Legislature Adjourns; No Repeal of the Two-Vote Requirement

By David Cyprian, VSBA Legislative Analyst

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The legislature wrapped up early this year, adjourning on May 3rd, and few of the most significant issues that were discussed regarding state level education policy were resolved. This includes the two-vote requirement, which the House agreed to repeal, but the Senate did not. The two-vote requirement will now go into effect for 2009-10 school budgets that must be developed in the coming year. Major changes to top-level governance that both the House and the Senate considered were also not enacted. Even relatively smaller issues, such as the fate of the statewide calendar system, were tabled as a result of disagreement between the two bodies.

For a full report on the legislative session and its effects on school districts, download our final Legislative Report from our website (www.vtvsba.com, click on the "Legislative" tab). While online, you may also consider signing up for the VSBA’s Governmental Relations Network. GRN members receive regular updates on legislation and other state education issues. What follows here is a brief review of select, new legislation.

Districts that do not operate schools ("tuitioning towns") will no longer be subject to the excess spending threshold and penalty for tuition costs that it has little capacity to control.

The legislature passed language intended to streamline and clarify the process for school districts to create, reconfigure, or dissolve union school districts. One change will allow for school boards to formulate a union school district planning committee without a vote of the electorate, assuming the planning committee’s budget is less than $25,000.

Districts will now have to adopt policies regarding animal dissections in school. The policy must allow for advance notification of dissection units, and allow any student to be excused from participating in or observing the dissection at his or her request. Students that refrain from participating in a dissection unit must be offered alternative coursework that will allow him or her to learn the material.

The prekindergarten bill from 2007 was updated in a new bill this year, H.884. H.884 clarifies how many prekindergarten students a district may count in its average daily membership. H.884 also directs the Department of Children and Families and the Department of Education to jointly develop and approve rules for STARS standards applicable to both public and private prekindergarten settings. The bill also allows publicly funded prekindergarten programs to wait until the new STARS rules are written before requiring their compliance.

Teen parent education programs (TPEPs) will be receiving additional public funding for education services next year. Districts will be required to pay 83% of the statewide average net cost per pupil (minus debt service) for a student who attends a TPEP for a full year. Last year, TPEPs received 83% of the base education payment for the same services. The result is that TPEPs will now receive approximately 40% more funding per pupil from school districts next year compared to 2007-08.

The legislature has agreed that the State will now be responsible for the student share of school breakfast costs for low-income students. Students that qualify federally for reduced price meals will be offered free breakfast and the State will pay the student’s contribution (approximately 30¢ per meal).

Students who receive a detailed authorization from both his or her physician and parent will be allowed to carry medication for allergies or life-threatening illnesses on his or her person at school. The student’s parent and school nurse will work to develop a plan of action in the event that the student must self-medicate that is based on the physician’s authorization.

Although the moratorium on state aid for new school construction was extended, the legislature did make an accommodation for districts that have resolved to undergo construction or renovation projects without state aid. These districts can now submit their projects to the Department of Education for approval and, if approved, the district may remove its construction costs from the excess spending threshold and penalty.

State education property tax rates for next year will be the same as they were this year. The base homestead property tax rate will be 87¢ per $100 of value, and the nonresidential rate will be $1.36.

One issue that was not resolved this year was the formation of school calendars. In 2007, the legislature passed a law that required a calendar committee to develop a uniform statewide calendar that would be adopted by the State Board of Education. Last fall, the committee met several times and attempted to reach agreement on a uniform calendar that met the law’s specifications, but was unsuccessful in developing a final product. Therefore the State Board did not adopt a uniform calendar for 2008-09.

This session, the legislature sought to address this issue and both the House and Senate passed similar bills that would have repealed the statewide calendar law in favor of strengthened regional calendars. In a somewhat surprising development, neither body acted to approve the other’s calendar bill, and the session expired without any new legislation. As a result, the law is not entirely clear on how schools should develop calendars for the 2009-10 school year. The VSBA will report on any developments in school calendar policy or legislation when that information becomes available.

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