Education Committee - Senate
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Bills discussed (26)
| Bill | Title | Sponsor | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
|
HB1810
Act 796
· 5 mentions in transcript, chapter
Matched: “Uh, good morning. Thank you, Madam Chair. Uh, House Bill 1810. What it does is it seeks to unify the administration in th…”
|
TO AMEND PROVISIONS OF THE ARKANSAS CODE CONCERNING THE ARKANSAS SCHOOL FOR THE BLIND AND … | Joey Carr | Notification that HB1810 is now Act 796 |
|
HB1733
Act 504
· 4 mentions in agenda, chapter, transcript
Matched: “…ICULUM AT STATE-SUPPORTED INSTITUTIONS OF HIGHER EDUCATION. HB1733 Joey Carr TO AMEND VARIOUS PROVISIONS OF THE ARKANSAS CODE…”
|
TO AMEND VARIOUS PROVISIONS OF THE ARKANSAS CODE CONCERNING THE ARKANSAS BETTER CHANCE PROGRAM ACT. | Joey Carr | Notification that HB1733 is now Act 504 |
|
SB484
Act 726
· 4 mentions in chapter, agenda, transcript
Matched: “SB484 Irvin TO REQUIRE THE SECRETARY OF THE DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATI…”
|
TO ESTABLISH A PROCESS WHEREBY A VACANCY IS FILLED ON A SCHOOL DISTRICT BOARD OF … | Irvin | Notification that SB484 is now Act 726 |
|
SB504
Act 727
· 3 mentions in chapter, agenda, transcript
Matched: “SB504 Irvin TO ESTABLISH THE ARKANSAS RURAL PRECEPTORSHIP PROGRAM…”
|
TO ESTABLISH THE ARKANSAS RURAL PRECEPTORSHIP PROGRAM ACT. | Irvin | Notification that SB504 is now Act 727 |
|
HB1062
Act 565
· 2 mentions in chapter, agenda
Matched: “HB1062 Richardson TO CREATE THE TEACHER AND STUDENT PROTECTION ACT…”
|
TO CREATE THE TEACHER AND STUDENT PROTECTION ACT OF 2025. | R. Scott Richardson | Notification that HB1062 is now Act 565 |
|
HB1571
Act 502
· 2 mentions in chapter, agenda
Matched: “HB1571 Ray TO AMEND THE ARKANSAS ADULT DIPLOMA PROGRAM ACT.”
|
TO AMEND THE ARKANSAS ADULT DIPLOMA PROGRAM ACT. | Ray | Notification that HB1571 is now Act 502 |
|
HB1610
Act 387
· 2 mentions in transcript
Matched: “…rst off, the on the agenda, we'd like to ask um uh this is. House Bill 1610 1810 Representative Carr.”
|
TO AMEND THE ARKANSAS HUMAN LIFE PROTECTION ACT AND THE ARKANSAS UNBORN CHILD PROTECTION ACT. | Lundstrum | Notification that HB1610 is now Act 387 |
|
HB1684
· 2 mentions in agenda, chapter
Matched: “…E DEVELOPMENT BOARD RELATED TO SECONDARY TECHNICAL CENTERS. HB1684 McAlindon TO CREATE THE PARENTS AND TEACHERS HELPING STUDEN…”
|
TO CREATE THE PARENTS AND TEACHERS HELPING STUDENTS SUCCEED (PATHS) ACT. | McAlindon | Died in Senate Committee at Sine Die adjournment. |
|
HB1696
Act 566
· 2 mentions in chapter, agenda
Matched: “HB1696 McAlindon TO ESTABLISH THE STRENGTHENING ARKANSAS EDUCATION…”
|
TO ESTABLISH THE STRENGTHENING ARKANSAS EDUCATION ACT; AND TO PROVIDE A CORE CURRICULUM AT STATE-SUPPORTED … | McAlindon | Notification that HB1696 is now Act 566 |
|
SB205
· 2 mentions in chapter, agenda
Matched: “SB205 - Expunge the vote which SB205 failed”
|
TO AMEND THE ARKANSAS OPPORTUNITY PUBLIC SCHOOL CHOICE ACT; AND TO AMEND THE PUBLIC SCHOOL … | A. Clark | Died in Senate Committee at Sine Die adjournment. |
|
SB559
Act 729
· 2 mentions in chapter, agenda
Matched: “SB559 J. English TO AMEND THE ARKANSAS MILITARY CHILD SCHOOL TRAN…”
|
TO AMEND THE ARKANSAS MILITARY CHILD SCHOOL TRANSITIONS ACT OF 2021. | J. English | Notification that SB559 is now Act 729 |
|
SB572
Act 649
· 2 mentions in chapter, agenda
Matched: “SB572 J. Dotson TO CREATE THE PUBLIC SCHOOL ACCESS AND TRANSPAREN…”
|
TO CREATE THE PUBLIC SCHOOL ACCESS AND TRANSPARENCY ACT; AND TO REQUIRE PUBLIC ACCESS TO … | J. Dotson | Notification that SB572 is now Act 649 |
|
HB1180
· 1 mention in agenda
Matched: “…RT CARD TO INCLUDE A STUDENT'S CURRENT READING GRADE LEVEL. HB1180 Bentley TO CREATE THE BABY OLIVIA ACT. SB216 J. Dotson TO A…”
|
TO CREATE THE BABY OLIVIA ACT. | Bentley | Died in Senate Committee at Sine Die adjournment. |
|
HB1370
· 1 mention in agenda
Matched: “…estrictions designating areas as 'Members and Staff Only'. HB1370 J. Mayberry CONCERNING MAKING UP MISSED SCHOOL DAYS; AND TO…”
|
CONCERNING MAKING UP MISSED SCHOOL DAYS; AND TO REQUIRE A PUBLIC SCHOOL DISTRICT TO INCLUDE … | J. Mayberry | Died in Senate Committee at Sine Die adjournment. |
|
HB1495
· 1 mention in agenda
Matched: “…THE TEACHER AND STUDENT PROTECTION ACT OF 2025. Richardson HB1495 Hawk CONCERNING THE TRANSFER OF A STUDENT'S PERMANENT SCHOO…”
|
CONCERNING THE TRANSFER OF A STUDENT'S PERMANENT SCHOOL RECORD. | Hawk | Died in Senate Committee at Sine Die adjournment. |
|
HB1545
Act 501
· 1 mention in chapter
Matched: “HB1545 K. Brown TO AMEND THE ARKANSAS MILITARY CHILD SCHOOL TRANSI…”
|
TO AMEND THE ARKANSAS MILITARY CHILD SCHOOL TRANSITIONS ACT OF 2021. | K. Brown | Notification that HB1545 is now Act 501 |
|
HB1646
Act 917
· 1 mention in agenda
Matched: “…ERNING THE TRANSFER OF A STUDENT'S PERMANENT SCHOOL RECORD. HB1646 McGrew TO REQUIRE CERTAIN MATERIALS TO BE STORED IN LOCKED…”
|
TO REQUIRE CERTAIN MATERIALS TO BE STORED IN LOCKED COMPARTMENTS WITHIN A DESIGNATED AREA. | McGrew | Notification that HB1646 is now Act 917 |
|
SB149
· 1 mention in agenda
Matched: “…LOYMENT TAX ACT TO WAIVE THE "REASONABLE ASSURANCE" CLAUSE. SB149 J. English TO AMEND PUBLIC SCHOOL FUNDING AMOUNTS UNDER THE…”
|
TO AMEND PUBLIC SCHOOL FUNDING AMOUNTS UNDER THE PUBLIC SCHOOL FUNDING ACT OF 2003. | J. English | Died in House at Sine Die adjournment. |
|
SB215
· 1 mention in agenda
Matched: “…UNDING AMOUNTS UNDER THE PUBLIC SCHOOL FUNDING ACT OF 2003. SB215 J. Bryant TO AMEND THE PERMISSIBLE USES FOR REAL ESTATE DON…”
|
TO AMEND THE PERMISSIBLE USES FOR REAL ESTATE DONATED BY A PUBLIC SCHOOL DISTRICT; AND … | J. Bryant | Died in Senate Committee at Sine Die adjournment. |
