AB389 - Revises provisions relating to education. (BDR 34-1056)

EXEMPT (Reprinted with amendments adopted on April 17, 2025) FIRST REPRINT A.B. 389 - *AB389_R1* ASSEMBLY BILL NO. 389–ASSEMBLYMEMBER TORRES-FOSSETT MARCH 11, 2025 ____________ Referred to Committee on Education SUMMARY—Revises provisions relating to education. (BDR 34-1056) FISCAL NOTE: Effect on Local Government: May have Fiscal Impact. Effect on the State: Yes. ~ EXPLANATION – Matter in bolded italics is new; matter between brackets [omitted material] is material to be omitted. AN ACT relating to education; revising provisions governing the submission of data and metrics on the performance and progress of pupils; revising provisions governing the automated system of accountability information for Nevada; requiring the Commission on Innovation and Excellence in Education to review and make recommendations concerning reports on pupil achievement and the financial accountability of school districts; requiring the Commission to create a framework for such reports and collaborate with the Department of Education to create a centralized repository of such reports; revising requirements for publishing a list of expenditures of county school districts; revising provisions governing the ratios of pupils to licensed teachers; removing the requirement for a school district to prepare a summary of certain fiscal reports; repealing the requirement for the Department to recommend a minimum amount to be spent by public schools on textbooks and other instructional supplies; and providing other matters properly relating thereto. Legislative Counsel’s Digest: Existing law requires the Superintendent of Public Instruction to: (1) establish 1 certain metrics of performance for public schools for each grade; and (2) on or 2 before October 1 of each year, report data relating to each metric to the Governor, 3 the State Board of Education and the Director of the Legislative Counsel Bureau for 4 transmission to the Joint Interim Standing Committee on Education. (NRS 5 385A.080) In addition, existing law requires: (1) the Commission on School 6 – 2 – - *AB389_R1* Funding to review the academic progress made by pupils in each public school 7 since the implementation of the Pupil-Centered Funding Plan and use certain 8 metrics in performing that review; and (2) each school district and charter school to 9 submit to the Commission a quarterly report of data and metrics collected by the 10 school district or charter school to identify areas of improvement in academic 11 performance and the progress of pupils. (NRS 387.12463) Section 5 of this bill 12 removes the requirement for each school district and charter school to submit to the 13 Commission a quarterly report of such data and metrics and, instead, requires the 14 Commission to conduct an annual review of data and metrics to identify how 15 funding from the Pupil-Centered Funding Plan is being used to improve the 16 academic performance and progress of pupils. Under section 5: (1) the annual 17 review may include, without limitation, a review of data and metrics submitted to 18 the Commission by school districts and charter schools and data and metrics 19 previously reported to the Superintendent of Public Instruction or the Department 20 of Education; and (2) data and metrics previously reported by school districts and 21 charter schools to the Superintendent of Public Instruction or the Department are 22 not required to also be submitted to the Commission. Finally, section 1 of this bill 23 similarly requires that, to the greatest extent possible, the Superintendent of Public 24 Instruction use information previously submitted to the Superintendent or the 25 Department to prepare reports of data concerning metrics of performance for public 26 schools and to avoid duplicative requests for information. 27 Existing law requires the Department to establish and maintain an automated 28 system of accountability information for Nevada that has the capacity to provide 29 and report certain information concerning pupils in this State. (NRS 385A.800) To 30 carry out the automated system of accountability, the Superintendent of Public 31 Instruction is required to prescribe a uniform program throughout this State for the 32 collection, maintenance and transfer of data, which must include standardized 33 software, and each school district is required to adopt and maintain that uniform 34 program, including, without limitation, by providing electronic data concerning 35 pupils as required by the Superintendent. (NRS 385A.810, 385A.820) Sections 2 36 and 3 of this bill clarify that this uniform program must include the collection, 37 validation and maintenance of electronic records concerning pupils and the transfer 38 of data to the Department from electronic records maintained by each school 39 district, sponsor of a charter school and university school for profoundly gifted 40 pupils in this State. Section 3 authorizes the Superintendent of Public Instruction to 41 deduct money from certain apportionments from the State Education Fund 42 otherwise owed to a school district, charter school or university school for 43 profoundly gifted pupils to compensate the Department for costs to collect, validate 44 and maintain electronic records concerning pupils and financial accountability 45 information as necessary to report on pupil achievement and financial 46 accountability on behalf of the school district, charter school or university school 47 for profoundly gifted pupils. 