AB584 - Revises provisions relating to education. (BDR 34-1035)

A.B. 584 - *AB584* ASSEMBLY BILL NO. 584–COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION (ON BEHALF OF THE OFFICE OF THE GOVERNOR) MAY 14, 2025 ____________ Referred to Committee on Ways and Means SUMMARY—Revises provisions relating to education. (BDR 34-1035) FISCAL NOTE: Effect on Local Government: May have Fiscal Impact. Effect on the State: Contains Appropriation included in Executive Budget. CONTAINS UNFUNDED MANDATE (§§ 3-5, 22, 23, 27) (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; providing for the waiver of certain requirements to report data and information concerning public schools; establishing a statewide system of accountability for school districts; establishing certain measures to be taken for school districts and public schools designated as low-performing or underperforming; establishing the Nevada Integrity in Academic Funding Program to assist pupils attending certain low-performing or underperforming public schools in accessing alternative educational settings; creating the Excellence in Education Account to provide grants to pay nonrecurring incentives to certain school administrators, teachers and other educational personnel; revising provisions governing the Education Stabilization Account; authorizing a charter school to receive certain funding to provide transportation services to pupils; providing for the establishment of a system of open enrollment for public schools; establishing a program to pay expenses for certain literacy interventions, tutoring and other related services for certain pupils eligible for services in the subject of reading; revising provisions – 2 – - *AB584* governing charter schools sponsored by cities or counties; revising provisions governing instruction in English language arts in kindergarten and grades 1, 2 and 3; providing that certain public school and private school employees are immune from civil and criminal liability for certain actions related to intervening in altercations, fights or other incidents; revising provisions governing the performance of teachers and school administrators; authorizing school districts and charter schools to establish programs to pay nonrecurring incentives to high- performing teachers and school administrators; creating the Education Service Center; making appropriations; and providing other matters properly relating thereto. Legislative Counsel’s Digest: Section 1 of this bill establishes a procedure by which the superintendent of 1 schools of a school district or the Superintendent of Public Instruction is authorized 2 to modify, suspend or eliminate a requirement for a public school or school district 3 to report information or data that is redundant or duplicative or does not provide 4 information or data that is used by the Department of Education, the State Board of 5 Education or any other person or entity to support educational outcomes. 6 Existing law establishes a statewide system of accountability for public schools 7 that includes, without limitation, a method to annually rate each public school 8 based on the performance of the school and on whether each public school meets 9 the school achievement targets and performance targets established pursuant to the 10 statewide system of accountability. (NRS 385A.600) Sections 3-5 and 11 of this 11 bill establish a similar system of accountability for school districts in this State. 12 Section 6 of this bill establishes criteria and procedures for the Superintendent to 13 designate a school district as low-performing or underperforming. Section 13 of 14 this bill requires: (1) the Superintendent to place a school district designated as 15 underperforming on probation if the designation is based on certain findings related 16 to the performance of the board of trustees of the school district; and (2) such a 17 school district to submit to the Department a school district performance 18 improvement plan and a school board improvement plan. Section 14 of this bill 19 authorizes the Superintendent to take certain actions if the board of trustees of a 20 school district does not make adequate progress toward meeting the goals and 21 benchmarks necessary to improve the performance of the school district, including, 22 without limitation, state oversight of the governance of the school district by the 23 board of trustees. Section 15 of this bill requires: (1) the Superintendent to place a 24 school district designated as underperforming on probation if the designation was 25 based on certain findings relating to the performance of pupils within the school 26 district; and (2) such a school district to submit to the Superintendent a school 27 district performance improvement plan. Section 15 also establishes the actions that 28 the Superintendent is authorized to take if the school district does not make 29 adequate progress toward improving the performance of pupils in the school 30 district, including, without limitation, replacing the leadership of the school district, 31 reallocating school district resources to prioritize support for low-performing 32 schools and assuming state control over certain functions of the school district. 33 Section 7 of this bill establishes criteria for designating a public school as low- 34 performing, and sections 28-37 of this bill prescribe the actions that may be taken 35 with respect to a public school designated as low-performing or persistently 36 underperforming. Under section 28: (1) the Superintendent is required to place on 37 – 3 – - *AB584* probation a public school designated as low-performing; (2) the principal of the 38 public school is required to submit to the Superintendent a school improvement 39 plan; (3) the Superintendent is authorized to appoint an independent school 40 improvement official to oversee and monitor the progress of the school; and (4) the 41 Superintendent is required to designate as persistently underperforming a public 42 school placed on probation that fails to make adequate progress toward improving 43 pupil performance. Section 29 requires the Superintendent to initiate a process for 44 state intervention to implement certain corrective measures for a school that is 45 designated as persistently underperforming. Section 30 establishes provisions 46 governing the corrective measure of replacing the principal and key members of the 47 staff of a school. Section 31 establishes provisions governing the corrective 48 measure of the direct management of a school by the Department, as implemented 49 by the Superintendent. Section 32 establishes provisions governing the corrective 50 measure of transferring management of a school to the city or county in which the 51 school is located. Section 33 establishes provisions governing the corrective 52 measure of the conversion of a school into a charter school. Section 34 establishes 53 provisions governing the corrective measure of the conversion of a school to an 54 innovation school, and section 35 provides for the creation of networks of such 55 innovation schools. Section 36 provides for the transfer of ownership and 56 possession or the leasing of school facilities of a public school that is subject to 57 certain corrective measures. Section 61 of this bill: (1) creates the Education 58 Service Center; (2) provides for the appointment of a governing body for the 59 Center; and (3) requires the Center to provide certain assistance and guidance to 60 public schools and school districts that are experiencing low performance. 