|
SB266
· 1 mention in agenda
Matched: “…NING POSTSECONDARY EDUCATION FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE PROGRAMS. SB266 J. Dotson TO AUTHORIZE A PUBLIC SCHOOL TO ADOPT A POLICY FO…”
|
TO AUTHORIZE A PUBLIC SCHOOL TO ADOPT A POLICY FOR ONE OR MORE STUDENT MENTORS. | J. Dotson | Died in Senate Committee at Sine Die adjournment. |
|
SB436
· 1 mention in agenda
Matched: “…avis Sen. Jim Dotson REGULAR AGENDA Number Sponsor Subtitle SB436 A. Clark TO AMEND THE ABILITY OF A STUDENT WHO TRANSFERS UN…”
|
TO AMEND THE ABILITY OF A STUDENT WHO TRANSFERS UNDER THE PUBLIC SCHOOL CHOICE ACT … | A. Clark | Died in Senate Committee at Sine Die adjournment. |
|
SB451
· 1 mention in agenda
Matched: “…CH OR AN ATHLETICS PERSONNEL MEMBER WHO RECRUITS A STUDENT. SB451 Hester TO REQUIRE THE DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND THE DEPARTME…”
|
TO REQUIRE THE DEPARTMENT OF HUMAN SERVICES AND THE DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION TO ESTABLISH REGIONAL … | Hester | Died in Senate at Sine Die adjournment. |
|
SB482
· 1 mention in agenda
Matched: “…EDUCATION OF CERTAIN STUDENTS; AND TO DECLARE AN EMERGENCY. SB482 K. Hammer TO REPEAL THE ARKANSAS OPPORTUNITY PUBLIC SCHOOL…”
|
TO REPEAL THE ARKANSAS OPPORTUNITY PUBLIC SCHOOL CHOICE ACT; TO AMEND THE LAW RELATING TO … | K. Hammer | Died in Senate Committee at Sine Die adjournment. |
|
SB604
Act 730
· 1 mention in agenda
Matched: “…L CALENDAR FOR THE PURPOSE OF MAKING UP MISSED SCHOOL DAYS. SB604 B. Davis TO AMEND PROVISIONS OF THE ARKANSAS CODE REGARDING…”
|
TO AMEND PROVISIONS OF THE ARKANSAS CODE REGARDING THE COURSE CHOICE PROGRAM. | B. Davis | Notification that SB604 is now Act 730 |
|
SB607
· 1 mention in agenda
Matched: “…S OF THE ARKANSAS CODE REGARDING THE COURSE CHOICE PROGRAM. SB607 Crowell TO ESTABLISH THE REQUIREMENTS FOR A PUBLIC SCHOOL D…”
|
TO ESTABLISH THE REQUIREMENTS FOR A PUBLIC SCHOOL DISTRICT THAT INITIATES AND MAINTAINS A FOUR-DAY … | Crowell | Died in Senate Committee at Sine Die adjournment. |
|
SCR3
· 1 mention in agenda
Matched: “…ECLARE AN EMERGENCY. DEFERRED BILLS Number Sponsor Subtitle SCR3 J. Scott TO URGE THE ARKANSAS CONGRESSIONAL DELEGATION TO P…”
|
TO URGE THE ARKANSAS CONGRESSIONAL DELEGATION TO PROPOSE AN AMENDMENT TO THE FEDERAL UNEMPLOYMENT TAX … | J. Scott | Died in Senate Committee at Sine Die adjournment. |
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Senator Jane English
Unverified
0:00
to Senate Education. I'd like to introduce our pages for the day here, visiting us with us. Isabella Glasscock, Jody Cleveland, Addison Pickney, Briley
Grooms, and Payne Leonard. Thank you very much for being here.
This is all about you. Thank you very much. And first off, on the agenda, we'd like to ask, This
is House Bill 1610, 1810, Representative Carr.
Representative John P. Carr
Unverified
0:37
Good morning. Thank you, Madam Chair. House Bill 1810, what it does is it seeks to unify the administration and the schools of the School for the Deaf and the School for the Blind. They are currently two separate entities, and what this will do, this will ensure that the instructional plans are streamlined, they're calibrated, they're unified. That will create greater security, a more effective instructional approach, and provide
the support for the learning needs of each individual kid. And with that, I
Senator Jim Dotson
Unverified
1:23
would entertain any questions. Senator Dotson. Thank you, Madam Chair. So, Representative Carr,
this is basically just merging and then renaming, in essence? Yes. Or is there anything more in-depth in this that I'm missing?
Representative John P. Carr
Unverified
1:40
It's an administrative unification. Okay. So, superintendent, principals, board, it'll all be to where it's one school instead of two separate entities. Because we have several students, I think the number is right now of the 150, about 32 students, 23, sorry, 23 students that are deaf and blind. And so they're back and forth.
And so that's one of the struggles instructionally that they deal with is just to ensure that they're meeting the learning needs of those kids. And with it being, it'd be like a student going to two separate schools, you know. Right. No,
Senator Jim Dotson
Unverified
2:26
I get all that. It's a 37-page bill, and we're late in the session, and everything's getting blurry at 2 a.m. Right. A lot of that is cleaning up. When I was reading this last night, I wanted to make sure that there's nothing I'm missing
Representative John P. Carr
Unverified
2:38
in there other than it's merging. And a lot of the language that has been stricken is antiquated language.
Senator Jane English
Unverified
2:44
Okay. Thank you. Yes, sir. Thank you. There are questions from the committee besides Senator Dodson. are there anybody like to speak for we have people to speak for and against the bill
let's see what's her name Hancock speak Luxonia Hancock speaking against
Speaker 28
3:14
the bill? Oh, okay. All right. Maybe then both of you
Senator Jane English
Unverified
3:29
need to have a seat at the table.
Speaker 36
3:44
Right down at the end of the table. Oh, gosh, I'm sorry.
Senator Jane English
Unverified
4:14
If you identify yourself, you will be recognized. Say that again for the interpreter, please.
Speaker 42
4:45
Beg pardon? Do you mind repeating yourself for the
Senator Jane English
Unverified
4:49
interpreter? I can't quite hear you. Oh. I think that's about
Senator Jane English
Unverified
4:59
hear us? Not very well. I can't, no. I think that's about as
loud as we can make it. Let's see. No, thank you. Is that better? Much better. Thank you.