48 Existing law requires the Commission on Innovation and Excellence in 49 Education to develop a statewide vision and implementation plan to improve the 50 public education system in this State. (NRS 385.920) Section 4 of this bill 51 additionally requires the Commission to: (1) review the reporting, tracking, 52 monitoring, analyzing and dissemination of data relating to pupil achievement to 53 identify and recommend the elimination of reporting requirements that are 54 redundant or do not effectively provide measurable and informative data with 55 which to assess and improve educational programs and priorities in this State; and 56 (2) present any recommendations made by the Commission to the Joint Interim 57 Standing Committee on Education and annually transmit such recommendations to 58 the Governor and the Legislature. Section 4 also requires the Commission to: (1) 59 collaborate with the Department of Education to gather input on the reporting, 60 tracking, monitoring, analyzing and dissemination of data relating to pupil 61 – 3 – - *AB389_R1* achievement and financial accountability; (2) collaborate with the Department to 62 establish a centralized repository of all reports of data relating to pupil achievement 63 and financial accountability and make the repository easily accessible on the 64 Internet website of the Department; and (3) develop a framework for the reporting 65 of data relating to pupil achievement and financial accountability that ensures that 66 data reported to the Department identifies areas of proficiency and growth of pupils 67 in this State, identifies gaps in achievement among groups of pupils in this State 68 and provides clear, actionable data to enable the development of policies and 69 practices to improve educational outcomes in this State. 70 Section 6 this bill: (1) repeals the requirement for the board of trustees of a 71 county school district to publish a quarterly expenditure report for the school 72 district in a newspaper that meets certain requirements; and (2) instead requires the 73 board of trustees of a county school district to publish the quarterly expenditure 74 report on the Internet website of the county school district. (NRS 387.320) 75 Existing law prohibits the ratio of pupils per licensed teacher in certain classes 76 from exceeding certain ratios during each school quarter of a school year. (NRS 77 388.700) Existing law requires the board of trustees of each school district to report 78 to the Department, on a quarterly basis, the average daily enrollment of pupils and 79 the ratio of pupils per licensed teacher for certain grade levels. (NRS 388.725) If 80 the ratio of pupils per licensed teacher at one or more elementary schools in a 81 school district exceeds the ratio prescribed by statute during any quarter of a school 82 year, existing law requires the school district to request a variance from the State 83 Board for each such school for the subsequent quarter. (NRS 388.700) Section 7 of 84 this bill provides that: (1) the prohibition against exceeding the prescribed ratio of 85 pupils per licensed teacher in certain classes is measured for the entire school year 86 rather than each school quarter of a school year; and (2) a school district is required 87 to request a variance only if the ratio measured for one or more elementary schools 88 for the entire school year exceeds the prescribed ratio. Section 9 of this bill requires 89 annual reports, rather than quarterly reports, regarding the average daily enrollment 90 of pupils and the ratio of pupils per licensed teacher for certain grade levels. 91 Section 8 of this bill makes a conforming change to remove references to such 92 quarterly reports. 93 Existing law requires the governing body of each local government to: (1) 94 submit a fiscal report of the local government to the Department of Taxation in 95 accordance with the requirements prescribed by the Committee on Local 96 Government Finance; and (2) publish a summary of the fiscal report in a newspaper 97 that meets certain requirements. Under existing regulations, the summary of the 98 fiscal report published in a newspaper is: (1) required to contain certain information 99 concerning the revenues and expenditures of the general fund of the local 100 government and any proprietary fund of the local government; and (2) authorized to 101 contain such information for any other fund of the local government. Section 10 of 102 this bill eliminates the requirement for the board of trustees of a county school 103 district to prepare and publish a summary of the fiscal report of the county school 104 district. 