DAY 30

Friday, March 13^th was crossover day. Some bills made the cut, and other bills were left behind. For those bills that made the cut, there is a 10 day time period in the other chamber for them to move through committees and to receive a favorable vote by the other chamber. Then those bills would be sent on to the Governor for his consideration to sign the bills into law.

Bills Passed by the House:

HB 474, provide enrollment priorities for educationally disadvantaged students and military students in charter schools;

HB 131, the End to Cyberbullying Act, substitute; an Act to amend Code Section 20-2-751.4 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to policies in public schools prohibiting bullying, so as to prohibit cyberbullying;

HB 268, child abuse; mandatory reporters, substitute. This bill has modified how reports must be completed and who must report;

HB369, this constitutional amendment would affect county and city school districts in the same county regarding eSPLOST funds distribution.  The funds would be distributed based on student population of the district if the districts could not agree;

HB209, to reduce the enrollment requirement in public school from one year, to the previous semester for eligibility for the Georgia Special Needs Scholarship. The bill amends O.C.G.A. § 20-2-2113 to require that school district personnel make parents aware of their options regarding the Special Needs Scholarship in writing at the initial IEP meeting upon determining eligibility and that the parents sign a form acknowledging they have been informed and understand the availability of such options.  The district must also require a response from each parent of a special needs student, notified annually of their options under the act which acknowledges receipt of the annual notice. The bill also specifies that such annual notification requirement is not met by its inclusion in a student or parent handbook or other general document distributed by the school system;

HB551, authorizes political subdivisions to provide for voluntary contributions to purchase products through payroll deduction;

Bills Passed by the Senate:

SB176, strongly encourages local boards of education, nonpublic elementary and secondary schools, governing boards of charter schools and public recreation facilities to provide a helmet designed for gridiron football which has at least a "Four Star" rating on the Virginia Tech Helmet Ratings scale to youth athletes participating in gridiron football;

SB141, Juvenile Proceedings; provides that minor violations of weapons in school safety zones are not considered Class B designated felonies.

At the end of the day, regarding the bills we have been following , it appears that the House passed 32 bills on to the Senate, and the Senate passed 15 bills on to the House for further consideration.

HB243, the Education Savings Account Act. This bill DID NOT crossover.

The only education related bill on the full House calendar for Wednesday, March 18, 2015 is:

HR303, which would encourage the State Board of Education to develop and implement a comprehensive civics education curricula.

The House and Senate are in adjournment until Wednesday, March 18^th.

The House Education committee will meet on March 18th at 3:00 p.m. to hear SB133, the Opportunity School District bill and SR287, Constitutional Amendment to allow for the Opportunity School District.

The Senate calendar for Wednesday is not available at this time.