Speaker 48
5:17
Okay. Thank you very much. Okay. If you'd identify yourself, you'll be recognized. Thank you.
Ashley Harris
Unverified
5:42
My name is Ashley Harris and I am here with Kitsonia and we would like to provide our information. Go ahead.
Ashley Harris
Unverified
7:56
thank you that bill shows that the governor would be taking control of the Arkansas School for the Deaf as well as ASBVI's board this is going to permanently harm the board and affect the board's ability to use their voice.
Deaf culture is extremely cherished when it comes to our education, as well as for blind individuals. Deaf and blind require different needs for education. The responsibility of the Senate should be to place a board member and establish a board without legislative interference and that has deaf leaders through it. someone who has been through the deaf life and experiences what a deaf person goes through. Most other individuals are clueless, and they haven't been in our shoes.
And for community input, the AAD really has some in-depth concerns regarding the bill and how its influence will be resulted directly from the feedback of the recent survey that was sent out in December of 2023. That survey was not appropriately published or sent out. It was without captions and without ASL videos and translations. For blind individuals who rely on audio and screen readers, there was no access for them either.
This is proof that our community has been further failed as well as our school. In the past, Senator Clark from the House Representative and Senator McCullough have had no understanding about ASD or ASBVI's decision-making processes without input from the community. How can they be expected to make these? AAD has already made them very aware, as well as the House of Representatives, that the former support of our bill and vote has been pushed through.
and to clarify we've withdrawn any further support from that bill. We are asking that you vote against this House bill now. Please withdraw House Bill 1810 and please allow individuals to think about really the impact this is going to have from the survey as well as on a broader sense not having someone who's been through the deaf experience. This bill being proposed will continue to
harm the education of our students that we so cherish ASD as well as ASBVI. Both of these schools are extremely important to me and they should be important to you as well. In the future we would ask there not be any additional damage to our deaf and blind students in Arkansas in our further generations. Thank you. Thank you very much.
Charlene Fite. Madam Chair, if I may. Yes. I think the sponsors would like
to hold off and bring this bill back later in committee if you don't mind. That'd be fine. That'd be all right? Yes. I've driven two
Speaker 75
11:45
and a half hours. Could I go ahead and give my testimony?
We have one more that would like to testify. if the
committee wants to hear it, but we'd like to hold off on a vote until we'd like to bring it up later, but we have one more I'd like to testify now.
Charlene Fight
Unverified
12:13
Okay. Madam Chair, I just drove two and a half hours to get here and I may not be able to return because I may be having surgery, so I'd like to go ahead. I know your remarks will be brief. Okay, I will be brief. My name is Charlene
fight. I'm a former legislator. I served for 12 years in the Arkansas House of Representatives with several of you, and I was on the education committee for several terms. But before all of that, I was a teacher of deaf children, and my original degree is in education of the deaf. So we're all here for the same reason. We want the best for our children. For many, many years, the school for the deaf and the school for the blind and visually impaired has been in horrible
condition. Several of you saw it. The buildings were crumbling. The staff was excellent, but the buildings, the dormitories, the classrooms, the campus itself was in bad condition. It was unsafe for our children. Every governor that we have had since I have been in the house has cared about these children, has wanted the best for them, but they have not known what to do. Governor Sanders, much to her credit, has stepped forward
and was willing to take bold action and streamline the school, streamline the campus, and make it better and do everything that she could to bring a state-of-the-art facility for these children. That's what we're going to have, state-of-the-art. It's going to be one wing for deaf children, one wing for blind children.
Care and one administrator who will take care of the paperwork and so forth, but then a principal, a specialized principal for each school who has knowledge of deaf children and the other who has knowledge of blind children. It makes sense to me 15 other states use this model. This is not anything new. And I want to leave you with the seven last words of the church or the seven last words of any organization or any agency.
Do you know what those seven last words are? We've never done it that way before. We die if we don't change. And our schools for the deaf and our schools for the blind and visually impaired are dying. This is our chance to bring them where they should be and give these children the services they so richly deserve. So please vote yes on this bill.
Speaker 86
15:14
Senator Sullivan. I think this is Representative Carr's bill. representative do you
want to hold off on running it further or do you want to go ahead yeah we'll go ahead and just we'll wait okay thank you very much yes thank you thank you
committee thank you you madam chair representative card are you saying you want to wait okay thank you sorry
Senator Missy Irvin
Unverified
15:58
thank you senator missy urban district 24 I think we have
Senator Jane English
Unverified
16:20
to expunge the vote from the amendment that we passed at the last meeting? Yes. Could I do Senate Bill
Senator Missy Irvin
Unverified
16:29
504 first? Yeah. Okay. Senate
Bill 504 members just sets up a statewide Arkansas rural preceptorship program for our four medical schools. This is an easy program that just really provides a per diem and just to expose these medical students out into the rural parts of the state of Arkansas it's a highly successful moving our medical students out into the rural parts of the
state of Arkansas to expose them to health constructed with the collaboration of these four medical schools and the Department of Higher Ed so that we can be more intentional about our workforce issues as it relates to getting doctors out into the rural parts of the state of Arkansas. I know we went out to Senator Murdoch's area and had a great visit out there. And so this idea kind of came a little bit from some of those meetings we actually had in West Memphis, but also from my
personal experience, my husband participated in this rural preceptorship that currently is at UAMS. This would open up for a statewide initiative with the ability for private to also contribute like a health system, an FQHC, a community could also participate in this to bring and host a preceptor into their community. so that's why we've designed it that way but when you get those folks out into the rural parts of
the state of Arkansas they realize that we've got great public schools it's a great cost of living place to raise our kids and it's just a lot cheaper way of being able to introduce them to rural parts of the state of Arkansas and I'm definitely supportive of rural residency programs I think they're they're wonderful but they're harder to stand up and harder to maintain The AHEC program at Jonesboro is fabulous, and we've been able to do a rural preceptorship and rural residency through the AHEC in Jonesboro.
But this program just is designed to be more intentional about trying to get our workforce out into rural areas. And that's what the bill does. There's no fiscal impact. It's just setting up the program. There are questions from the committee. Anybody in
Senator Jane English
Unverified
18:54
the audience speak for or against the bill? What's the will of the committee? All in favor? All opposed? Thank you very much. Thank you.
Senator Missy Irvin
Unverified
19:09
The last bill I have today is Senate Bill 484, and we would need to do a motion to expunge the vote by which
Speaker 103
19:22
the amendment was adopted. Go ahead. Be your pardon? We need
Senator Missy Irvin
Unverified
19:30
to expunge the vote. Yes. All in favor? Thank you. Thank you, Senator Dotson. So what we did was rewrote the bill. Basically, with the input of the committee, I rewrote the bill and engrossed the amendment into the bill.
So I heard the concerns, I think, that were shared by the committee. And so we worked through the issues so that if there's a vacancy, the first line will still be the school board, Even though I have concerns about that, I think that the language in this bill that allows for disclosure and transparency and kind of just an ability for the citizens that are very concerned about or that are wanting to fill that vacancy can apply for it, know
that it's out there, and it just subscribes a pretty clean process there. And then the second line of defense, so to speak, would be your quorum court. And so that just, the language kind of outlines, and we just took all of the input from the members of the committee to try to reflect that in this current bill regarding vacancies on school boards. So if you'll see, you have this very clean, I think, and clear transparent process and then allowing for the disclosure of that vacancy on page two.