105 Section 11 of this bill repeals the requirement for the Department, in 106 consultation with the Budget Division of the Office of Finance and the Fiscal 107 Analysis Division of the Legislative Counsel Bureau, to: (1) recommend a 108 minimum amount of money to be spent during each fiscal year of the biennium on 109 textbooks, instructional supplies, instructional software and instructional hardware 110 by school districts, charter schools and university schools for profoundly gifted 111 pupils; and (2) publish a report concerning school districts, charter schools and 112 university schools for profoundly gifted pupils that did not spend the recommended 113 minimum amount. (NRS 387.206, 387.2062) 114 – 4 – - *AB389_R1* THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEVADA, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND ASSEMBLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS: Section 1. NRS 385A.080 is hereby amended to read as 1 follows: 2 385A.080 1. The Superintendent of Public Instruction shall: 3 (a) Prescribe forms for the reports required pursuant to NRS 4 385A.070 and provide the forms to the respective school districts, 5 the State Public Charter School Authority, each college or university 6 within the Nevada System of Higher Education and each city or 7 county that sponsors a charter school. 8 (b) Provide statistical information and technical assistance to the 9 school districts, the State Public Charter School Authority, each 10 college or university within the Nevada System of Higher Education 11 and each city or county that sponsors a charter school to ensure that 12 the reports provide comparable information with respect to each 13 school in each district, each charter school and among the districts 14 and charter schools throughout this State. 15 (c) Consult with a representative of the: 16 (1) Nevada State Education Association; 17 (2) Nevada Association of School Boards; 18 (3) Nevada Association of School Administrators; 19 (4) Nevada Parent Teacher Association; 20 (5) Budget Division of the Office of Finance; 21 (6) Legislative Counsel Bureau; and 22 (7) Charter School Association of Nevada, 23  concerning the program adopted pursuant to subsection 1 of NRS 24 385A.070 and consider any advice or recommendations submitted 25 by the representatives with respect to the program. 26 (d) Establish metrics of performance for public schools for each 27 grade which include, without limitation, metrics for: 28 (1) The growth and proficiency of pupils in literacy, 29 mathematics and science; 30 (2) The engagement and proficiency of pupils in courses for 31 college and career readiness; and 32 (3) The retention and recruitment of teachers and education 33 support professionals. 34 2. The Superintendent of Public Instruction may consult with 35 representatives of parent groups other than the Nevada Parent 36 Teacher Association concerning the program adopted pursuant to 37 subsection 1 of NRS 385A.070 and consider any advice or 38 recommendations submitted by the representatives with respect to 39 the program. 40 3. The Superintendent of Public Instruction and each school 41 district and charter school shall: 42 – 5 – - *AB389_R1* (a) Publish the metrics established pursuant to paragraph (d) of 1 subsection 1 on their respective Internet websites; and 2 (b) On or before October 1 of each year, report data relating to 3 each metric established pursuant to paragraph (d) of subsection 1 to 4 the Governor, the State Board and the Director of the Legislative 5 Counsel Bureau for transmission to the Joint Interim Standing 6 Committee on Education. 7 4. To obtain the information necessary to report data on 8 metrics of performance for public schools, the Superintendent of 9 Public Instruction shall, to the greatest extent possible, use 10 information that has previously been submitted to the 11 Superintendent or the Department and avoid duplicative requests 12 for information. 13 Sec. 2. NRS 385A.810 is hereby amended to read as follows: 14 385A.810 The board of trustees of each school district shall: 15 1. Adopt and maintain the program prescribed by the 16 Superintendent of Public Instruction pursuant to NRS 385A.820 for 17 the collection, validation and maintenance of electronic records of 18 individual pupils and the transfer of data from [the] such e [Text truncated for display. Full text available on LegiScan.]