um bill out of this committee, and that's something we can look forward to. Um, I do have a question because I do think this will have a, it says
no fiscal impact. I think we'll have a fiscal impact on our districts, um, and I have to assume that they're gonna bear the brunt of it. I know there's no state requirement because now we're going to hopefully, knock on wood, fund that 100% and districts won't have to meet us and do that burden share we didn't learns but uh I am concerned. because this is gonna be more, more days that they're gonna have to pay for, um. Am I correct? head nod without recognizing you, OK, all right, that's all my question. Any other
questions from committee? He went like this. Representative Duke, you recognize for a question.
Representative Hope Duke
Unverified
3:08:01
Thank you, Mr. Chair. And, um, it's kind of in line with what you just asked. Would the, would the cost of the district be the substitutes because I'm assuming the districts are paying for the substitutes and even with that two weeks, but the 2 weeks off at Christmas, that's not counted would still push out two weeks, so, right? Am I understanding that correctly? We still have the additional 2 weeks of subs. It's just not all Christmas break, but if they push that two weeks, they
Speaker 490
3:08:25
have the 2 more weeks. Yes I think if I followed your logic, right, because if, if a district is currently counting
the two weeks of Christmas against them, then that teacher would be coming back in 10 weeks, after 10 weeks of paid leave, this would allow them to stay gone so a district could have that additional 2 weeks of substitute cost. However, if the other bill passes, then the state would be covering the entire cost of the substitute for that period. OK, thank you. Represent Becky on
Representative Rick Beck
Unverified
3:08:58
another one. Yes, it just occurred to me. Is the maternity leave is that
ours or is that days? Because we're
we're also gonna be talking about 4 days work weeks. So now that's different. They get
paid for fun. Go ahead. It's just 4 days. It says 12 days.
moment. OK. Any other questions from committee.
See none have anyone sign up speak for or against. We don't. Anyone from the audience wish to speak for
Representative Stephen Meeks
Unverified
3:09:44
or against the bill? Representative, if you'd like to close for your bill, you may. First, I want to thank Courtney for coming in. So teachers get paid typically for 190 days. Through lines we meant for teachers to get. The schools have an option to buy in to up to 12 weeks paid leave for a teacher.
The 2 weeks that I keep using for Christmas. are not contract days. They're not doing a substitute. They're not doing those things. Not all schools have FMLA. They don't apply. Most of our rural schools do not do, I'll say that. Most probably most of the rural schools do not do FMLA. So Yes, the teacher does have to pay back for every day that they miss past the 4 weeks, if they say they get 4 weeks. Um
But there was a loophole that I don't think was intended to be. Used To punish teachers depending on when they had their children. So, with that, I close and make
a motion to pass. We have a motion to do pass on the
Representative Jessie McGruder
Unverified
3:10:58
table. Uh, any discussion on the motion? Representative
McGruder. Recognized for discussion. Thank you, uh, Mr. Chair. Thank you for the be all as a 5 of 6 children, uh, I wanna make sure I say thank you
because we uh former representative, no former Senator Jack Crumbly gave my wife her first teaching job and we had to make sure that she got back to work in a timely manner, uh because uh we couldn't afford to live without the paycheck, and it was a very undue stress on us, but it does happen, uh, I, my daughter was blessed because I, I ended up being a very kept man and a stay at home dad to stay there with my daughter. But uh I, I I appreciate this and I know there are teachers who are coming to the profession because of the pay raise and learns for
$50,000 and they are trying to start a family, so we need legislation in place like this to make sure that our teachers are protected. So I thank you for the legislation and I will be a, a yes vote on this. Any other discussion on
the motion. Seeing none. All those in favor say I, I, all those opposed. No Congratulations your bills passed. Thank you. Are you wanting the gavel out or do you want me to do another
one? No, we got actually a few more, uh. I actually have Chairman Brooks left me that
Representative Duke. OK. Uh, your Representative Duke, you're 1793. Should be next
on the list. If you could once you introduce yourself, you, uh, maybe be
Representative Hope Duke
Unverified
3:12:45
recognized. I'll try. Let me see how I've been doing today. Representative Hope Duke, um, District 12, Northwest Benton County. So I'm gonna do my best, um, members to introduce this, but as all you all know, I am so not on my game today. So I'm doing hospital 1793. This was a
bill that kind of came out of discussions with, uh, lots of teachers in my area, admin and um. School board members and just parents and just in general and the, the gist of this, and I'll be very quick, hopefully, because I know people maybe want
to go to lunch if we can. Um, this is a local control thing, positive behavior intervention supports. This is not like a referendum on them. It is just a matter of who should be making those decisions and what tools, um, in the tool belt a school district wants to use. And so what this would do is it would just put the decision back on the local level for school districts to decide if this is a tool they want to have in their tool belt. If it's not, they use all it, some of it, but the way it is right now, it's a show, but they will do this, and I think that what I said in our school board when this was passed years
ago and I was sitting on the school board is, you know, every district's different and we have this conversation here a lot. We don't all look the same. I've learned a whole lot since being down here, even, even more now about how different our districts are. And so having the ability to accommodate that. I just think it's really important. Again, it's not a referendum on this program. I use positive behavior, uh, reinforcement in. A lot of things that I do, but it's not my only tool. It is one of the tools and sometimes when you use positive behavior exclusively, it
Loses its impact. And so, again, just want this decision to be on the local level, local school boards, local parents and communities, teachers being able to decide to what degree they want to use positive behavior, what programs they want to use and us just not making
that decision on the state level. So, um, with that, I'm closed with the bill and I have no idea if
I'll be able to answer any questions today, but I'll try. Yeah. Thank you. Is there any uh questions from
Representative Stephen Meeks
Unverified
3:14:43
committee. Representative Meeks, you recognize. Got to give you at least one. Go for it. Um, who, who's sponsoring the
Representative Hope Duke
Unverified
3:14:49
bill or idea or who's bringing this to us?
Representative Stephen Meeks
Unverified
3:14:54
What do you mean? Like a company? There's no company. Well, no, no, no, I mean just based on your testimony, it sounds like you didn't offer this bill that
Representative Hope Duke
Unverified
3:15:01
that someone else did. Am I, am I wrong on that perception, this was, this was already in existence, so this is kind of just removing what was put in place a couple of years ago. So it's strikeouts and wants to strike it came from local, like from people, like I said, to begin with, from teachers in in trying to use the
words, teachers input just conversations. From your district and district and not just my district because I know, you know, lots of people spread out in other districts. So just wanting to have the ability to make those decisions. On the local
level and not having it just prescribed in code. Thank you. Any other
Representative Wade Andrews
Unverified
3:15:38
questions from committee Representative Andrews, you're recognized. Represent, could you educate me on what positive behavior
Representative Hope Duke
Unverified
3:15:42
support is intervention supports. It's positive reinforcement. I mean, which I, do you, do you need me to go more so in that? Yeah, go like
this is just this in the discipline like what, yeah, so again it's not a criticism of it and I'm sure there's other members here that
can probably expound in a greater way than I can, but it is, I'll use it in my terminology, so positive behavior would be like we have, OK, bear with me. We have like best boy, best girl, and we have best row in the realms that I work in, because all that I can really use in my realm is positive behavior reinforcement tools. It's not any kind of disciplinary or punishment
tools, OK? So for best boy best girl, I'm looking for my kids, like if I were in here, who's sitting nice and quietly in their chair, who's sitting back, who's got their hands in their lap, you know, those types of things, and then I would give them a prize, um, at the end, or, you know, I've done pizza parties, different things like that. So that's the tool and that There's nothing wrong with that tool. It's a great tool, but again, this is about local districts deciding how to do it, what programs they're going to use, not having it specifically saying this one and just let them have those options.
To to handle discipline and reinforcement tools
as they please. So this is like 100% of local control. 100%. Thank you, Representative Andrews.
Any other questions from committee? Having no
Representative Denise Garner
Unverified
3:17:11
one signed up to speak for. Oh, sorry. That's got 2 more Garner, a quick question, um, my, um, concern is mostly the, um, Just Research evidence-based use? Do we just, is, and there's no place.
