House bills on the move include HB 4545 fix

The House Public Education Committee voted on its first bills of the session Monday and Tuesday. Members approved several bills which will be forwarded to the Calendars Committee for possible inclusion in a future House floor calendar. The bills passed are:

• HB 131 by Murr — Allows districts to excuse students for a "career investigation day."
• HB 579 by Burns — Allows the parent of a student with significant cognitive disabilities to ask that the student be exempted from the alternative assessment instrument; the bill provides for a process to develop alternative assessments.
• HB 621 by Shaheen — Allows SBEC to approve a temporary teaching certificate for a person who has retired or otherwise honorably left active military duty that allows for substitution of military service for some education requirements.
• HB 699 by Frank — Requires UIL to use the same classification formula for districts regardless of whether the district allows non-enrolled students to participate in the league activity.
  
• HB 890 by Bell — Establishes timelines for school district hearing processes
• HB 920 by Klick — Expands the law regarding the use of epipens on campus to include other medications for respiratory distress, such as albuterol.
• HB 1002 by Price — Allows districts and charters to include licensed chiropractors and physical therapists on a concussion oversight team.
• HB 1067 by VanDeaver — Sets timelines and other procedures for the process used to annex school district territory.
• HB 1416 by Bell — Alleviates many of the unintended consequences of last session’s HB 4545 requiring supplemental or accelerated instruction for certain students.
• HB 1789 by Buckley — Provides that nepotism restrictions do not apply to hiring bus drivers if the school board approves the employment.
• HB 1955 by Buckley — Amends current laws regarding establishing residency by providing proof to the district within 10 days after arrival in the district, to allow up to 90 days.

Bills of interest that have passed out of other House committees include:

• HB 272 by Julie Johnson — Replaces references to admission, review and dismissal committees with individualized education program committees or teams.
• HCR 20 by Herrero — Urges Congress to repeal the Government Pension Offset and the Windfall Elimination Provision.