SB1180 - 452R - House Bill Summary

House of Representatives

SB 1180

~~small schools; textbooks; technical correction~~

NOW: school district governing board omnibus

Sponsors: Senators Hellon, Hartley

dpas/e	Committee on Education
dpa	Caucus and COW
x	Third Read
	As Passed the House

SB 1180 requires a school district intending to close a school to provide written notice to parents or guardians of pupils affected by the closure at least 30 days before a public meeting to discuss the closure. At least 30 days after the first public hearing, the school district may vote at a public meeting for the closure. Additionally, SB 1180 require a school district governing board to adopt policies prohibiting discrimination of any organization from leasing school property and allows a school district governing board to expend monies from the Civic Center School Fund and the Community School Program Fund for maintenance and operations or unrestricted capital outlay purposes if the monies in those funds are sufficient to cover the needs of those programs.

Current Status

A strike-everything amendment to SB 1180 was adopted in the Education Committee that requires a school district intending to close a school to provide written notice to all parents of pupils affected by the closure at least 30 days prior to a public meeting to discuss the reasons for the proposed closure. At the meeting, the governing board must hear reasons for or against the proposed closure and cannot close the school unless it is determined to be in the best interest of the school district. Additionally, the public meeting on the proposed closure must be scheduled for a date no less than 30 days before voting on the issue in another public meeting. The Education Committee amendment was adopted in Committee of the Whole and further amended to remove the language requiring the school closure to be in the best interest of the school district, allow a school district to close a school if there is a danger to the health or safety of the pupils or employees, require a school district governing board to adopt policies prohibiting discrimination of any organization from leasing school property and allow a school district governing board to expend monies from the Civic Center School Fund and the Community School Program Fund for maintenance and operations or unrestricted capital outlay purposes if the monies in those funds are sufficient to cover the needs of those programs.

Provisions

· Requires a school district intending to close a school to provide written notice to all parents or guardians of pupils affected by the closure at least 30 days prior to a public meeting to discuss the reasons for the proposed closure, as well as the time and date of the public meeting. Additionally, the governing board must establish a time for the public meeting on the proposed closure of a school no less than 30 days before voting on the issue in another public meeting.

· Allows a school district to close a school if there is a danger to the health or safety of the pupils or employees.

· Requires a school district governing board to adopt policies prohibiting discrimination of any organization from leasing school property.

· Allows a school district governing board to expend monies from the Civic Center School Fund and the Community School Program Fund for maintenance and operations or unrestricted capital outlay purposes if the monies in those funds are sufficient to cover the needs of those programs.

Amendments

A strike-everything amendment to SB 1180 was adopted in the Education Committee as follows:

· Requires a school district intending to close a school to provide written notice to all parents of pupils affected by the closure at least 30 days prior to a public meeting to discuss the reasons for the proposed closure, as well as the time and date of the public meeting. The governing board must hear reasons for or against the proposed closure and cannot close the school unless it is determined to be in the best interest of the school district. Additionally, the governing board must establish a time for the public meeting on the proposed closure of a school no less than 30 days before voting on the issue in another public meeting.

The Education Committee amendment was adopted in Committee of the Whole and further amended as follows:

· Removes the language requiring the school closure to be in the best interest of the school district.

· Adds language allowing a school district to close a school if there is a danger to the health or safety of the pupils or employees.