I think it's important that the local newspaper, that it's listed in there, the homepage of the school district's official website, and utilizing that there's a notice of that vacancy and that a qualified elector who may be interested then knows about it and can apply for that position to be considered by the majority of the school district board of directors or the quorum court if the school district does not or is not able to make that determination.
I'm happy to answer any questions. Senator Dotson? Thank
Senator Jim Dotson
Unverified
21:33
you, Madam Chair, and sorry I didn't realize that this had
gotten amended and engrossed yesterday, so I was going through it this morning. Yeah, and I know that you helped me with the other language. But as far as the process between the school board and then the quorum court, if I'm reading it correctly, if the school board doesn't fill it, then the quorum court does. Correct.
And the quorum court and the school board both have to follow identical processes in order to fill the vacancy. So as far as sending it out, I think any candidates have five minutes to present. Those processors are for both, whichever one feels the
Speaker 101
22:16
way. Okay, thank you. You did a better job of presenting my bill than I did. Thank you.
Senator Jane English
Unverified
22:22
Any other questions from the committee? We have somebody to speak against the bill. Julia Taylor.
Speaker 116
22:33
Go ahead. I also did not realize until I got into this room that
Senator Jane English
Unverified
22:42
the bill had been amended. I think you have to have a seat and identify yourself for the record. These
Senator Breanne Davis
Unverified
22:50
are tricky. You're on camera. Julia Taylor, and I'm speaking for myself. I was opposed to
this bill. I was in committee the other day to speak for it, against it. I did not realize that it had been amended until I got into the room this morning.
I would have just scratched my name off, but I did want to just go on record that I was opposed to the other bill because I did not like that it
Speaker 57
23:39
I am not really opposed now. Thank you very much. Thank you. Okay, Heather Finley. Sorry. the
Senator Missy Irvin
Unverified
23:46
amendments engrossed in the bill yeah 484 you identify yourself you for
Speaker 127
23:57
the record thank you madam i'm heather finley
Speaker 129
23:59
from gravite arkansas i currently serve on the Gravette School Board as the legislative liaison. I'm here speaking as myself as a board member and I appreciate the amendment because I was opposed to the bill as it was originally written and I see that what we are trying to do is transparency and communication and I feel that's very important for school board and its community to have that. I do have a concern with the process of no
executive session. As a small community the board sometimes has to make some decisions that might be unfavorable with some people and I can see that having those discussions on personnel matters in an open meeting could hamper, could harm relationships with community members. Serving for 10 years on the Gravette School Board I have known of two vacancies and at that time we have always allowed a public input and a time for those candidates to present their
case and then the board will retire to an executive session because of a personnel matter and come out into public and make that vote. So I would ask a no vote as written and I would love to see an amendment that allowed an executive session
Senator Jane English
Unverified
25:29
thank you any other questions from the committee nobody else
in the audience to speak for against the bill what is
Senator Missy Irvin
Unverified
25:41
the will of the can I if I can just close yes ma'am thank you and to that concern I I agree on personnel matters, personnel matters when it comes to your staff, but this is a public official position. When we get voted on, it's not an executive session. It is a public disclosure, our elections are, and so in my opinion, it's the same issue with a vacancy on a school board, and I appreciate
the concern. However, these are not employees of the school district. They're a school district board of directors. And so to me, there's a distinction between that and a personnel issue as it relates to somebody who is actually employed by the school district. So I appreciate the concerns. However, to me, this is, they are two separate different issues. And I would always advocate for personnel issues to remain an executive session. However, school district Board of Directors is not somebody employed by the school district. I just I
wanted to make that and and I appreciate the other concerns being addressed with the amendment and I so I appreciate a good vote. Thank you. What's
Senator Jane English
Unverified
26:59
the will of the committee all in favor? No discussion?
Senator Jim Dotson
Unverified
27:07
Yes, go ahead. Thank you, Madam Chair. and and I appreciate the amendment and because I didn't like the bill
before but thank you for working hard and I know you've we talked a lot about it and you
addressed a lot of the concerns I had with the original and so and and maybe contrary as I've been sitting here thinking through the bill I know it's very uncomfortable but we do a lot of things that are uncomfortable as public officials to have a public discussion and debate on filling a vacancy. And so, but that is something that since we are discussing something for someone who will be in a position of authority
and controlling a lot of resources and the education of our children, some of the thoughts that go into filling that vacancy should be discussed publicly so I think it is a good good position there to have not to have it go into an executive session so so for that reason I'll be voting yes thank you Discussion?
Senator Jane English
Unverified
28:16
All in favor? Aye. All opposed? Thank you. You passed your bill.
Speaker 142
28:25
Thank you, I'll come here and send your help. Yeah, I'll go ahead. As soon as he gets finished, I'm going to recover.
Senator Jane English
Unverified
28:55
If you will identify yourself, you'll
be recognized. This is Senator Dan Sullivan, District 20. I think we're on House Bill
1723. 33. 33, and I have a guest here. And if you would introduce
Chester Shannon
Unverified
29:16
yourself. My name's Chester Shannon. I'm the superintendent, Jackson County School District, a school district in Northeast Arkansas. And we go ahead. Thank you. House Bill 1733 takes, in the state of Arkansas, there is the ABC program, and there is the ABCSS,
two very good programs for preschool education in the state of Arkansas. ABC was founded in 1991, and it's got 10 qualifiers for students to be admitted to that program. ABCSS came later, around 2001, and it only has the qualifier of income. And so what this bill does, it does not cost the state any money. It does not create any more ABC slots.
But what it does is it takes ABCSS and gives them the same eligibility requirements as ABC. which will allow a lot of flexibility is when you are testing kids or trying to get kids enrolled in preschool. Any questions from the committee? Members would be glad to take any questions.
Do you have any questions? It's the last packet
Speaker 147
30:50
in your book, I think. Or next, though.
I know you're pulled it out of order and be glad to let you look
through it but again I think the important parts are
it just kind of levels the playing field for these programs there's no cost and we're not creating additional
Senator Jane English
Unverified
31:16
cost by adding slots you have questions anybody have questions nobody in the audience
to speak for or against the bill. What's the will of
Senator Reginald Murdock
Unverified
31:30
the committee? Oh, certainly. Go ahead. So, I know what the ABC program is. I'm familiar
Chester Shannon
Unverified
31:39
with that. The second program, the creation of it, give me some history on that. Well, originally in 1991, the ABC slots were 3,000 in the state. And then the state went 10 or 12 years and did not add any preschool slots, then they developed 20,000 ABCSS.
But the original slots, the qualifying factors for being in the original slots for a student to qualify were developed by the agency, the child care, and they came up with 10 really good things that would show developmental delays. So if you had a teenage mother that had a child under age 18, indications are that that child may be delayed in some way.
And so those are all great qualifiers. ABC, SS, the bulk of those in the state is income only. And so a child that qualifies for speech wouldn't be eligible if he didn't qualify for the income. And so, the original ABC slots are like, if a child, right now you have to turn, with ABCSS, you have to turn three by August the 1st to be enrolled for the entire year.
