A&B subcommittee advances seven education bills, including expanded extracurricular access and sped evaluation timing change

The House A&B Subcommittee on Education advanced a package of seven bills on Tuesday, moving each to the next stage after brief presentations, questions and recorded roll calls.

Representative Cain’s House Bill 4,491 cleared committee by an 8‑2 margin. Cain said the bill would allow virtual charter‑school students and homeschooled students to participate in extracurricular activities in the district where they reside and emphasized local eligibility rules and a ‘‘level playing field.’’ Cain cited that about 39 states have similar policies and that 3,500 students have used a homeschooling tax credit.

Bills that passed unanimously included House Bill 41‑46, which moves maternity benefits paid by the state to start in a teacher’s first year of employment (10‑0), House Bill 41‑49 (10‑0) adopting a PCS to grant a 10‑year service credit for certain prior service categories to be paid by districts, and House Bill 41‑58 (10‑0) which raises the income cap for eligibility for the OTEC grant to permit families earning up to $80,000 to qualify.

House Bill 41‑59 (PCS adopted) allows parents to request dyslexia screening after formative assessments and directs the state department to notify parents that the option exists; the committee approved the bill 8‑2. Representative McCain asked whether screenings could be repeated and the sponsor said parents could request rescreening if they choose.

Representative Caldwell’s House Bill 37‑18 changes the start date for required school evaluations from date of consent to the date of request while keeping a 45‑school‑day processing window (federal law is 60 days), to reduce delays that have caused students to miss scholarship application deadlines. The committee adopted PCS #2 and approved the bill 7‑3.

All vote tallies were announced on the record during the meeting. Several sponsors said they expect to work with the attorney general’s office and local districts on implementation and rules as the bills move forward.