AB531 - Revises provisions relating to education. (BDR 34-525)

A.B. 531 - *AB531* ASSEMBLY BILL NO. 531–COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION (ON BEHALF OF THE JOINT INTERIM STANDING COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION) MARCH 24, 2025 ____________ Referred to Committee on Education SUMMARY—Revises provisions relating to education. (BDR 34-525) FISCAL NOTE: Effect on Local Government: May have Fiscal Impact. Effect on the State: Yes. CONTAINS UNFUNDED MANDATE (§ 3) (NOT REQUESTED BY AFFECTED LOCAL GOVERNMENT) ~ 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 transmittal of certain reports by the Commission on School Funding; requiring the Department of Education to establish a dashboard to track daily attendance data for pupils; requiring the Superintendent of Public Instruction to appoint a task force to develop a rubric to compare certain metrics concerning pupils; requiring the Superintendent of Public Instruction to appoint a committee on the use of artificial intelligence in education; revising provisions governing the date on which the State Board of Education is required to submit certain reports; revising the terms of certain appointed members of the State Board; and providing other matters properly relating thereto. Legislative Counsel’s Digest: Existing law creates the Commission on School Funding and establishes the 1 duties of the Commission. Existing law requires: (1) each school district and each 2 charter school to submit a quarterly report to the Commission that contains certain 3 information; and (2) the Commission to review the reports and transmit the 4 reports, along with any commentary or recommendations, to certain entities. 5 – 2 – - *AB531* (NRS 387.1246, 387.12463) Section 1 of this bill requires the Commission to make 6 such a transmittal on or before the Friday of the second full week of November. 7 Section 3 of this bill requires the Department of Education to establish a 8 dashboard, or use an existing platform that is appropriate for such services, for: (1) 9 tracking attendance data for pupils in each school district; and (2) displaying the 10 data to the Department and the board of trustees of each school district in real time. 11 Section 3 additionally requires: (1) the board of trustees of each school district to 12 use the dashboard to report and monitor daily attendance data; (2) the Department 13 to publish on its Internet website any trends or rates related to absenteeism based on 14 data reported to the dashboard; and (3) the Department to ensure that the dashboard 15 complies with any privacy policies or procedures adopted by the Department. 16 Section 4 of this bill requires the Superintendent of Public Instruction to 17 appoint a task force to develop a rubric to compare the academic performance of 18 pupils in this State to the academic performance of pupils in other states. Section 4 19 additionally sets forth: (1) the metrics that must be included in developing the 20 rubric; and (2) requirements for the Department concerning the use of the rubric. 21 Section 5 of this bill requires the Superintendent of Public Instruction to 22 appoint a committee to review, study and make recommendations concerning the 23 use of artificial intelligence in education in this State. Section 5 additionally 24 requires the committee to: (1) make certain considerations in performing its duties; 25 and (2) submit recommendations for legislation related to the use of artificial 26 intelligence in education to the Joint Interim Standing Committee on Education. 27 Existing law requires the State Board of Education to appoint a subcommittee 28 to review and make recommendations on the manner in which to provide age- 29 appropriate and historically accurate instruction relating to the Holocaust and other 30 genocides, such as the Armenian, Cambodian, Darfur, Guatemalan and Rwandan 31 genocides, in certain courses of study. (NRS 388.887) Section 6 of this bill 32 provides that the State Board is required to report its findings and any 33 recommendations, including, without limitation, any recommendations made by the 34 subcommittee, to the Joint Interim Standing Committee on Education on or before 35 August 1 of each even-numbered year instead of October 1 of each even-numbered 36 year. 37 Under existing law, the State Board consists of four elected members and 38 several appointed members, including: (1) one member appointed by the Governor; 39 (2) one member appointed by the Governor who is nominated by the Majority 40 Leader of the Senate; and (3) one member appointed by the Governor who is 41 nominated by the Speaker of the Assembly. Existing law provides that these 42 members serve a term of 2 years, except that each member continues to serve until 43 a successor is appointed. (NRS 385.021) Section 7 of this bill staggers the terms of 44 those members and revises the length of the initial term of a member appointed by 45 the Governor. 