Date: 02/11/2015

Final
BILL SUMMARY for HB15-1124

HOUSE COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION

Votes: View--> Action Taken:
Postpone House Bill 15-1124 indefinitely. The motiPASS



11:07 AM -- HB15-1124

Representative Buckner, Chair, welcomed the committee. Representative Buck, sponsor, introduced House Bill 15-1124, which would exempt rural schools and school districts from certain provisions of state education law. She described her experiences at a Windsor School Board meeting and the board's frustration with state requirements. She explained that 147 districts in the state are classified as rural. She described the strengths of the rural school districts as high graduation rates, postsecondary placement, and parental involvement. She discussed reporting, compliance requirements, and redundancy of reporting. She described financial cutbacks to rural schools and the onerousness of the requirements on rural school districts. Representative Buck responded to questions from the committee. They discussed the differences between rural and urban schools and districts.


11:18 AM

The following people testified on the bill:

11:18 AM -- Paula Stephenson, representing the Colorado Rural Alliance, spoke in support of the bill. She discussed the data and reporting requirements and the strain they place on rural schools and districts. She explained that districts with only one administrator, who may also be a teacher and a bus driver, have trouble keeping up with reporting requirements. She discussed the genesis of the ideas in the bill. She discussed how charter schools are granted automatic waivers from reporting requirements, and how rural schools desire the same consideration. She told the committee that schools are required to submit over 500 separate reports to the state each year. She discussed the overlap between the Reading to Ensure Academic Development (READ) Act and school readiness assessments. She told the committee that rural communities have a harder time than urban ones backfilling monies lost through the negative factor. Ms. Stephenson responded to questions from the committee.

11:36 AM -- Dale McCall, Executive Director of the Colorado Boards of Cooperative Educational Services (BOCES) Association, spoke in support of the bill. He discussed his experiences in both rural and urban school districts. He discussed rural districts' feelings toward state reporting requirements, as well as the importance of accountability.


11:41 AM

Committee discussion ensued. Representative Wilson offered closing comments to the bill.
BILL:HB15-1124
TIME: 11:45:16 AM
MOVED:Wilson
MOTION:Postpone House Bill 15-1124 indefinitely. The motion passed on a vote of 9-2.
SECONDED:Pettersen
VOTE
Everett
No
Fields
Yes
Garnett
Yes
Lee
Yes
Lundeen
Yes
Moreno
Yes
Priola
No
Wilson
Yes
Windholz
Yes
Pettersen
Yes
Buckner
Yes
Final YES: 9 NO: 2 EXC: 0 ABS: 0 FINAL ACTION: PASS