But with ABC slots, you can turn three on the 15th and be entered, or actually be in a program when school starts. So, there's more flexibility with the ABC. I think we have the support of the Arkansas Department of Education. I don't want to speak for
Speaker 152
33:22
them, but it passed a house, I think, 98-0. I guess what
Senator Reginald Murdock
Unverified
33:29
I'm trying to ascertain is the distinction between the two programs.
When the slots were added, why didn't I just add them to the ABC program? Why? What's
Chester Shannon
Unverified
33:42
the distinction between the programs? The only distinction between the programs is how do you qualify to get into the program. And the initial program was 3,000 slots, and then there was nothing added for 10 or 12 years. And in that 10 or 12 years, preschool was kind of on the chopping block whether we were going to have preschool.
But then in the early 2000s, they came back and said, hey, preschool education is important. the legislature instead of the child development people developed the criteria and it was income only but so this opens it up it gives everybody in my school district I have 34 of the old money ABC slots and and without them I could not have added toddlers because ABCSS does not allow that
and so it gives everybody the same the the old original slots are considered the old money are considered gold because you have the flexibility of getting kids enrolled that need the instruction that need the help to be ready for kindergarten and and a lot of slots out there there's a lot of people did not even know there's a distinction between the two
Speaker 156
34:59
mostly because they haven't been in as long as I have. And
that the Department of Education is okay with
these changes? Let's check. Yeah. Okay. Have a question? Senator Murdoch? That's it. Thank you. I make a motion. Do pass.
Speaker 158
35:18
Second. All in favor? Aye. All opposed? Thank you very much. Thank you very much. Thank you.
Speaker 75
36:03
Okay, come back please. Okay, Brianne, do you want to do yours?
Senator Jane English
Unverified
37:03
You Identify yourself you'll be recognized.
Senator Breanne Davis
Unverified
37:23
Thank you. Madam chair Brianne Davis State Senate District 25 I'm presenting House bill 1517 today Last session, we passed legislation creating the adult diploma program.
We created that program as a way to address, more to address the emergency that we face with adults in our state who have no 1517. Did I say 1571? 1517? Is it 71? I'm sorry, 71. That's why I couldn't find it in my notebook. Thank you. 1571. So we were trying to address the emergency of adults across our state with no high school diploma. There's around 300,000 of them.
We created an approach used by other states that's different than the traditional model. One, it pays for performance, and two, it allows for an open provider model. As with a lot of legislation that we pass, we need to come back today during implementation and make a few tweaks that we've seen over the last two years. And that's what this bill does. One change is more substantial that we want to be honest about, and that is we're increasing a few of the reimbursement amounts. That's because the
amounts that were put into rules didn't align with best practices that we were seeing in other states. It doesn't increase the amount being spent on the program, but it does change the amount that providers must adhere to for the average cost per graduate. So the amount remains capped, But again, it's just sort of fixing the rules and making sure that providers are paid the appropriate amount if students are graduating from their program. That's what the bill does. There's no fiscal impact to the state, and we're just making changes within the program to make sure that it flows better and aligns and does what it needs to do.
Chair
Unverified
39:17
Happy to answer any questions. Senator Dotson, you're recognized. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Senator Jim Dotson
Unverified
39:27
think you may have added answered this throughout because that was one of my questions is how is there no fiscal impact when we're increasing all these things but do you know what the you said that it's the amount still remains the same but what is the what is that amount I guess how much are we spending on this program and
Senator Breanne Davis
Unverified
39:46
seven hundred and fifty thousand dollars okay so so there
were 267 graduates through the largest provider that is eligible for this program. No, we are using the funds, but I mean, it's for students actually graduating, and I think that's the beauty of this program. It's pay for performance, essentially, if they're ensuring that these adults that don't have high school diplomas are getting them, that's when they're paid. So it's really motivation on both ends to to get it handled and have a high school
diploma not just a GED thank you members any other questions seeing none no one signed up to speak for against the bill if not what's the will
Senator Breanne Davis
Unverified
40:40
of the committee I'm close or do you want to close yes I'm close from my bill and with
the motion do pass. Second. Got a second. All in favor say aye. Thank you. You passed your bill. That's the most important part,
isn't it? Members, do we have anyone else here to run a
Unknown speaker
41:02
Bill, what number is it?
Thank you.
members we're going to hear house bill 1062
Scott Richardson
Unverified
42:29
and if you would introduce yourself and you
may proceed Thank you, Mr. Chairman. My name is Scott Richardson from House District 13, Northwest Arkansas.
Today I bring for your consideration House Bill 1062, which we've titled to create the Teacher and Student Protection Act. This bill came about as much of a constituent bill as there ever was. I was out knocking doors like a number of candidates in the fall, and I ran into a teacher that I couldn't help but notice a very large black eye. We talked for a while. She finally noticed my stare, and although I tried not to, she noticed that I was looking at it,
and she proceeded to explain to me that this was a result of an action between her and one of her students. And this was actually the second time that that particular student had attacked her in a classroom in the previous week so from that we came to this this particular approach to try to address some of the violence that's occurring in our classrooms with that I'll sort of run through some of the the pieces of the bill for your consideration of course the
definitions are always important we we place those a few items that I want to point out appropriate interim learning environment, short-term, identical, excuse me, if you will, identical environment for a student to be placed in if need is there. And then, of course, we gave some examples like a classroom or in-school suspension where they can receive the exact same services that they've always received. And then we had to define violent.
And we did that through using threatening language, throwing items, of course, that could cause harm or damage, physically abusing a student or a teacher, and then similar actions to that. So within the bill itself, we had to add to Arkansas Code that violent behavior is a reason for a teacher to actually remove a student. Before that, it wasn't there, so we added that in on page 216.
We gave some clarity around when a student should be removed, down lower in that same section further down. And then we get into some of the challenges with this. We wanted to make sure that if a student is removed for a violent behavior, that we actually do a behavioral threat assessment on that student to determine if there's a further intervention that would be required or needed. And with that, I'm happy to take any questions.
Members, does anyone have any questions? Anyone here to speak for or against the bill? Would
Speaker 183
45:38
you like to close for your bill? I'll be closed for my
Scott Richardson
Unverified
45:41
bill. This is obviously a good way for us to start providing some protection in the classroom, and I would appreciate a committee's good vote. Motion to pass. Second.
you guys wait not want to make sure we're come we got folks here we want to make sure everybody's comfortable before we move forward we have a
Speaker 176
46:28
second all in favor say aye Congratulations your bill passes
Folks the chair is supposed to be back She isn't so we're going to hold off running any more bills till we have A few more members here
Speaker 189
46:48
There we are okay We're going to we're going
Speaker 25
46:57
to move on I'm here That's yours okay and what are we doing now did she run her bill
dan sullivan district 20 members we are looking at 1684 we heard this bill once
representative mcclendon was here and the bill did not pass out of committee and i think it was because there were some language in the bill that wasn't very specific and when you look at the i'm just running the amendment now So when you look at the amendment, we have deleted some of the lines where the bill wasn't specific. We've either deleted them or replaced them. Most of them we just deleted. So when you look at what's been added here, or what's been deleted,
you'll see page five several times, or I think four times, that we deleted language, again, that wasn't either clear or specific. And then on page five, we added a line. And again, page five was the one that was in question. Be glad to take any questions on the amendment.