46 THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEVADA, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND ASSEMBLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS: Section 1. NRS 387.12463 is hereby amended to read as 1 follows: 2 387.12463 1. The Commission shall: 3 (a) Provide guidance to school districts and the Department on 4 the implementation of the Pupil-Centered Funding Plan. 5 (b) Monitor the implementation of the Pupil-Centered Funding 6 Plan and make any recommendations to the Joint Interim Standing 7 – 3 – - *AB531* Committee on Education that the Commission determines would, 1 within the limits of appropriated funding, improve the 2 implementation of the Pupil-Centered Funding Plan or correct any 3 deficiencies of the Department or any school district or public 4 school in carrying out the Pupil-Centered Funding Plan. 5 (c) Review the statewide base per pupil funding amount, the 6 adjusted base per pupil funding for each school district and the 7 multiplier for weighted funding for each category of pupils 8 appropriated by law pursuant to NRS 387.1214 for each biennium 9 and recommend any revisions the Commission determines to be 10 appropriate to create an optimal level of funding for the public 11 schools in this State, including, without limitation, by 12 recommending the creation or elimination of one or more categories 13 of pupils to receive additional weighted funding. If the Commission 14 makes a recommendation pursuant to this paragraph which would 15 require more money to implement than was appropriated from the 16 State Education Fund in the immediately preceding biennium, 17 the Commission shall also identify a method to fully fund the 18 recommendation within 10 years after the date of the 19 recommendation. 20 (d) Review the laws and regulations of this State relating to 21 education, make recommendations to the Joint Interim Standing 22 Committee on Education for any revision of such laws and 23 regulations that the Commission determines would improve the 24 efficiency or effectiveness of public education in this State and 25 notify each school district of each such recommendation. 26 (e) Review and recommend to the Department revisions of the 27 cost adjustment factors for each county established pursuant to NRS 28 387.1215 and the method for calculating the attendance area 29 adjustment established pursuant to NRS 387.1218. 30 (f) Review the academic progress made by pupils in each public 31 school since the implementation of the Pupil-Centered Funding 32 Plan, including, without limitation, any changes to the academic 33 progress of such pupils as the result of any additional money 34 provided to each such school by the Pupil-Centered Funding Plan. 35 In performing such a review, the Commission shall: 36 (1) Use metrics to measure the academic achievement of 37 pupils which include, without limitation: 38 (I) The rate of graduation of pupils from high school by 39 type of diploma; 40 (II) The performance of pupils on standardized 41 examinations in math, reading and science; 42 (III) The number of credentials or other certifications in 43 fields of career and technical education earned by pupils; 44 – 4 – - *AB531* (IV) The number of pupils who earn a passing score on an 1 advanced placement examination; 2 (V) The number of pupils who earn a passing score on an 3 international baccalaureate examination; 4 (VI) The percentage of pupils in each school who lack a 5 sufficient number of credits to graduate by the end of their 12th 6 grade year; 7 (VII) The percentage of pupils in each school who drop 8 out; 9 (VIII) The number of pupils who enroll in higher 10 education upon graduation; 11 (IX) The number of pupils who enroll in a vocational or 12 technical school or apprenticeship training program; 13 (X) The attendance rate for pupils; 14 (XI) The number of violent acts by pupils and 15 disciplinary actions against pupils; and 16 (XII) Any other metric prescribed by the Commission; 17 (2) Use metrics to measure the improvement of pupils 18 enrolled in elementary school in literacy which include, without 19 limitation: 20 (I) The literacy rate for pupils in the first, third and fifth 21 grades; 22 (II) The number of pupils in elementary school who were 23 promoted to the next grade after testing below proficient in reading 24 in the immediately preceding school year, separated by grade level 25 and by level of performance on the relevant test; 26 (III) The number of schools that employ a licensed 27 teacher designated to serve