In here that says Whatever we use needs to be evidence-based and That I saw. We just assume. Can you tell me what page you're looking at, please? I'm not looking at. I just didn't see it in here whether we're if we're taking out this that is. That we know is evidence-based. Well, I guess I would say to you, I, I, we assume that the school boards are going to do that. Well, I don't
Representative Hope Duke
Unverified
3:17:50
know that I would just assume school boards are going to do that. We have administrators who in every board meeting I've ever been in,
and there were a bunch that the administrators have a lot of guidance and advice and direction along with principles and curriculum directors and everybody else on saying this is what we think is effective and this is what we think works well. And so I think you're going to see them relying on that, and I think we do a pretty good job, not a perfect job. I think we do a pretty good job of training in the them in those areas. And they implemented this because this has some do, but this has been the law, right? So it's not like they're not familiar with it, because this has been the law. And so they can still use those, but this
doesn't make them restricted or say that prescribed, that this is what you are going to
Representative Denise Garner
Unverified
3:18:33
use. And so that's all I'm trying to do here is it's that are not prescribed here that they may be using. That we don't know whether they're research based or evidence, evidence based. Behavior issues. You don't say anything about what that is. We're just assuming that the local School
boards or their local folks will determine that
Representative Hope Duke
Unverified
3:18:52
for themselves. I, yes, and I think that they can make those decisions for themselves.
Representative Denise Garner
Unverified
3:19:01
I understand you may not agree with me. I just, I think that they can. I'm just so if, if a school board or a locality thinks that punishment is the best way, then they can do that even though the evidence shows that
Representative Hope Duke
Unverified
3:19:12
that doesn't really work. I think you could probably argue the evidence, OK, but yes, I don't, I don't think punishment is a negative
thing. And so, yes, that is a tool that if a school district chooses, that's what works best for them. They should have the ability to use punishment slash discipline because I was told when the school board mean punishment is a bad word, and I don't agree with that. Right? I think that punishment
can go to an extreme, but I have confidence in our local school boards in our districts and our communities, our parents who speak in um elect these people to be able to make those decisions, it's gonna, I know it's gonna look different for your district and it's gonna look for mine. That's why I want it to be, I'm not telling you what to do. I don't want
to be told in our districts what to do either. Solemn one. We
Representative Justin Gonzales
Unverified
3:19:57
have Representative Gonzalez Worthen recognize? Yes, um, so based on what. Um
Before the deletions, OK, the positive, um, reinforcement. Those are Those are the first steps, you know, for teachers to use primary um primary steps for prevention, you know, in the classroom with the student and so. By removing all of the positive behavioral supports as. As the primary or the, the very first thing that you would do to prevent
Behavioral Issues that now become challenging, that would be done first. And then And then you would go further. As you through the um the other interventions that are a little bit more, more severe, so I'm just wondering why, why would we want to remove. Um, positive why would we want to remove evidence-based positive.
Uh, behavioral supports, why would we want to remove those. And just straight
go to immediately going to something more aggressive that's costly because there'll be assessments, etc. Thank you for your question and I
Representative Hope Duke
Unverified
3:21:15
know your passion for education. I'm not telling you you have to go. You can't do positive behavior first. Not saying that. I'm saying I'm not gonna tell you what to do. I'm not going to tell a teacher in a classroom in Decatur, Arkansas, what she needs to do from Little Rock. I'm not going to tell them that. And that's what this is about freedom in the classroom,
we've heard so many conversations here about discipline. and about frustrations and teachers leaving the classroom because of discipline issues. And in my opinion, and a lot of teachers that I have talked to, this is a frustration because although, yes, I agree, as I said, positive behavior is in the, in the world that I work in, it's the only tool that I can use, OK? It's the only one I can use. And so I understand the effectiveness of it, but over the many, many years I have worked in that realm. I've seen
it's lose its impact, because it's become the only tool that's being used and it, when you award a pizza party and the pizza party, and I'm just using that for an example, right, because it's not the necessary go to. It loses its impact because everybody's getting a pizza party. Everybody's getting a piece of candy. Everybody's getting told this. And there are times and places when
the answer just needs to be no. You're not going to do this because of that. Again, in your district, if that's what works best for you guys, and I would agree that there's a lot of times that the
positive thing and the way you word it. can go that direction first, but we shouldn't be saying from here in Little Rock, that every school district in the state needs to go here first and then here and then here. We should let them decide and have the flexibility to address the discipline problems in their classrooms. However, their community says fits best. It is going to look different. I 100% get it. Not trying to take away a tool, just trying to allow them to have the the um
Choose the method and manner and time frame in which they want to use it again, you can do it however your district
pleases. It's local control. I think there's probably still some information needs to be filled in on
positive base um uh uh operant conditioning so representative, or sorry, Secretary Leva, would you mind going to the other table? I think
you can help provide some landscape for us. And once you've once you've introduced
Speaker 169
3:23:35
yourself, you're recognized. No, I think Representative Duke did a great job explaining what
the intent is of this bill, and I don't think we're coming to the table as saying that positive behavioral PB PBIS implementation systems is a bad thing. But what I think we're wanting to make sure we're doing is we're not lacking school districts into one program. So when representative managers asked what is PBIS. It's, it's not a curriculum, it's not a one day profession development. What it is is a framework that has their um objectives that are grounded in different topics at school districts utilize to train staff within those
disciplined frameworks to implement and uh maintain their student code of conduct. They're not the only discipline framework. There's other frameworks that are evidence-based that can meet the needs of different schools and different school districts may be better. So right now we're implementing a one size fits all approach to district discipline policies, and I think you've all heard me advocate um several times that a one size fits all approach doesn't meet the needs of all our students and families. It does not meet the
needs of all of our administrators, teachers and schools and school districts. So what this is saying is is. We're not trying to lower discipline standards or expectations. And if school districts want to keep this framework because they've invested in it and it's working well, great, but if a district wants to explore other frameworks that might better meet the needs of their students and families, um, and support, uh, strong learning environments, then they have the ability to do so. That's all this language does. Thank you. um. Any other questions for Kenny?
Representative Denise Garner
Unverified
3:25:13
Yes, I just have one more quick question, and I guess, I guess my concern, um, is similar to law enforcement de-escalating a problem before we instead of acting quickly. So can you just describe quickly some of those other programs that might still keep from punitive. Sure, and, and, and
Speaker 169
3:25:34
I don't, I'm not here to advocate for, um, different vendors but just different programs I know on the top of mind crisis prevention
intervention. Um, there's um restorative practice kind of frameworks that come into those components. I, I think what you'll find in is in any framework when when it comes to school discipline is, do you have consistent beliefs, sets, routines, and expectations for students. 80% of the students will meet what we call a tier one expectation, and when you look at the language, it talks about a multi-tier system of. That's really what it is. What what program or framework you build around. It's about building a system of care where all students' needs are gonna be
met. 80% of the students are actually going to do well within the, the standard expectations that we have at school. I used to be a school principal, superintendent. I think if you ask any principal here, they would say, um, 80% of the disciplinary referrals they get is 20% of the students, right? The role of 80/20. It, it's Pretty consistent, doesn't matter what learning environment you go to 80% of the students are never going to have an issue based on the system that the school district adopts and implements about 15% of the
students may need a little bit of check-in, a little bit of different monitoring may respond to things different and then about 5% of students are gonna be more intensive support, so all they're saying is PBIS is one way to meet that continuum tier of services, if it's working, great. Are there other programs that can help meet those needs? Absolutely. So let the districts have some flexibility.
Any other questions from committee? I'm seeing none. There's no one signed up to speak for. Oh sorry, Representative Dian
Representative Justin Gonzales
Unverified
3:27:18
Gonzalez Wortham. Yes, um, so I, I. I'm totally on board with the multi-tiered you mentioned that's in the, that's in the bill. I think it's um on page. Let me see, 4 Line uh 16, section 5. To have multi-tiered system of supports. So when you look at that, the first level ensuring first of all, positive.