Speaker 194
50:10
Senator Murdoch, do you have a question? Well, it's not in the polls, so I don't think we're going
Senator Jane English
Unverified
50:31
to have a meeting. Oh. can you find your bill 1684 it was the teachers and
I think I'll let Senator Dotson run his bills. I'll wait until we get a few more people back here
Speaker 164
51:23
in committee. Okay. Thank you. Yep. What bill are you running, Senator? Let's start with
Senator Jane English
Unverified
51:51
Okay. If you identify yourself, you'll be recognized.
Senator Jim Dotson
Unverified
51:56
State Senator Jim Dotson, District 34. Thank you. Senate Bill 572 is the Public School Access and Transparency Act. This bill
amends FOIA to ensure public access to learning materials used in Arkansas public schools. This bill addresses concerns about transparency and explicitly classifying curricula, lesson plans, books, digital resources, and other instructional materials as public records.
It prevents school officials from denying access based on copyright claims and prohibits agreements that restrict public inspection due to intellectual property rights. This is an effort to respond to the need for accountability in public education, ensuring residents can review what students are being taught without undue barriers. The bill introduces specific provisions to balance access with legal protections.
Residents can't publish or distribute copyrighted materials. and access to digital resources likes a subscription-based platforms must be facilitated through physical inspection if copying is impractical schools are are not cannot require disclosure non-disclosure agreements for access and the definition of learning materials excludes tests or assessments to
protect academic integrity. I'd be happy to try to answer
Senator Reginald Murdock
Unverified
53:39
any questions. Senator Murdoch. What precipitated this to be, what that you're talking about is not allowable or available now for parents to inspect or the general public to
inspect this in your, this transparency bill?
Senator Jim Dotson
Unverified
53:55
Well this is ensuring that it can't be not denied so just making sure there's open transparency I think
there's probably instances that have happened in I don't have a lot of instances that I can point to specifically but just depends on the school district their administration I do know locally that there have been in my area at times if you're not a parent you can't I think inspect or or or even sometimes speak on things so it's one of those things that making sure that we
have access and and actually have somebody that might be able to help answer your questions a little bit more specifically is my co-sponsor on this particular bill if if the chair would recognize Senator or representative McElindon this is Senate bill 572 well
Senator Reginald Murdock
Unverified
55:01
question from to the department into miss Mike Hernandez back there do we have any is everybody
okay with this is there any pushback from our superintendents is any school is Is everybody okay with this as far as we know? Mike? Let me hear from Hernandez as far as I can. Here, let's see. If you identify
Speaker 209
55:21
yourself, you'll be recognized. You might repeat your question just to make sure.
Senator Reginald Murdock
Unverified
55:39
Just trying to make sure that we don't have any concerns as it relates to, I mean, it seems a simple transparency. It seems simple, but it almost seems simple enough to me that it's not necessary.
Speaker 211
55:52
So what's... So, Senator Murdoch, to answer your question, you know, it does, there's a lot of things
Speaker 212
55:58
in this bill that just seem like what we already would be able to be doing as a district. Probably the only thing that may give a little pause or might have a question on is related to just the online learning platforms
and having, you know, people come in and inspect them, sometimes those things are, if I understand the bill right, is the, there are a lot of those technologies that are user-specific. Like if I answer a question, it may go to a harder question or a different prompt or some of those things. So just the mechanics of operating, making this happen, you know, is not saying it can't be done. It's just something that we would have to try to figure out and not get any kind of issues with copyrights
and making sure student data is not being seen by somebody in the
Senator Reginald Murdock
Unverified
56:50
general public. Is there some, inside the bill, are there provisions to
prevent the copyright and other type of infringements that may be allowed in this? Yeah, that's, I think, part
Senator Jim Dotson
Unverified
57:02
of, and you may be able to answer it even better than I can, but that's part of the intent of this, Things that are digital nature things like that that you can't copy that it goes through just the
Parents or the general public have the ability to inspect what's being taught Within the schools, so there's transparency She's worked so hard on this and so I didn't want
Senator Reginald Murdock
Unverified
57:24
to so what let me hear from you. What precipitate this Mike Would you identify yourself for the record? Oh, I'm
Senator Jane English
Unverified
57:31
sorry Mike Hernandez from the Administrator Association. Thank you Belinda in House District
Speaker 213
57:35
10. Thank you. Thank you, Chairman. Yes, sir. So
Representative Mindy McAlindon
Unverified
57:40
what happened is we have a couple bills, one that hopefully will be presented later today, which is the PASS bill that allows schools to make a photocopy if someone needs a piece of paper to say, for example, I don't, I want to know what's being taught on, say, evolution in the biology textbook. And so that bill will give people an opportunity, schools an opportunity to either let a parent look at it, or if it's just a couple of pages, the school may have to say, let's not set up a meeting, I'll just photocopy it and send it to you.
So the goal is simply to make sure that schools aren't violating any copyright by doing that and that's so it's just a protection for the schools And that's why at the end we talk about Not at the end but the bottom of page 2 or top of page 3. I don't have the engrossed version, but it says that Copies shall not exceed any amounts permissible under the fair use provisions of the US Copyright Act And that's the purpose of that is just to make sure if they
make a couple copies for it for a parent that they're not Doing anything that they shouldn't be doing Thank you, of course
Senator Jane English
Unverified
58:44
That it we have the questions It's nobody here to speak for against the bill What's the will of
Speaker 142
59:01
the committee? I'm closed I make motion do pass second All
Senator Jim Dotson
Unverified
59:05
in favor all opposed. Thank you very much. You passed your bill I'm going to do and while we're here. Can we do 1696 as well? Representative McElindon, this is also her bill. Actually, the one that she was referring to
was the one that Dan presented the amendment just a second ago and then pulled it down. So the unengrossed amendment that he just presented, that's the bill she was just referring
Speaker 80
59:30
to. This is a completely separate bill.
Senator Jim Dotson
Unverified
59:36
I've been busy. I said I've been busy. This is House Bill 1696, the Strengthening Arkansas Education Act, and Representative McClendon, if you'd like to present. Absolutely.
Representative Mindy McAlindon
Unverified
59:45
Representative McClendon, House District 10. This is a really exciting bill.
We've collaborated with the Department of Education, with higher ed. We've worked with them probably for months. We've worked with nearly every representative from our two-year and four-year universities across the state to try to come up with something that works within their system, aligns with the Access Act, to guarantee course transferability, and also to make sure that college credits earned in high school apply towards degree completion. So we've gone through a lot of hoops to make sure that this is working. Higher ed has a goal of reducing the gen ed core to less than 35 hours.
And part of that is to help students graduate more quickly, potentially in three years instead of four years, which saves them money and gets them into the workforce faster. So one of the key changes that we've made in this bill is to remove the rigid 35-hour general core curriculum standard. It gives institutions the flexibility to tailor their programs while still maintaining high academic standards. But at the same time, we've established a 15-hour requisite core. And this is required for both associate degrees as well as bachelor degrees.