as a literacy specialist pursuant to NRS 28 388.159 and the number of schools that fail to employ and designate 29 such a licensed teacher; and 30 (IV) Any other metric prescribed by the Commission; 31 (3) Use metrics to measure the ability of public schools to 32 hire and retain sufficient staff to meet the needs of the public 33 schools which include, without limitation: 34 (I) The rate of vacancies in positions for teachers, support 35 staff and administrators; 36 (II) The attendance rate for teachers; 37 (III) The retention rate for teachers; 38 (IV) The number of schools and classrooms within each 39 school in which the number of pupils in attendance exceeds the 40 designed capacity for the school or classroom; 41 (V) The number of classes taught by a substitute teacher 42 for more than 25 percent of the school year; and 43 (VI) Any other metric prescribed by the Commission; 44 – 5 – - *AB531* (4) Use metrics to measure the extent to which schools meet 1 the needs and expectations of pupils, parents or legal guardians of 2 pupils, teachers and administrators which include, without 3 limitation: 4 (I) The results of an annual survey of satisfaction of 5 school employees; 6 (II) The results of an annual survey of satisfaction of 7 pupils, parents or legal guardians of pupils and graduates; and 8 (III) Any other metric prescribed by the Commission; 9 (5) Identify the progress made by each school, school district 10 and charter school on improving the literacy of pupils enrolled in 11 elementary school; 12 (6) Make recommendations for strategies to increase the 13 efficacy, efficiency, transparency and accountability of public 14 schools; and 15 (7) Make recommendations to the Department, school 16 districts and charter schools to improve the reporting, tracking, 17 monitoring, analyzing and dissemination of data relating to pupil 18 achievement and financial accountability, including, without 19 limitation, revisions to the metrics identified in subparagraphs (1) to 20 (4), inclusive. 21 (g) Review and consider strategies to improve the accessibility 22 and ensure the equitability of existing and new programs for pupils 23 within and between public schools, including, without limitation, 24 open zoning. 25 2. Each school district and each charter school shall submit a 26 quarterly report to the Commission that identifies how funding from 27 the Pupil-Centered Funding Plan is being used to improve the 28 academic performance and progress of pupils and includes, without 29 limitation, all data or metrics collected by the school district or 30 charter school to demonstrate such improvement. The Commission 31 shall review the reports submitted pursuant to this subsection and 32 transmit the reports, along with any commentary or 33 recommendations relating to the reports, to the Governor, the 34 Director of the Legislative Counsel Bureau, the Joint Interim 35 Standing Committee on Education and the Interim Finance 36 Committee [.] on or before the Friday of the second full week of 37 November. 38 3. After receiving the reports submitted to the Commission 39 pursuant to subsection 2, the Governor may, with the approval of the 40 Legislature or Interim Finance Committee if the Legislature is not in 41 session, direct a school district or charter school to take such 42 remedial actions as the Governor determines to be necessary and 43 appropriate to address any deficiency identified in the reports 44 submitted pursuant to subsection 2. 45 – 6 – - *AB531* 4. The Commission shall: 1 (a) Present any recommendations pursuant to paragraphs (a) to 2 (g), inclusive, of subsection 1 at a meeting of the Joint Interim 3 Standing Committee on Education for consideration and 4 recommendations by the Committee; and 5 (b) After consideration of the recommendations of the Joint 6 Interim Standing Committee on Education, transmit the 7 recommendations or a revised version of the recommendations to 8 the Governor and the Director of the Legislative Counsel Bureau for 9 distribution to the Legislature. 10 Sec. 2. Chapter 388 of NRS is hereby amended by adding 11 thereto the provisions set forth as sections 3, 4 and 5 of this act. 12 Sec. 3. 1. The Department shall establish a dashboard, or 13 use an existing platform that is appropriate for such services, for 14 tracking attendance data for pupils and displaying the data to the 15 Department and the board of trustees of each school district in 16 real time. 17 2. The board of trustees of each school district shall: 18 (a) Use the dashboard established pursuant to subsection 1 to, 19 each day, report attendance data from each school in the school 20 district; and 21 (b) Monitor the data reported to th [Text truncated for display. Full text available on LegiScan.]