Behavioral supports all of that Behavioral supports all of that's deleted and then it goes all of its deleted, continuing 5. Um, and then, and then it goes into. Functional behavioral assessments and that's. That's pretty severe, like, in other words, To
me, a multi-tiered system of support, you're gonna, you're gonna share multiple systems of support. The positive behavioral support
system is one of those, but then
there's others. So that I think that's where I'm, I have an issue with it because that is what and I'm not and and this is not saying that
that's the only system of support or intervention that you use. It's just one because there are others. So that's where
my concern is. We've deleted one. One that's evidence based that is working and then we have the others still. In here, which is fine because
students are gonna need, I mean if they're having, um, it will be documented, you know, cases of, of behavior with the student, but the first thing is, let's look at that. What can we do positively for that for that student. In the classroom environment, that's not working, then you have to go to something else, but when when we're saying multi-tiered systems of support, we've just eliminated one that's, that's preliminary, it's like the first level of intervention, and that's just been erased.
So that that's, that's where I'm I'm having an issue with. Wouldn't you agree? Wouldn't very good. So any other questions? I'm trying
to keep me timely here. Thank you. No worries, um, I see no one signed up for against your your're
Representative Hope Duke
Unverified
3:29:37
recognized to close for your bill. I think that this is important to get local control back to our school districts and to our
schools and to empower our teachers. Again, I would just want to reiterate, this is not saying you can't do something. There's no forbidding in here. It's just, I guess, saying that the state's not going to tell you what to do.
And with that, I'm closed and make a motion to pass. motion of do pass on the table and discussion
on the motion? See none. All those in favor say aye. All those opposed say nay nay. Congratulations, you've passed your bill. Um, we're gonna try to get two more in, um, everybody, mine will be
next. It's House Bill 11. Sorry, 11:39. Representative Meeks will be chair. OK.
Representative Stephen Meeks
Unverified
3:30:27
OK, there, uh. Alright, committee, uh, just as we get ready to go into since I've got the big chair now, as you all know, it is after 12:30. There are several of us that have got to leave in a few minutes for, uh, technology committee coming up here in about 20 minutes and, uh, so, as we try to work through this, want to make sure everyone's comfortable, but at the same time, uh, I would encourage haste and succinctness as we try to work through those, um, so
with that, Mr. Vice Chair, you are recognized to present your amendment my bill, my amendment, I make a motion to adopt. OK, the committee heard a description of the amendment, any discussion on the amendment, saying none, no one signed up to speak for or against the amendment, we have a motion to pass. All in favor say aye. Aye. And he posed, right, you're recognized to
present your bill as amended. Thank you committee. I'll I'll be as brief as I can. I think
it's an important topic, but I'll be brief. I'm here to present House Bill 1139, uh, creates the religious Release
Time Act. I think it's important to note that we've had some controversial bills that have to do with um religious practices. in our schools that come through this committee. I don't believe this to be one. this has been a long withstanding tradition in our country in 1952, there was a US Supreme Court decision called Zorak v. Clawson, which established a three-part test in order for parents who have children in a public school to participate in a religious release time program. Well, what does that mean? Children are physically released um to go and participate in moral, religious
or ethical uh formation off off school premise with the permission of the parent and into the custody of a registered agent to that school. um, none of this can take place on school property. Uh, oftentimes, and I became,
I mean, became aware of this through an organization that has had tremendous success promoting religious release time and specifically Ohio and then through the rest of the Rust Belt, um. I don't like to put my name on any bill that affects K-12 that I don't think has a positive influence
on children in the classroom. Um, I've obviously run bills through this committee, but they're not relevant to K-12. This one is,
is super important to me because the empirical data, and this isn't cherry picked, I saw something I liked and I pulled it out. The empirical data is that from the contesting controls that uh this organization that I got to meet with and discuss this with, um, uh, had in their Ohio communities was students that participated in religious police time. were less truant. Had better attendance or less absenteeism. They had better qualitative data to support that students were more attentive, um, uh, less indisciplinary
problems and um we're overall well rounded students in the classroom, um, so what my bill does and with this amendment, we, we, we had some uh uh non-codified section to kind of give you a history of um religious release time, uh, the other states that participate in it. And then I haven't, I've uh through and this is a fun one for me. I've threw working with former Representative Gayla McKenzie, Representative Duke's sister. We've winnowed this bill down to be very specific. There
are other versions of this bill that, that do a lot of things that require attendance or
require transportation or go so far as to say, you know, some type of a numerical grade can be assessed for the work and participation in these release time programs back to the public school, that does not do this. What this simply states is the religious release time is that three-part test that's codified in our Supreme Court decision, um, that districts shall adopt a policy if requested, and then a third cannot effectively prohibit, um. Currently we have several religious release time programs in the state that are operating.
Um, if a, uh, parent goes to a district that doesn't have or observe one right now, and the district says no, that district has bought themselves a ticket straight to federal court and uh at the expense of their lawyers and whatever it's going to take for them to defend themselves, um, very, very, very costly measure on their school districts, um. Just like voluntary prayer, I think this is important and fundamental to every every student and their family's rights as they walk into a public school. Um, how this typically takes shape is that the school district will work in
concert with the religious release time program or with the parents of uh that are requesting the release time to coordinate that that student's uh uh required curriculum, the required course load is not affected. Oftentimes it'll take place in a non-required elective. Um, and again, uh, we have to think, you know, broadly and then narrowly. Big districts that have large churches, um, we'll have to coordinate obviously on a, on a multi uh school and a multi um schedule basis, um, but then when we think about smaller and more rural schools, um,
oftentimes, as you guys can attest to the
districts you represent, it's a town that has 1 or 2 churches. Those churches will often have a representative on that school board and it's a hand in glove approach to working with the school district so it has as little interruption or no interruption to to the students um day to day activities so said a lot, um, I'm very fond of. this bill. I think it'll help Arkansas students. I think it helps continue the tradition and practice of um respecting uh religious, moral and ethical views of our, of our students and their families, um, and
it'll ultimately help students perform better in our
Representative Denise Garner
Unverified
3:35:38
classrooms. So with that, I'm happy to take any questions. Representative Garner, you're up first. Sorry, I, I just, and you may have started to answer this. I'm I'm worried about the logistics and how that happens, um. So So a student wouldn't be able to take The same court at the same time out of a math course
or. It's not prescribed in this bill, but yes, as it works in practice, they don't, they won't allow for the release time during um
you know that um because we've seen it work in
Representative Denise Garner
Unverified
3:36:10
the four districts that currently do it in the state of Arkansas. But the bill doesn't say that. I mean, it's so legally then they could take out any time, any class as many times as they
want. You can, you can have an unexcused absence for anything that you'd like, uh, as it's written for here, this is empowers our local
school districts to adopt a policy that makes best sense for the student on a, on a 1 to 1 basis or for a larger group of students in the same class,
Representative Denise Garner
Unverified
3:36:35
and I just want to make sure that it means any religion.
Yes, yes, yeah, so, uh, I'm a big R big L religious liberty fan, and I understand
that that may drive some people away from supporting this. I have in this committee. talked a lot about different and the the pluralistic view of faiths. I believe that
um uh free association within the First Amendment of our Constitution allows for us, regardless if I like your flavor of Christianity or otherwise to participate in the same rights that are afforded to me. Representative Cozart.
Representative Bruce Cozart
Unverified
3:37:11
I think you've answered one of my questions. Thank you, Mr. Chair. Um. time of day, I think that was brought up a little bit, so is this, does this count against their hours for school? Or does it go along if you're, you know, some of the schools are taking your time if you're doing this, you're losing time at school for that student. Does that count against their hours at
school? I don't have an exact answer for you, but I would assume it's not an
Representative Bruce Cozart
Unverified
3:37:34
unexcused absence, unexcused absence, so that could, could eventually add up to quite a bit. So how many days a week can they do this?
