Day 35

As we continue to move through the 139^th legislative session, the Senate and House passed the following education related bills, as of March 24, 2015.

SB2, the Move on When Ready bill which will allow students who complete certain requirements relating to postsecondary coursework to be awarded a high school diploma. This bill has been amended in the House Rules Committee to remove the age 16 requirement. — PASSED BY THE HOUSE March 24, 2015. Will go back to the Senate for agreement.

HB62, waive certain qualifications for a student whose parent is an active duty military service member stationed in Georgia within the previous year to receive the Special Needs Scholarship. — PASSED BY THE SENATE March 24, 2015.

HB198, the Jason Flatt Act-Georgia Suicide Prevention Training Act. — PASSED BY THE SENATE March24, 2015.

HB164, as passed by the House, this bill will extend the suspension of the professional learning requirements until the new regulations are in place. — PASSED BY THE SENATE March 23, 2015.

HB75, the midterm FY15 budget. This bill has been signed by the Governor, and schools have already received their midterm adjustment sheets. — SIGNED by the Governor

HB76, the FY16 budget. The Senate and House have agreed to most recommendations by the Governor, but there are some differences that will likely result in the bill going to a conference committee this week.

CONFERENCE COMMITTEE WILL MEET ON TUESDAY. Members of the conference committee are Senators Jack Hill, David Shafer, Bill Cowsert, House Representatives Terry England, Jan Jones, Jay Powell. The committee will continue discussions this week.

HB170, the Transportation Funding Act of 2015. The Senate and House versions of this bill are very different. There will be considerable negotiations needed this week in order for this bill to make it through the legislative process prior to the end of the 40^th day. The Senate version of the bill does not require counties or school systems to spend part of their SPLOST and/or eLOST funds on transportation. Should be assigned to conference committees for final negotiations and agreement before the end of the 40^th day. The House made a motion to disagree on Tuesday.

TUESDAY ACTION:

The House Education Subcommittee on Academic Achievement and Curriculum passed the following bills on to the full House Education Committee for consideration:

SB116, strongly encourages the Celebrate Freedom Week event and posting of historical documents. — PASSED TO FULL HOUSE EDUCATION COMMITTEE.

SR80, requesting revision by the College Board regarding Advanced Placement U.S. History. — PASSED TO FULL HOUSE EDUCATION COMMITTEE.

No vote taken on SB89, “Digital Classroom Act"; all school districts are strongly encouraged by July 1, 2020 to provide instructional materials and content in digital or electronic format. SB89 HAS BEEN AMENDED WITH HB414 . The bill was not voted on, and the chair will hold the bill(s) until next year.

The House Education Subcommittee on Academic Innovations also met and passed the following bill on to the full House Education Committee for consideration.

SB176, the "Deantre Gregory Turman Act"; STRONGLY ENCOURAGES youth athletes participating in gridiron football to use as a minimum, a four star rated helmet on the Virginia Tech Helmet Rating Scale. — PASSED TO FULL HOUSE EDUCATION COMMITTEE

NO VOTE TAKEN on HB614, the Landon Dunson Act; pilot program for monitoring cameras in classrooms providing special education services.

The House Public Safety Committee met to hear SB141, provides that minor violations of weapons in school safety zones are not considered Class B designated felonies. During the meeting, SB141 had the language of HB492 placed in it.  HB492 is related to crimes and offenses; carrying in unauthorized locations; revise provisions. The new version of SB141 was passed on to the rules committee. The official language of SB141 is not available yet.

The House Rules calendar for Wednesday has one education related resolution on it at this time.

HR620, the resolution urges local boards of education to provide educational awareness regarding renewable energy.

The House will likely have a supplemental calendar on Wednesday. Watch for the Opportunity School District legislation on the supplemental calendar. Please take time on Tuesday to express your opinions to your Local Representative prior to the vote on SB133 and SR287.

The Senate Rules calendar will have the full Senate voting on:

HB91, elimination of the High School Graduation Test and awarding of a High School diploma to individuals who need to pass any section of the test to graduate.

The full House and Senate Education Committees will meet on Wednesday to consider education related bills. We will report on the bills that pass these committees in the next report. This may be the last meeting for both of these education committees during this legislative session.

The legislators will meet each day during the remainder of this week. Day 39 of the session is scheduled for next Tuesday, and day 40 is scheduled for Thursday, April 2nd.

Hope you are having a great week.