LEGISLATIVE NEWSLETTER

February 25, 2011

At the halfway point of this Session, 66 bills being tracked by NDSBA passed and 32 bills failed. Hearings begin the second round on Wednesday, March 2. This crossover report highlights the status of several significant bills.

Bills that Passed

HB1029--contains new school approval requirements including participation in a school accreditation process (NCAA or State), adoption of a professional development plan, counseling and guidance services, and background checks for employees with unsupervised access to students. School approval reports must be submitted to DPI by October 1 and a school’s foundation aid will be permanently reduced for every day the report is late.

HB1047--continues mill levy reduction grants. Amendments to the bill remove 2008 as the base year for computing grants. Grants will be computed on a district’s mill levy in the year previous to the year being budgeted. This means if a district legally raises its mill levy, its reduction grant would increase as well (up to 75 mills). However, if a district lowers its mill levy for whatever reason, its reduction grant would decrease accordingly. This change will please some but not others. Legislators heard from some districts that thought they were treated unfairly compared to neighboring districts. We are not convinced that the amendment adopted answers those concerns but it certainly will get the attention of districts forced to lower their levies because of increasing valuations!

HB1066--increases the threshold for building projects requiring DPI approval from $40,000 to $100,000.

HB1134--increases employer and employee TFFR contributions (2% and 2% on July 1, 2012, and 2% and 2% on July 1, 2014) and increases full retirement eligibility. An amendment attached in the House makes employees’ 2% increases non-negotiable so it must be paid by the employee. Boards that feel strongly one way or the other about making the 2% employee contribution increases non-negotiable should contact NDSBA and their senators.

HB1194--requires political subdivisions to hold a public hearing before acting on final budgets if the amount of money being levied is more than the previous year--whether or not the levy in mills increases. A school district is not prevented from increasing the dollars budgeted if the increase is within the limits of state law. They will just need to hold a hearing to present the budget, explain the increases, and allow members of the public to present oral or written comments. The bill also requires districts to advertise the public hearing in the official newspaper or mail notice to taxpayers. In addition to date, time, and place, the hearing notice must state the amount the district intends to levy expressed in a percent increase over the previous year. This public hearing may be held just prior to the board voting on the final budget or it may be scheduled on a separate day prior to the board meeting when the budget will be approved. NDSBA supported this hearing process as an acceptable alternative to growth caps and budget referrals being proposed in other bills.

HB1229--as amended, only requires abstinence concepts be included as part of comprehensive health education. Contrary to what you may have heard, NDSBA did not oppose including abstinence concepts in health curriculum. However, we did oppose the bill in its original form because it would have placed very specific curriculum content in law. NDSBA supports local control in developing curriculum content. We supported HB1229 as amended.

HB1248--as amended is a statement that North Dakota school districts will make every effort to adjust educational and co-curricular requirements to ease transition of students of military families transferring into North Dakota schools. In its original form, HB1248 required the state to join the Interstate Compact for Education of Military Children. NDSBA did not oppose accommodations the compact recommends but did oppose joining the compact. When a state joins the compact, recommendations of that group supersede state law. NDSBA believes education decisions for North Dakota students should be made at the district or state level. NDSBA helped write the amendment that ultimately became the bill.

HB1465--requires districts to have an anti-bullying policy and bullying prevention programs. As amended, the bill was hog housed with parts from the original HB1465 and parts from engrossed SB2167. NDSBA is reviewing impacts of the amendment and will be working with the Senate Education Committee to refine the bill.

SB2150--originally contained recommendations of the Commission on Education Improvement. As amended, the bill no longer includes language relating to alternative pay systems for teachers. There were numerous other amendments so you should access the entire bill by clicking on the bill number, then clicking on SECOND ENGROSSMENT.

SB2226--defines truancy for reporting purposes and requires districts to report attendance data in accordance with DPI regulations.

SB2278--requires school districts to provide names, addresses, and phone numbers of all students in grades 10 and 11 to the North Dakota University System (NDUS). In compliance with federal law, if a parent has requested that their child’s information not be in your directory, that child’s information shall not be included in the list sent to NDUS. Further, the bill requires NDUS to provide this information to all public and private institutions of higher education. Since federal law already requires districts to provide this information to any institution of higher education upon request, this bill provides a way for districts to avoid having to respond to requests from multiple institutions. NDSBA opposed the bill until it was amended to require NDUS to pass the information along. We support the amended version of the bill.

SB2281--requires districts to develop and enforce a concussion management program as defined in the bill.

SB2311--requires the Superintendent of Public Instruction to announce the North Dakota Teacher of the Year during a ceremony at the Capitol. The Senate Education Committee added an appropriation for substitute pay. NDSBA has a resolution supporting the majority of this bill. However, an amendment from the floor of the Senate put a representative of the Home School Association on the Teacher of the Year selection committee. We will be asking the House Education Committee to remove that language because home school “teachers” do not teach in state approved schools so are not eligible to receive the award.

SB2327--prohibits political subdivisions from using public property and resources to support or oppose local or state initiated or referred measures. As amended, the bill makes it clear that a political subdivision may present factual information solely for the purpose of educating the public on a ballot issue.

As you access bills, choose the engrossment with the highest number to be sure you are viewing the most recent version. Amendments can significantly change a bill and may even change your position. When communicating with your legislators, it is critical that you refer to the most recent version of any bill.

Bills that Failed

HB1143--required students take World History for graduation

HB1258--defined contribution plan for new TFFR members

HB1272--placed a 3% cap on property tax increases

HB1293--placed a 4% cap on property tax increases

HB1295--limited building authority agreements and payments

HB1342--allowed referral of school district budgets

HB1398--reduced TFFR benefits for administrators

HB1412--required teaching personal finance courses in grades 6, 7, and 8

HB1449--required districts to submit budget information to state budget director

HB1457--provided $1 million to county health for provision of school nursing services

SB2316--funding for grades 6-8 alternative education programming (this was placed in SB2150)

SB2338--early childhood education grants

Important hearing next week

Senate Education Committee

HB1465--bullying bill

Wednesday, March 2, 10:30 a.m.

Everyone has access to bill topics and texts, hearing schedules, and bill status reports at the Legislature’s Web site. NDSBA’s Web site includes this weekly Legislative Newsletter, hearing schedules for the upcoming week, and the list of bills NDSBA is tracking. Updated information will be posted Thursday or Friday each week depending on when information becomes available.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:

ND State Web site: www.nd.gov

ND Legislative Information Web site: www.legis.nd.gov

Legislature Toll Free # 1-888-635-3447

Bismarck Legislative # 328-3373