This does not set a limit or a ceiling, and you said it's non um religious-based. Are up to whoever is going to be able
to do it as far as which church does it. It's it's up to whatever the faith tradition is the person requesting. So if you, OK, so I, I, I've got quite a few questions, just bear with me and I'll give it up. So if you only had 2 students that wanted to do it, and they wanted to go to a certain church,
that would be what would they would go to, right? Yeah, it's, yes, no one is expected or
conscripted to go to a release time program. So if you were to go in for your child and you go to the First
Baptist of Hot Springs and there is a larger program for the First Methodists. You don't have to, you can have your child be released to a program that fits your faith. OK, thank you. And, and,
Representative Stephen Meeks
Unverified
3:38:28
and some of the concerns that you know a child that participates in this has still got to meet all the academic requirements of every other student in the in the school, so
I, I, that, that might help. Uh, Representative Duke, you're next. I'm gonna ask a couple of
Representative Hope Duke
Unverified
3:38:43
questions and I'm gonna get back in the queue.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. Um. Representative McKenzie. Is this already, I mean you mentioned this is already codified by the Supreme Court. So this is already something that is required. does not need a law to do it. It's already required right now. You mentioned there's 4 districts that already do that. Is
that correct? Yeah, it's allowed, um, this is a, this is code that is instructive to our districts. But right now as it
Representative Hope Duke
Unverified
3:39:10
stands, I'm not trying to be difficult with
you right now as it stands, if a school district already allows somebody out for some type of release time if, if, for example, they go take a piano lesson class somewhere at the university or somewhere else, they have to allow a student out now under the Zorak decision. They have to let them out now for released religious release time. They may choose to, if
their attorney looks at it, their attorney will advise them, you can't do that. have to let them out because that is
what the Supreme Court has said. Jurisprudence proves that they
don't have standing to disallow is what I'll I'll answer that question. But what this does is codify, which we do in our bills all day
every day here. We take a federal practice when
Representative Hope Duke
Unverified
3:39:56
codified into our standards. OK, so my next question, we'll, so we'll just kind of, are you aware of a member
on this committee who actively teaches religious release time. Quite well and has been doing it for over 30 years. Are you aware? Do you know who that is? That's you, OK, so trying to get it out there so that people kind of understand, um, that I'm asking questions from a
whole wealth of knowledge, and I do want to say, and I'll leave some stuff back. You have, um, You have worked to, to, uh, um, with Gaya, who has actively done this for a long time, um, as well to try and Mirror as best as you could Zoric, I guess, putting it in code. So I do want to commend you for that. I'm going to jump out of here, but I can tell most of my members that probably most of the questions you're asking him, I can know, I don't probably know the answer to.
But, um, I may not necessarily agree. And then I'm not gonna say anything else because I really can't, but would you agree that this is A good thing but is a delicate thing.
Absolutely. I think it's extremely delicate, um, to that end, just to worked closely, you know, this is
not, this bill has been on our radars for a while, um. I wanted to make sure that I did take into account the the thoughts of not only Representative Duke, but her
sister, former Representative McKenzie, as well as stakeholders that we all have to deal with any time we pass a bill through here, um, Doctor Hernandez, who I've picked on all day, um, he's seen this,
we've worked together, he's made requests for amendments. I've, you know, we've, we've honored those requests, um, so I, it's, it's a catch 22 and you guys all understand this because you don't want to overly prescribe something to a district because then we're we're extracting local control, but at the same time, if something If they don't participate, we'll get them into into jeopardy. It will put them and their
districts in a not only a financial but a judicial quandary, uh, if we don't create that permissive uh uh set in code, then who are we serving? What are we doing? Um,
so I understand it. I've tried to, you know, I've gone from ditch to ditch on this thing, um, but I think we're at a really happy medium where it affirms that three-part test, you know, if requested the, the policy should be adopted or must be adopted by the district, and then Um, and they effectively prohibit is, is my ad because I think it's important that someone could try to honor a request and do everything they
can to not honor the request. So I'm giving the that voluntary prayer relief
Representative Stephen Meeks
Unverified
3:42:26
to students is important to me. So the point of the legislation is to put guardrails in place for the school
Representative Jason Nazarenko
Unverified
3:42:32
districts. OK, uh, Representative Nazarenko. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and, uh, just, just real quick, just to clarification, so, uh, Representative Cozart had asked, uh, about it being excused or unexcused. It was real fast. This would be
Speaker 317
3:42:42
an unexcused absence, correct? Or is it an excuses excused. OK, thank you.
Representative Stephen Meeks
Unverified
3:42:46
Uh, representative Gonzalez Worthen. Yes. um, thank you. Um.
Representative Justin Gonzales
Unverified
3:42:53
So I'm trying to understand so this in the in the bill it does say. At least one hour each week, but not more than 5 hours. We made that out. OK, so, OK, very good. OK, and then. The 4 school districts that currently um do this, um. I'm just asking because I don't know, OK? Is the course mainly geared for students?
Yes, OK, OK, all right, and so. Being a former high school teacher. I'm I'm thinking of all the logistics. OK, this student's gonna be out this period and then
another student out 3rd period and another I'm so I'm thinking. Uh, all of the Fluctuation in attendance, um. And so what I'm wondering in a, in a former school district that I worked in, there were, there was a, a comment since this is for students.
They could meet and do these types of things before school. Which we called 0 hour and it never impacted, it didn't impact, it did not impact their school day and it was, and it was done during that time and it could be done on campus because it's not really school time, it's before, it's a before school. Type of Activity. So that's the reason why I was asking about this if this if this is specifically geared for students, um.
So wouldn't you agree that that there would be less disruption of the school day as it relates to attendance if we could come up with something. That You know, wouldn't impact a whole bunch of students all day long. Sure, and
I have all faith in the world that superintendent's very smart, very capable people and their school boards will find
Representative Stephen Meeks
Unverified
3:44:48
a policy that works best for their students. OK. Y'all set, Representative? I'm good. OK, uh, Representative Duke, your backup if you have anything further.
I, I think I'll just save it for. OK. All
right. uh, uh, the representative has explained the bill. We only have one person signed up, Ms. Tony Rose, to speak in favor of the bill. Um, would you like to speak in favor of the bill or? OK, if you would go ahead and
have a seat at the end, so Miss Rosie. Yeah, if, if anybody else
Representative Stephen Meeks
Unverified
3:45:18
would like to speak in favor of the bill, I need to have you come up here and sign in for us.
Mr. Robers, once you get settled in, please introduce yourself to the committee, and then you're
Tony Rose
Unverified
3:45:30
recognized. I think this is on already. My name is Tony Rose. I'm with the National Association of Christian Lawmakers. I cannot speak as fast as Representative McKenzie, but I do just have a couple of things to add that might be helpful, um, as he's pointed out, this was, this was made legal in all 50 states in 1952. Um, I did a quick look today and
in addition to, we have 16 states right now that have laws and one has a regulation giving schools boards the option of adopting these policies. Or release time, they range from California to Montana, Massachusetts to West Virginia. We have 11 other states and Oklahoma, most recently, now require boards to adopt release time policies, which is similar to this one. And last year the National Association of Christian
Lawmakers, Education Committee. introduce this bill available to all state chairs and all 37 states, and there are currently 10 states right now in the 2025, I don't, I don't want to interrupt you. I know you're speaking
Representative Stephen Meeks
Unverified
3:46:43
it's a part of the bill. I just want to remind you that about 2 or 3 of us are yes votes are going to be leaving here in a few minutes. So, uh, if you want us to be able to vote yes on this bill, then I, and I, I, you know, order OK, I, I'm just, just throwing
it out there. So I, I, I, oh, OK, I, I, I hear, I
Tony Rose
Unverified
3:47:09
hear, I hear your deal. But Ms. Rosie, you're welcome to continue. OK. I think we think this bill will also help keep our children in public schools if they're, the parents are allowed to, um, release their children out for a religious instruction of any kind. So with that, thank you very much for your time, and I do hope that you pass this
Representative Stephen Meeks
Unverified
3:47:29
bill. Thank you. OK again, I apologize
about the, about the interruption committee. Uh, any questions for Ms. Rose?