And what it consists of is two English or English equivalent courses, one math or math equivalent, one three-hour American history course, and one three-hour American government course. And that will be for every student, whether they're graduating two-year or four-year university. And the reason that I think
that we discussed this and felt that these two courses were really important to require, if you think about
being young and listening to your grandparents or your aunts and uncles talk about the history of your family, they would talk about how they met, maybe how they came to America.
If it's like my family, I had relatives who fought in the Revolutionary War. Maybe your family explored the unknown of the West for a better life. All those stories are the roots that make my family my family, right? And it tells me how I belong. And that's how I feel about our American family. Our story, our history, is what makes us a family. We don't always agree, but we're bound together by that history. And I think it's really important because it connects us and
it makes us belong. And so this bill requires that every student takes American history and American government.
And I know you can argue that we took that in high school. But I think at this point in time, where we have young students who are voting, they're getting ready to embark on their careers, it's really important to reinforce
those values and that understanding of how our government works. I mean, we know that government can kind of
be a hot mess, but it works. And it's essential that people understand that, that our young people know how it works, why it works, and why we cherish the way that it works. Reagan famously said, freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. I firmly believe that if we don't teach our children about our history and the responsibility that comes with freedom, then we have failed them.
In Arkansas, I want every student, whether they go to a two-year college or a four-year university, to leave with a deep understanding of America's history, its government, and their role in
Senator Reginald Murdock
Unverified
1:02:47
preserving the nation's legacy. and and I tend to agree with the
concept what is somewhat problematic is that we're mandating a curriculum that they must take this and I would love to leave
that to those institutions to determine curriculum and those things I understand your passion and sentiment for it and you know and as a parent or even in your your role as a state representative I think you can encourage I'm not sure that I'm okay with us mandating that they must take it okay I understand that so I'd love to
Representative Mindy McAlindon
Unverified
1:03:25
bring may can I ask someone to come to the table I mean I
do think we did work with the term in education and with those two-year and four-year schools to make sure that everyone was comfortable with that and if you if you're an engineer for example I can take a different math class so there's a lot
of flexibility but i'll let the experts speak instead
Speaker 225
1:03:49
of me yes good morning mason campbell i'm the assistant commissioner for academic affairs with the division of higher ed so i'm happy to answer any questions the the agency is very very comfortable with this bill we put a lot of sponsors with the institutions to make sure that it meets the goals
we have no issues or concerns with the requisite core in many ways it reinforces what we what we already allow within the core if you really dig down there's an additional three hours that we're now sort of they're now requisite but the minimum core which is a larger portion of the general education core can still be determined by the institution so what this does is sort of prevent students from falling through that cracks with those specific pieces that we wanted to see and then it allows us to update and sort of modernize the core also get some
new life back in the core hasn't been updated in a long time so our agency still has latitude to to build upon this core and it
Speaker 228
1:04:48
reinforces what we already do in many ways well
Senator Reginald Murdock
Unverified
1:04:55
excuse me as you represent higher ed and obviously the institutions that you that stand behind you or so to speak that you represent I guess you know they're okay with this type but this can be the start of something of these type of mandates to the institutions that's my
concern and it's a good I have no problem with what your the concept of where you're going but the where this can be net
where this can go next is kind of my concern but but thank you thank you for answering the question any further questions from the committee. Would you like to close for your bill? There's nobody here
Senator Jane English
Unverified
1:05:37
to speak for or against the bill. Thank you. Well, just as a reminder, this is
Representative Mindy McAlindon
Unverified
1:05:47
a this is a change in our general education requirements. We are reducing the 35 hours, taking that off the institution so that they can create a require education core that they want. This replaces it with a 15-hour requisite core in order to be sure that we have students who, whether they're graduate from two-year or four-year that they have a solid foundation and with that I'm
Senator Jim Dotson
Unverified
1:06:10
close and just to to build on that just it this actually gives the institutions a
little bit more flexibility I think within the the the
non-requisite corp to build their programs specifically related to whether it be engineering or various things like that so I think this is a positive step forward. And like I said, when this bill first came out, we had a lot of, a lot of input from all of the institutions across the state who, you know, it was a much bigger bill. We'd started with just trying to realign the existing core. And this is something that everybody sat around
the table. And when I say everybody, I think it was one of the largest education groups of people from all across the state that i'd ever been in that were all interested from the department to the to all the institutions two-year four-year i mean they they were all present on this bill and so we kind of built it to where everybody is comfortable with it and so anyway that just want to give you that background on it before we vote and with that closed i make a motion do pass do i hear a second
Senator Jane English
Unverified
1:07:34
all in favor all those thank you very much Pastor Bill thank you
representative Richardson in here still okay so
Senator Reginald Murdock
Unverified
1:07:48
madam chair yes going forward with the committee as it's currently sits up with our current attendance I'm not comfortable moving any more bills out of here
Senator Jane English
Unverified
1:08:04
Then I guess we are finished we will adjourn Well,
Speaker 237
1:08:13
we don't have that much left We only
Senator Jane English
Unverified
1:08:20
have about I I have a couple of bills. Can you handle my little bills
Speaker 232
1:08:27
that aren't controversial? I Know I thought we were gonna wait on them I don't think they're going to, huh?
Yeah. So, folks, that was an accidental gavel.
She was trying to lay it
down. laid it down the wrong place so we've got two more bills to hear so we're
going to hear them right now senator if you would
Senator Jane English
Unverified
1:09:53
introduce yourself and the bill number you're running senator jane english and i have
a senate bill 559 basically they're cleanup bills from the military child
school transition act of 2021 and a sentence was inadvertently taken out of a of the bill before and so we're putting it back in and also we're making clear that a receiving district shall enter academic courses on requests for behalf of incoming students the whole idea of the military children is to make sure that when all of our students of military children are coming in to the
state of Arkansas from another school someplace else or on their way out someplace else that there we have an equal amount of attention and that those students actually have an opportunity to to register early register for courses so they don't have to wait until after everything is all taken and one of the things that we've changed in here is from a may to a shall so that those students do get that opportunity members anybody have any questions yeah yeah we
could have someone for the Department of Ed we're okay
okay if other questions request statements comments anybody here to speak for against the bill being none have a motion do pass and second all in favor say aye aye congratulations your bill is passed and the next bill you have a second one to run the second one is a
Senator Jane English
Unverified
1:11:45
house bill 1541 I guess for the record you're supposed to introduce
Senator Jane English district 13. Thank you and you may proceed and basically what it does is it provides a clear outline of the process for military families to take best advantage of advanced enrollment for their children in the school district of their choice ahead of their arrival in Arkansas and it gives the school district special education educators authority to work with sending districts to facilitate the smooth transfer for students with an existing IEP and it provides guidance to the
Arkansas Council for Military Children and School
Districts on Purple Star school programs which already been established across the state yeah 1545
I'm sorry my fault we'll give folks a chance to look at
Senator Jane English
Unverified
1:12:49
that bill we have actually done some really wonderful things with this military
children council an organization we stand out across the United States for the
efforts that we've done much above and beyond no it's not military it's not school choice it's 15:45 well I take that back it so it's not school choice
yeah would you give us a brief explanation again I think people were looking for the bill that I miss for misquoted so run through that again
Senator Jane English
Unverified
1:13:36
so let's say that a person is stationed at Fort Bragg, North Carolina and they have orders to move to Arkansas and so they've got children and one of the things they get is orders probably six months in advance of their departure to
the new station well they know where they're going to go so what they already start to do is look at what are the school situations in in in the area where they're going to be living. And checking with schools, and one of the things we want to make sure is so that when those students actually are in the process of moving to the state of Arkansas, that their records from their sending school to the new school are complete, and that they have an opportunity to register for some classes and things like that
before they actually have to move here. Sometimes that's after school's already started. So that's kind of what
this does, is make sure that. Senator Dotson, do you
Senator Jim Dotson
Unverified
1:14:54
have a question? I think my question will be for the
department whenever. We have someone from the department that can come up and answer questions on this.