Hearing none, uh, Miss Sarah Catherine Davis. And once you get,
Speaker 567
3:47:48
if you would, please introduce yourself to the committee and then you'll recognize. Hello, I am Sarah Catherine Davis. Um, I live in White County. Thank you. Um, Chairman Brooks, Vice Chairman McKenzie, thanks for the opportunity to speak for House Bill 1139. I'm here today in support of this bill because I believe parents should have the ability to shape their children's education in alignment with their values. As a parent, I want the option to
enroll my children in a release time program. Moreover, my husband has dedicated his career to public education and currently serves as the superintendent. Now more than ever, schools are being called upon to address not only academic instruction, but also character development and mental health. As a former resident of Prairie Grove, Arkansas. I've witnessed firsthand the positive impact that faith-based education can have on young people while living there, I served as a kids pastor at a local church that
was actively involved in efforts to bring Lifewise Academy to our community. Programs like Lifewise have been successfully implemented across the country, fostering character development, moral responsibility, and a sense of purpose in students by giving parents the option to enroll their children in off school and off-campus religious instruction, we empower parents to take a greater role in their children's education, while preserving the integrity of our public school system. Since moving to White County last summer, I've had the privilege of working with
Lifewise Academy. In my role, I collaborate with Arkansas parents and community members advocating for release time programs in their communities. But some have faced denial from their school districts, despite the Supreme Court ruling that affirms the constitutionality of release time religious instruction for public school students. When school districts prohibit release time programs, they are preventing parents from making an important choice about their children's education, whether or not to include religious education as part of their school day.
These programs provide students with an additional space where they feel loved, supported and valued in a world often filled with conflicting messages, many young people are searching for guidance, purpose, and moral clarity. Providing them with the opportunity to deepen their faith and develop strong Ethical foundations can be an invaluable asset for their future success. I've heard countless stories of students struggling with confidence and purpose after attending the Prairie Grove Lifewise program, their teachers saw noticeable transformations,
improved behavior, greater focus, and a renewed sense of self-worth. One middle school teacher shared the Lifewise program has been such a blessing to our school and community. It started last year through our local churches, giving students a chance to step away once a week during their encore time to learn Bible lessons at a nearby church. The volunteers who run it are incredible. So flexible and easy to work with, and they always make sure that the students return to class on time. When I taught first grade last year, my students couldn't wait for their lifewise stay.
They come back so excited, proudly showing off their crafts and telling me all about what happened. Now that I teach 4th grade, I see an even deeper impact. My students often bring up lessons from Lifewise when they're working through a tough situation. Just the other day, one of my students gave a prize she had earned to another student who had not always been kind to her. When I asked why, she said, at Lifewise, we learned that we should be kind and love others just like God does. That moment really struck with me. As a mother, I'm equally
thankful for Lifewise, my own children attend regularly, and it means so much to me that they have another opportunity to learn about the Bible in an environment like this. Many Christian parents wrestle with school decisions and have something like life, having something like life wise in place has been incredibly reassuring. I cannot say enough about the volunteers who run this program. They show up every week. They care deeply about the kids, and they've been nothing but supportive of our school. Lifewise is doing something truly special, teaching kids how to love others, be good friends,
and make choices that reflect kindness and faith, as both the teacher and a parent, I'm profoundly grateful for it. Her words highlight just how meaningful this program has been for students. House Bill 1139 establishes clear guidelines to ensure that release time programs operate in a way that respects religious freedom while also protecting the rights of those who choose not to participate. These programs are conducted off campus privately funded, require parental permission and are not endorsed by the district, ensuring the necessary
separation of church and state. I urge this committee to recognize the many benefits of House Bill 1139 and to support this measure as a step toward increased educational freedom and parental choice. Thank you so much for
Representative Rick Beck
Unverified
3:52:37
your time and your consideration. Thank you for that presentation. Is, uh, does it, are there
Representative Matt Brown
Unverified
3:52:44
any questions? Representative Brown. Perhaps this question is for Representative McKenzie. I think this is an admirable, um. piece of legislation, however,
my question is this if Zorak. Has been the law of the land since 1952. Why do we need this legislation to
provide protection for parents. So that their districts, albeit the law
of the land without any contradiction of our state law, could make a decision not to. Not to
Representative Matt Brown
Unverified
3:53:15
release children. I don't see how they could, if it's the law
of the land. It's it's jurisprudence, so you have to, there's no US code line that says this practice is
protected, uh, people, lawyers for districts, superintendents, board members may be able to
say, well, I understand that's a Supreme Court decision, but we're going to contradict that because we don't have
the means capacity or whatever to, to allow it. I'm
Representative Matt Brown
Unverified
3:53:43
not sure about that, but um, thank you. I had two districts. Go
Speaker 567
3:53:47
right ahead. I actually work with all kinds of communities here in Arkansas, and I've recently had two districts say no and 1 say maybe, and they're waiting to see what you're going to do with this bill.
Representative Hope Duke
Unverified
3:54:01
Representative Duke. Um, first of all, thank you for your work because I understand it. In a way nobody else here does. So I want you to know that and I want you to know that the concerns that I raise and that have been raised are coming from someone who's been in the trenches, literally. For 30 years, right? So. Would you agree that maybe There is, and this can be for
either one of you. A lack of understanding. And knowledge sometimes. On what can or can't be done or that may be districts, this may be better worded, that there are districts that are waiting to see, not because Necessarily resistance, but not knowing what this looks like because this legislation initially was had an hour on it, which I appreciate took all that out because that would have shut us down. An hour, 5 days a week, that looks different in different schools. And so to try to decide what you're going to do halfway through a school year.
Um, without knowing what we're going to do down here. It is hard on a district to make that decision, so asking to wait or saying let's see, and I'm not saying all districts are acting correctly. I get it. But there are some that are saying, hold off, we're not going to plan anything until This
group of people down here, go home, on not just this issues too, but
Speaker 567
3:55:27
other issues. Is that kind of not unexpected. I understand that, um, to some degree, but we have a host of other schools that are
implementing Lifewise Academy, and it's working just fine, um, Springdale is our newest one that has said yes for young elementary, and so, I, I feel like The the ruling from the Supreme Court was clear and that they are. They should be giving us a yes, but. I think some districts are afraid of just what kind of pushback they'll get. And I feel like this bill helps administrators to have something to kind of stand behind. Thank you very much. I
Representative Hope Duke
Unverified
3:56:06
appreciate that, um, and I'm glad to hear that other districts through. Learning through this bill being filed, I will say it's brought a lot of um district's awareness to this have learned what that freedom that is already available there, and there's significant cover because our program's been covered many, many times in the press and even the ACLU of Arkansas many years ago said that what what they're doing is legal. So thank you very much and I, I just commend you on what you're doing and when you agreesentative
Representative Rick Beck
Unverified
3:56:43
McKenzie, they're doing some great work. The best.
Speaker 426
3:56:52
Next we're going to call up Rachel. Downs I won't be real quick. I wanna thank you. Chairman and committee for, um, this time. Um, I wanna share. Why I strongly support this from a personal standpoint, I'm here as a Lifewise coach, and, uh, program director, we just
started a couple of months ago here in North Little Rock, but, um, it was a passion of mine because of a personal experience that I went through fear, anxiety, depression, um, it even left me with suicidal thoughts and prayers, support, and the word of God got me. Through, God has not given us the spirit of fear but of power, love, and a sound mind. That got me through that difficult time, and I'll also had people telling
me I had a purpose. God has a purpose for me and I'm here today because of that. And so, um, it is at this low point in my life where I truly learned the power of the word of God, it's not just a storybook, but it still has the same. that it did on the first week of creation. So this has become a passion in my life to share this with everyone, especially my community. You can see the
darkness in our communities, in our schools, and I've heard the horror stories today, and I believe that this opportunity can turn our schools around. Um, I've spent the past 6 years, telling my family that, um, I would love to start something in a public school because I grew up in a pastor's home and in a private school. I was shielded from a lot of that. My children
attended public schools in Northwest Arkansas, and we had some experiences that weren't too pleasant, but. It left me with a compassion also for the victims but also for children that haven't had an experience of the love of God and the truth of God. And so I moved back to North Little Rock 6 years ago, and I'm trying to hurry, um, and that has been a passion of mine and
I had no idea of release time religious instruction and so when I found out about it, it was a dream come true, and we just opened our first life was in North Little Rock. So why am I strongly supportive of this. our first lesson, I brought in 5 students, 3 of them could not tell me one story from the Bible. One of them thought they heard of Matthew.
And another one had heard of Adam and Eve. They were amazed to learn of a God that created everything with the power of His word, and that this God had a plan and purpose for them. Their little minds were blown that mankind was created extra special in God's image, and that's why we should love and respect one another. So imagine, imagine the children
learning of a counselor that can bring peace beyond understanding. Imagine the fatherless learning of an everlasting father that will never leave or forsake them. I know there's many different perceptions of God. But I know firsthand he's truly wonderful. So God can take the darkest void in our schools and make them something beautiful and the statistics that he read today proved that it's easier to
build strong children than to repair broken men, as we know the famous quote by Frederick Douglas. So imagine these children learning their value and purpose in life before they're ever exposed to drugs and alcohol. Imagine them learning about the power of love before guns, violence, and bullying ever becomes a part of their life.
Through this bill restoration can start in our communities right here in Arkansas. I love my country. I love my city, but more than that, God does, and he has a beautiful plan for this city, and I'm asking you that you would protect this today here in Arkansas. Thank you. OK. Thank you for that testimony.
We have no one else to speak either for or against the bill. I'm
ready, yeah. Uh, I appreciate it, everybody. I just want to reframe. Obviously we had a lot of, there's a lot of passion, um, a lot of conviction on this topic. I don't want to lose the forest for the trees of what this bill does. If you don't want your child to, to, to participate in voluntary prayer around a flagpole. If you don't want your child to participate in any religious or moral um formation, you don't have to. What this bill does allow, it allows for parents that do have those convictions that do have those
beliefs, to be able to take their children to get that supplementary religious religious formation that their family. designs for them. Um, we have, we have worked very hard to make sure that this is not overly prescriptive and that, and it doesn't also leave parents out in the dark. Um, this is a, this is a federal practice, but as we've just heard from our witnesses, there are districts that, again, and I'm not, and I don't, I don't begrudge or, or um fault them. It's, it's difficult to, to add one more thing. But This is a fundamental right of our citizens and our
constituents is to allow their children to get the religious formation that they see fit for them, so I understand I appreciate our, our guests for coming today because this is, this isn't a Theoretical policy idea. This is something that we're seeing in our communities and that will benefit our students. So with that, I'm closed, I do make
a motion of I make a motion of do pass as amended. We
Representative Rick Beck
Unverified
4:03:18
have a motion to pass. Is there any discussion on the motion? Represented that Sorry,
Representative Hope Duke
Unverified
4:03:25
members, I'm sorry I'm going to keep you from lunch, or
at least more of it. I'm really, I'm sorry about that, but, um, this is important. I came into this meeting, I first of all, I want to commend that Represent McKenzie, out of all the groups and all the people that have tried to run this legislation in this state who have been aware of us, of, of my, of grab it. Um, and my involvement with it. Um, Representative McKenzie has been the most cooperative and has listened and has tried to address. When I came in here today, I wasn't sure what I was gonna do because Represent
McKenzie made I think every amendment we asked for, he did, and he knew as he made those amendments. That we um still we're not in favor of this. And he kindly did it anyway because he was trying to do it to a place that We felt had the least impact. We have been doing religious release time in, um, my school in the school district I come from for over 30 years. Um, myself personally for about 30, um, representing my, my sister,
former Reverend McKenzie, a little bit longer than that. So we are well aware of how it works. We're well aware of the constitutional um aspects of it, all of those things. So I came in here today. I
wasn't sure what I was going to do, but. But through the conversation of just even the questions that happened in here and even unfortunately some of the responses. From all realms. caused me a lot of concern and I understand my folks over here that have been doing it in the last several years that maybe
you don't see those warning flags go up like I do. But I do because I've been doing this a long time, and I, and it is important, the number one that you stay on that line of being constitutional and being under the guidelines of that ruling. It is a line that you need to make sure you don't cross and you understand it. And also, my concern is how this starts getting regulated. On the state level, and I heard so many comments today. That said, well, what about this? And why aren't we doing that? And, and then
inadvertently comments that. That you made and other people made that I'm like. Oh no, no, no. I mean, that's not right or that's not how it works or that's not what we should be doing and And that's concerning because as I said earlier, this is a delicate thing that has, um, the Supreme Court the Supreme Court wisely left it wide open for the districts to handle, but when we start tinkering around and saying this is what you should do or this is what you shouldn't do, and again, you left it wide open and I appreciate that. But I got a window of what it
looks like. In 2 years, 4 years, 6 years today. I got a window of that and I know some of y'all may not been paying attention or you may not even realize. What things were said today that make me go, OK. This is concerning. The district that I work with, we're not doing 5 or 10 kids. We're doing about 500. 500 every week. Um It's a local control issue.
And I am so saddened that districts are so uninformed that they don't understand how this works, and as my sister and I have said for years, we are happy to go anywhere, talk to anybody and help inform them, um. And to make better choices. I think maybe the AAEA and some of the other folks have figured out and maybe we'll help them learn that, you know, you, you, you can't. Really say no. You Need to have some thought process as to what you're doing, but if you're letting one of them out, you got to let them all out, um, but.
There's a lot of details to this and I feel like I'm just
Speaker 579
4:07:22
Meandering and so I'm sorry for that. Sorry. This is an important issue. And it is important to be done, but it is important to be done right. And they're sometimes down here. Did you guys see me vote no, and I'm kind of joking around, not
Representative Hope Duke
Unverified
4:07:36
joking around, but say, you know what, if I don't understand it or if I'm not sure what that unintended consequences are. I'm not gonna take that gamble that I'm gonna make a mistake in what I'm doing here. And I do not want this to be misinterpreted that I don't support religious release time classes. I do. I do. I show that because I dedicate. Parts of my life to doing it. But I am concerned. That if we put this in Arkansas code, how this will grow, and I
understand some groups don't see that, but I've lived it a long time, and it is a concern, and You should be concerned. With that Um I am frustrated that there are groups. That put programs like me in the middle and I'm frustrated that there are school districts that. Say no, without knowing what they can and can't do, and I'm equally frustrated with groups that put maps up that say states, oh, we need to get this
legislation passed here because they don't, because that's what we've been living with for 4, the last 4 years was knowing that there are groups all across this country that have Arkansas targeted as, and I'm not saying that this is where you're coming from because I know it's not. I know where yours is coming from, but we both know. That there are groups that do it. I know it because I experienced it last time. And that bothers me too. Because we shouldn't just be a notch. We shouldn't be just a check box, and for some places, that's what we are. And so that when we're having to have that
conversation of, well, do we just go ahead and support this, so maybe they'll leave us alone for a while. That's frustrating because that's how I feel. That's how I feel. And um and that's not where we should be. So I'm frustrated with both groups. I'm frustrated with both, I'm not frustrated with representative McKenzie. At all, but I am frustrated with the groups that have brought. Me at this point. And um And I hate that I'm putting in this position to where I'm going to have to say. I can't vote for this bill.
Speaker 579
4:09:41
And I have, I'm gonna ask my members. And I hate that I'm in tears on this. Jeez. Ask my members to not vote for it as well, but that is not because I don't think we'd be better every
Speaker 573
4:09:55
school district in this country was doing it. Thank you. Discussion. Oh.
Representative Rick Beck
Unverified
4:10:00
No, just discussion. Well Representative McCollum. Oh sorry, go
Representative Austin McCollum
Unverified
4:10:03
ahead. I was just gonna say quickly understand that there are uh members that have a lot of experience on this issue.