thank you for joining me and if you would introduce yourself and you may begin of course Jacob Oliva Department of Education and you have a
Senator Jim Dotson
Unverified
1:15:22
question senator Dodson yes thank you mr. chair secretary this I guess just have you reviewed this in its
entirety and how how it would align with all the other
things that we've been working on with regards to school choice Arkansas learns and all that does this dovetail in with that as far as the dates and the times and the closures and
Speaker 255
1:15:46
everything well I believe so that's okay to answer our Arkansas participates in a military compact council which several other states participate in well and we actually have a very active group and they work with the military bases for receiving families and current families
to make sure their educational needs are going to be met. I think to the example that Senator English was speaking is a lot of times a family may get notices that they're being transferred to a different military base and unfortunately sometimes we have residency requirements before you can establish and start working with a school for a transition to go into the school this allows us to look at orders saying we're coming we may not be coming for six months but I want to be able to start working with the school I know there's concerns about
timelines we we don't want to box them in the timelines that they don't have control over so this is ensuring that all of the military branches are represented represented and able to participate in a smooth facilitation whether the students in advanced coursework extracurricular activities special-needs students that the receiving district can start working with us a family that we know is coming okay so I think that answers my question appreciate
it thank you members other questions represent our senator Murdoch
Senator Reginald Murdock
Unverified
1:17:13
you recognized yeah along that line there is a lot to hear about eligibility and then it talks about the receiving district and capacity being used possibly as a as a reason page five is talking about so but I guess Dodson asked and Senator Dodson asked the question and you said aligns with everything and because you want to make sure that the district and of course the
student is proper in this that this all makes sense from what we're trying to do
on sometime I think the previous some other lecture they talked about the logistics and things working together but if it
makes sense I guess it makes sense
Senator Jane English
Unverified
1:17:55
we actually do a very good job of taking care of kids across the state we are that that was
a wouldn't you agree comment yes wouldn't you agree yes we all agree we're trying to take care of students before they get here and make
sure everybody's on board and all the information is necessary so there can be smooth transition wouldn't you agree all right senator you're welcome to close for your bill i'm closed for the bill
we have anybody to speak oh i guess i bypassed that didn't i nobody signed up to speak for or against it you're closed we have a motion make a motion motion and second senator dodson all in favor say aye pass your bill thank you very much and seeing no further
Senator Jim Dotson
Unverified
1:18:44
Mr. Chair, Madam Chair, whichever one is going to hear this, we had a Senate bill in here
that I thought had only failed once a couple of days ago, Senate Bill 205 for Senator Clark, and I would just like to make a motion to expunge the last vote by which it failed so we could present it one more time if he decides to amend it and bring it back. So,
Speaker 208
1:19:12
I make a motion to expunge that vote by which Senate Bill 205 failed the last time.
Senator Jim Dotson
Unverified
1:19:19
Do I have a second? He can
Senator Jane English
Unverified
1:19:30
file another bill. All right. Thank you. You tried. Okay. So, I think not seeing any further business or anybody that's here, we're adjourned. See
you on Wednesday morning at 9:30 I mean Monday morning at 9:30. Thank you. Today's Wednesday All right
Agenda
Call to Order
SB484 Irvin TO REQUIRE THE SECRETARY OF THE DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION TO FILL A VACANCY ON A SCHOOL DISTRICT BOARD OF DIRECTORS.
SB504 Irvin TO ESTABLISH THE ARKANSAS RURAL PRECEPTORSHIP PROGRAM ACT.
HB1684 McAlindon TO CREATE THE PARENTS AND TEACHERS HELPING STUDENTS SUCCEED (PATHS) ACT.
HB1545 K. Brown TO AMEND THE ARKANSAS MILITARY CHILD SCHOOL TRANSITIONS ACT OF 2021.
SB559 J. English TO AMEND THE ARKANSAS MILITARY CHILD SCHOOL TRANSITIONS ACT OF 2021.
SB572 J. Dotson TO CREATE THE PUBLIC SCHOOL ACCESS AND TRANSPARENCY ACT; AND TO REQUIRE PUBLIC ACCESS TO LEARNING MATERIALS.
HB1571 Ray TO AMEND THE ARKANSAS ADULT DIPLOMA PROGRAM ACT.
HB1810 Carr TO AMEND PROVISIONS OF THE ARKANSAS CODE CONCERNING THE ARKANSAS SCHOOL FOR THE BLIND AND THE ARKANSAS SCHOOL FOR THE DEAF; AND TO DECLARE AN EMERGENCY.
HB1733 TO AMEND VARIOUS PROVISIONS OF THE ARKANSAS CODE CONCERNING THE ARKANSAS BETTER CHANCE PROGRAM ACT.
HB1062 Richardson TO CREATE THE TEACHER AND STUDENT PROTECTION ACT OF 2025.
HB1696 McAlindon TO ESTABLISH THE STRENGTHENING ARKANSAS EDUCATION ACT; AND TO PROVIDE A CORE CURRICULUM AT STATE-SUPPORTED INSTITUTIONS OF HIGHER EDUCATION.
SB205 - Expunge the vote which SB205 failed
Adjourn
Documents
| Title | Type | Pages | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Agenda — EDUCATION COMMITTEE - SENATE AND HOUSE MEETING JOINTLY WITH ADVANCED COMMUNICATIONS AND INFORMATION, Apr 2, 2025 | Agenda | 2 | Official source ↗ |
Speakers
Senator Jane English
Unverified
Representative John P. Carr
Unverified
Senator Jim Dotson
Unverified
Speaker 28
Speaker 36
Speaker 42
Speaker 43
Speaker 48
Ashley Harris
Unverified
Senator Dan Sullivan Chair
Unverified
Speaker 75
Charlene Fight
Unverified
Speaker 86
Senator Missy Irvin
Unverified
Speaker 103
Speaker 101
Speaker 116
Senator Breanne Davis
Unverified
Speaker 77
Speaker 57
Speaker 127
Speaker 129
Speaker 142
Chester Shannon
Unverified
Speaker 147
Senator Reginald Murdock
Unverified
Speaker 152
Speaker 156
Speaker 158
Speaker 162
Chair
Unverified
Scott Richardson
Unverified
Speaker 183
Speaker 176
Speaker 189
Speaker 25
Speaker 58
Speaker 194
Speaker 164
Speaker 208
Speaker 209
Speaker 211
Speaker 212
Speaker 213
Representative Mindy McAlindon
Unverified
Speaker 80
Speaker 225
Speaker 228
Speaker 237
Speaker 232
Speaker 255