I did hear uh in the the public testimony that there were districts that don't believe they could implement this, and I know that this bill would give them the confidence
Representative Rick Beck
Unverified
4:10:26
to do that, and for that reason, I'm
Representative Justin Gonzales
Unverified
4:10:30
a yes. Representative Gonzalo was the year. You
reckon, excuse me. Thank you Um, since Since this is already um. Be determined by the US Supreme
Court. There are many federal laws that have been passed. Such as this one and sometimes schools, school districts might need to be reminded of that. That happens in my field with um English as a second language. We still have school districts that require um a student to enroll, but they cannot if they don't have a social security number, OK? And so even though that law has been around for a long, long time.
And so what happens is that there's a memo from ADE
that states as a reminder. And then they, they, they go back to Plyler versus Doe. They have the federal law and then and what you can and cannot do. And so I'm just wondering, since this is already, I think, um, Representative Brown brought this up. This is already in code, or this is already a federal
law. I don't believe we need, need this particular, uh, bill.
If anything, maybe we just need a memo from the Arkansas Department of
Representative Matt Brown
Unverified
4:11:58
Education. Thank you Representative Brown. Thank you, Mr. Chair. um, I truly believe in religious liberty. And I am a member of an organization that supports religious liberty, and I think that. Release programs are a wonderful thing. But I
And listening to the voice of my friend and fellow legislator. Who has been actively involved in religious release for 30 years. She is well aware. Of the thin ice that we may be getting ourselves into by regulating something that does not need to be regulated and I am going to be a no vote because I do believe in religious liberty, and I don't want to do anything to jeopardize that.
Thank you, um, did have discussion on the yeah, I'm a member of the committee. Go ahead Districts are saying no, guys, we're here we're here to argue about an essential fundamental right, and we just had two witnesses say they're saying no. Everything else is tilting at windmills. And I'm not, I'm not demeaning the work or labor, and I really appreciate Representative Duke because that's who, you know, obviously worked with national organizations care about this. I worked most with, with that Representative Duke and, and her sister, former Representative McKenzie, because I want to make sure this is right and doesn't as much as I can offend anyone
that's currently doing it, districts are saying no, we have a fundamental right to this practice and their saying no, so I ask that I understand that we may have uh holdups about the, the stone rolling down a hill and collecting moss. Right now today we have an opportunity to protect students in the state of
Arkansas and their core fundamental beliefs, and I would encourage a good vote. Signor the discussion.
Representative Rick Beck
Unverified
4:13:53
Uh, we have a call with the motion to pass. Right. Have a motion to pass has amended. All
those in favor say aye. Sorry, Representative McKenzie bills failed. Thank you. OK, next up I'm gonna call. Representative opt to table. It's very, very quick. Can you do it? I'll I'll, we'll have to come back
afterwards. All right, thank you. As a as a reminder, we're coming back after session. Wait for the announcement from Keith
Representative Rick Beck
Unverified
4:14:30
and then again on Monday. So with that. We are recessed until minutes upon adjournment. 10 minutes upon adjournment. 1
Agenda
RE-REFERRED TO COMMITTEE
Number Sponsor Subtitle
HB1709 Steele TO AMEND THE HUMAN SERVICES WORKERS IN THE SCHOOLS PROGRAM; AND TO INCLUDE MENTAL HEALTH COUNSELORS IN THE HUMAN SERVICES WORKERS IN THE SCHOOLS PROGRAM.
REGULAR AGENDA
Number Sponsor Subtitle
HB1710 Vaught TO PROHIBIT A SCHOOL FROM USING OR REFERENCING A PUBLIC SCHOOL RATING IN ANY ADVERTISING, PROMOTIONAL MATERIAL, OR COMMUNICATION DIRECTED TO THE PUBLIC.
HB1727 L. Johnson TO AMEND THE FUNDING AVAILABLE TO ADULT EDUCATION CHARTER SCHOOLS.
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.
Mayberry
HB1017 A. Collins TO AMEND THE LAW REGARDING PAID MATERNITY LEAVE FOR PUBLIC SCHOOL EMPLOYEES; AND TO REQUIRE THE DIVISION OF ELEMENTARY AND SECONDARY EDUCATION TO PAY FOR INCURRED COSTS FOR APPROVED PAID MATERNITY LEAVE.
HB1755 T. Shephard TO REQUIRE EACH PUBLIC SCHOOL TO PARTICIPATE IN THE ARKANSAS PREVENTION NEEDS ASSESSMENT SURVEY.
SB402 C. Penzo TO PROHIBIT A PUBLIC SCHOOL DISTRICT AND AN EDUCATIONAL SERVICE COOPERATIVE FROM REQUIRING OR TAKING CERTAIN ACTIONS RELATED TO EMPLOYEE ORGANIZATIONS AND PROFESSIONAL ASSOCIATIONS.
SB373 Irvin TO AMEND THE ARKANSAS FINANCIAL EDUCATION COMMISSION.
SB390 J. English TO ESTABLISH THE STATE APPRENTICESHIP AGENCY ACT.
HB1081 B. McKenzie TO REPEAL ADDITIONAL FUNDING FOR THE DEVELOPMENT AND ADMINISTRATION OF PROFESSIONAL LEARNING COMMUNITIES.
HB1139 B. McKenzie TO CREATE THE RELEASED TIME EDUCATION ACT.
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.
HB1825 Wooldridge TO ALLOW A PUBLIC HIGH SCHOOL TO REQUIRE AN ENROLLED STUDENT TO EARN ONE UNIT OF CREDIT IN A COMPUTER SCIENCE OR COMPUTER SCIENCE-RELATED CAREER AND TECHNICAL EDUCATION COURSE IN ORDER TO GRADUATE.
HB1719 Vaught TO AMEND THE DAYS INCLUDED IN THE TOTAL NUMBER OF MATERNITY LEAVE DAYS APPROVED BY A SCHOOL THAT OFFERS MATERNITY LEAVE.
HB1747 Vaught TO CREATE THE BABIES AT SCHOOL ACT; AND TO ALLOW SCHOOLS TO PERMIT EMPLOYEES WHO ARE PARENTS TO BRING THEIR INFANTS SIX MONTHS OR YOUNGER TO WORK.
HB1761 D. Garner TO INCREASE FISCAL RESPONSIBILITY THROUGH THE ESTABLISHMENT OF INCOME LIMITS FOR STUDENTS ELIGIBLE FOR EDUCATIONAL FREEDOM ACCOUNTS IN THE 2025-2026 SCHOOL YEAR AND THEREAFTER.
HB1793 Duke TO AMEND THE LAW CONCERNING THE USE OF POSITIVE BEHAVIORAL SUPPORTS IN PUBLIC SCHOOL DISTRICTS.
SB352 Stone TO PROHIBIT ANTISEMITISM IN PUBLIC ELEMENTARY AND SECONDARY SCHOOLS; AND TO PROHIBIT ANTISEMITISM IN STATE-SUPPORTED INSTITUTIONS OF HIGHER EDUCATION.
HB1806 Vaught TO PROVIDE CURRICULUM TRANSPARENCY FOR PARENTS OF KINDERGARTEN THROUGH GRADE TWELVE STUDENTS; AND TO ALLOW A PARENT TO REVIEW AND OPT OUT OF SELECTED LIBRARY MEDIA MATERIALS FOR HIS OR HER CHILD.
HB1864 Andrews TO AMEND PROVISIONS OF THE ARKANSAS CODE TO IMPROVE EFFICIENCY IN STUDENT INSTRUCTION; AND TO CREATE A STANDARDIZED FLEXIBLE SCHOOL CALENDAR SYSTEM FOR PUBLIC SCHOOLS.
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.
HB1874 B. McKenzie AN ACT TO AMEND THE USE OF PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT FUNDING THAT EXCEEDS THE MAXIMUM AMOUNT AWARDED TO PUBLIC SCHOOLS FOR PUBLIC SCHOOL TEACHERS UNDER THE PUBLIC SCHOOL FUNDING ACT OF 2003.
HB1483 Gramlich TO ALLOW A PUBLIC SCHOOL DISTRICT TO USE STATE FUNDS TO PAY FOR AN ADULT EDUCATION PROGRAM WITH WHICH IT CONTRACTS.
SB90 J. English TO REQUIRE MEMBERS OF THE PUBLIC TO BE AFFORDED THE OPPORTUNITY TO PRESENT PUBLIC COMMENT AT EACH MEETING OF A SCHOOL DISTRICT BOARD OF DIRECTORS.
HB1482 Gramlich TO CREATE AN EXCEPTION TO THE SCHOOL ATTENDANCE REQUIREMENTS FOR A STUDENT WHO TAKES A GED TEST AND RECEIVES A GED.
HB1580 Gramlich TO REQUIRE SCHOOLS TO PROVIDE CERTAIN INFORMATION ON TYPE 1 AND TYPE 2 DIABETES WHEN OTHER HEALTH INFORMATION IS PROVIDED.
HB1484 Gramlich TO LIMIT THE NUMBER OF CREDITS A STUDENT MAY OBTAIN IN A COURSE CREDIT RECOVERY PROGRAM.
HB1492 Gramlich TO REQUIRE EACH PUBLIC SCHOOL DISTRICT AND OPEN-ENROLLMENT PUBLIC CHARTER SCHOOL TO IMPLEMENT A MOBILE PANIC ALERT SYSTEM.
HB1728 Ennett TO REQUIRE REPORTING ON THE NUMBER OF STUDENTS RECEIVING ACCOMMODATIONS FOR A DISABILITY AT INSTITUTIONS OF HIGHER EDUCATION.
HB1766 Ennett TO CREATE THE ARKANSAS RESPOND, INNOVATE, SUCCEED, AND EMPOWER (RISE) ACT.
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.
HB1672 McCollum TO AMEND PROVISIONS OF THE ARKANSAS CODE TO CREATE A MORE EFFICIENT SYSTEM FOR PUBLIC SCHOOLS OF INNOVATION IN ARKANSAS.
SB425 J. English TO AMEND VARIOUS PROVISIONS OF THE ARKANSAS CODE CONCERNING ENHANCED TRANSPORTATION; AND TO DECLARE AN EMERGENCY.
SB470 J. Dotson TO REQUIRE AN ADULT APPROVED TO OVERSEE THE ADMINISTRATION OF A STATEWIDE STUDENT ASSESSMENT TO CERTAIN STUDENTS IN A VIRTUAL SETTING TO MEET CERTAIN REQUIREMENTS.
SB515 J. Petty TO REQUIRE THAT A UNIT DEDICATED TO ARKANSAS VETERANS AND THEIR FAMILIES BE INCLUDED WITHIN EXISTING ARKANSAS HISTORY COURSE CONTENT GUIDELINES.
SB522 M. McKee TO AMEND THE LAW REGARDING THE ARKANSAS SCHOOL FOR MATHEMATICS, SCIENCES, AND THE ARTS; AND TO AMEND THE LAW RELATED TO THE TUITION AND FEES PAID BY STUDENTS ENROLLED IN THE ONLINE PROGRAMS.
SB545 M. Johnson TO AMEND THE LAW RELATED TO THE PROPERTY AND FINANCES OF STATE INSTITUTIONS OF HIGHER EDUCATION; TO AMEND THE LAW RELATED TO BONDS; AND TO AMEND THE LAW REGARDING RENTS, TOLLS, FEES, AND OTHER CHARGES RELATED TO ATHLETIC CONTESTS.
SB547 D. Sullivan TO REPEAL THE REQUIREMENT THAT A HOMESCHOOLED STUDENT LIVE WITHIN A CERTAIN RADIUS OF A PRIVATE SCHOOL FOR PURPOSES OF PARTICIPATING IN AN EXTRACURRICULAR ACTIVITY.
SB467 C. Penzo TO MODIFY THE DEFINITION OF "HEALTHCARE PROVIDER" REGARDING STUDENT ATHLETE CONCUSSION EDUCATION TO INCLUDE CHIROPRACTORS OR CHIROPRACTIC PHYSICIANS.
HB1903 Walker TO AMEND PROVISIONS OF THE ARKANSAS CODE TO PROVIDE SCHOOL DISTRICTS WITH FLEXIBILITY REGARDING ALTERNATIVE LEARNING ENVIRONMENTS.
HB1919 McAlindon TO CREATE THE PUBLIC SCHOOL ACCESS AND TRANSPARENCY ACT; AND TO REQUIRE PUBLIC ACCESS TO LEARNING MATERIALS.
HB1924 Puryear TO REPEAL THE REQUIREMENT THAT THE STATE BOARD OF EDUCATION ESTABLISH RULES REGARDING THE IMPLEMENTATION OF FOUR-DAY SCHOOL WEEKS.
HB1933 McCollum TO AMEND THE LAW CONCERNING A SCHOOL DISTRICT BOARD OF DIRECTORS; AND TO CREATE A RECALL ELECTION AND PETITION FOR REMOVAL FOR A MEMBER OF A SCHOOL DISTRICT BOARD OF DIRECTORS.
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.
HB1940 Walker TO ESTABLISH THE REQUIREMENTS FOR A PUBLIC SCHOOL DISTRICT THAT INITIATES AND MAINTAINS A FOUR-DAY SCHOOL WEEK; AND TO DECLARE AN EMERGENCY.
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.
HB1945 McCollum TO AMEND THE ARKANSAS OPPORTUNITY PUBLIC SCHOOL CHOICE ACT; TO AMEND THE PUBLIC SCHOOL CHOICE ACT OF 2015; AND TO ALLOW A STUDENT TO TRANSFER TO ANOTHER PUBLIC SCHOOL WITHIN HIS OR HER RESIDENT DISTRICT.
Recess, until 10 minutes after session
Documents
| Title | Type | Pages | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Agenda — EDUCATION COMMITTEE- HOUSE, Apr 3, 2025 | Agenda | 5 | Official source ↗ |
Speakers
Representative Keith Brooks Chair
Unverified
Speaker 4
Representative Carol Dalby
Unverified
Representative Hope Duke
Unverified
Representative Paul Childress
Unverified
Speaker 32
Speaker 33
Speaker 34
Speaker 36
Speaker 37
Representative Brit McKenzie Chair
Unverified
Speaker 47
Chair
Unverified
Representative Rick Beck
Unverified
Speaker 60
Representative Stephen Meeks
Unverified
Speaker 89
Speaker 93
Speaker 95
Speaker 91
Representative Jessie McGruder
Unverified
Speaker 110
Representative Bruce Cozart
Unverified
Representative Justin Gonzales
Unverified
Representative Julie Mayberry
Unverified
Speaker 140
Representative Matt Brown
Unverified
Speaker 167
Speaker 169
Speaker 179
Speaker 180
Speaker 162
Speaker 141
Speaker 241
Speaker 243
Speaker 246
Speaker 255
Speaker 254
Speaker 256
Representative Denise Garner
Unverified
Speaker 267
Representative Jason Nazarenko
Unverified
Speaker 273
Speaker 288
Speaker 99
Speaker 112
Speaker 107
Speaker 321
Speaker 323
Speaker 325
Speaker 329
Speaker 330
Speaker 331
Speaker 340
Speaker 343
Speaker 353
Speaker 359
Speaker 347
Speaker 143
Speaker 232
Speaker 350
Speaker 346
Representative Austin McCollum
Unverified
Speaker 384
Speaker 390
Representative DeAnn Vaught
Unverified
Speaker 5
Speaker 173
Representative Wade Andrews
Unverified
Speaker 454
Speaker 455
Representative Sonia Eubanks Barker
Unverified
Speaker 487
Speaker 489
Speaker 490
Speaker 492
Speaker 501
Speaker 317
Tony Rose
Unverified
Speaker 567
Speaker 426
Speaker 579
Speaker 573