61 Section 37 requires a school that is designated as low-performing for 3 62 consecutive years to be designated as chronically low-performing and provides for 63 expanded achievement options for the pupils attending the school, including, 64 without limitation, attending another public school in the school district, a charter 65 school or a private school that satisfies certain requirements. Section 38 of this bill 66 requires the State Treasurer to adopt regulations to establish and carry out the 67 Nevada Integrity in Academic Funding Program. Under section 38, to the extent 68 that money is available to carry out the Program, the State Treasurer is required to 69 create a Resources for Inspiring Student Excellence Account, or “RISE Account,” 70 which may be used by the parent or legal guardian of a qualified pupil to pay 71 certain qualified educational expenses associated with participating in an expanded 72 achievement option pursuant to section 37. 73 Existing law provides that on or before December 31 of each year, the board of 74 trustees of each school district and the sponsor of each charter school is required to 75 prepare for the immediately preceding school year a report of accountability 76 concerning the educational goals and objectives of the school district or charter 77 school. (NRS 385A.070) Section 8 of this bill revises the date on which the board 78 of trustees of a school district or sponsor of a charter is required to provide written 79 notice that the report is available on the Internet website maintained by the school 80 district or sponsor of the charter school. Section 9 of this bill requires such a report 81 to include applicable comparisons to pupils in other states. 82 Existing law: (1) creates the Education Stabilization Account as a reserve 83 account within the State Education Fund; (2) authorizes the transfer of money 84 between the Account and the Fund for certain purposes; and (3) provides that the 85 balance in the Account must not exceed 20 percent of the total of all appropriations 86 and authorizations from the Fund, excluding the Account, for the immediately 87 preceding fiscal year. (NRS 387.1213) Section 17 of this bill: (1) creates the 88 Excellence in Education Account in the State Education Fund; (2) establishes the 89 maximum amount of money that may be in the Excellence in Education Account; 90 and (3) provides for the transfer of money to the Excellence in Education Account 91 under certain circumstances. Under section 17, money in the Excellence in 92 – 4 – - *AB584* Education Account must be used only to make grants of money to school districts, 93 charter schools and university schools for profoundly gifted pupils to provide 94 nonrecurring incentives to school administrators, teachers and other educational 95 personnel, including, without limitation, to pay incentives to school administrators 96 and teachers pursuant to any program established pursuant to section 59 or 60 of 97 this bill. Section 18 of this bill: (1) makes conforming changes to provisions 98 of existing law governing the Education Stabilization Account to reflect the transfer 99 of certain money to the Excellence in Education Account; and (2) requires money 100 in the Education Stabilization Account to be transferred to the Department to 101 undertake certain measures to oversee or allocate resources to a school district that 102 is designated as low-performing or underperforming pursuant to section 6 or a 103 school that is designated as low-performing pursuant to section 7 or persistently 104 underperforming pursuant to section 28. 105 As part of the Pupil-Centered Funding Plan, existing law requires money in 106 each fiscal year to be appropriated to each school district to provide transportation 107 for pupils. (NRS 387.1214) Section 19 of this bill additionally authorizes a charter 108 school to receive money to provide transportation for pupils if the provision of 109 transportation for pupils is authorized in the charter contract entered into by the 110 governing body of the charter school and the sponsor of the charter school. 111 Existing law creates the Commission on School Funding and establishes the 112 duties of the Commission. (NRS 387.1246, 387.12463) Section 20 of this bill 113 requires the Commission to review the process of adjusting school funding 114 allocations based on the count of weighted pupil groups and evaluate alternatives 115 for making those adjustments. Under existing law, any recommendations resulting 116 from such a review are required to be presented to the Joint Interim Standing 117 Committee on Education, and after consideration by the Committee, the 118 Commission is required to transmit the recommendations to the Governor and the 119 Legislature. (NRS 387.12463) 120 Existing law: (1) authorizes the board of trustees of certain school districts to 121 zone the school district and determine which pupils must attend each school; and 122 (2) allows pupils to attend certain schools despite the zoning decision of the board 123 of trustees. (NRS 388.040) Section 22 of this bill provides for the implementation 124 of a system of open enrollment managed by each school district pursuant to which 125 the parent or legal guardian of a pupil may apply for the pupil to attend a school 126 outside of the zone of attendance in which the pupil resides. Section 39 of this bill 127 makes a conforming change to authorize a pupil to attend a public school outside of 128 the zone of attendance in which the pupil resides if the pupil is selected to attend a 129 different public school under the system of open enrollment. Section 23 of this bill 130 requires the school district to provide transportation services, or subsidize 131 transportation services, for a pupil who is attending or is zoned to attend a school 132 designated as low-performing pursuant to section 7 and who is selected to attend a 133 different school under the system of open enrollment. Section 16 of this bill 134 authorizes the board of trustees of a school district that furnishes transportation to 135 pupils to elect not to provide transportation to a pupil who attends a public school 136 outside of his or her zone of attendance pursuant to section 22, unless the school 137 district is required to provide transportation to such a pupil pursuant to section 23. 138 Section 24 of this bill requires the Department to monitor the system of open 139 enrollment, collect data and prepare certain reports concerning the system. 140 Existing law requires an elementary school to provide intervention services and 141 intensive instruction to a pupil during the time the pupil attends the school if the 142 pupil does not obtain a score in the subject area of reading on the criterion- 143 referenced examination in reading that meets the score prescribed by the State 144 Board. (NRS 388A.487, 392.760) Section [Text truncated for display. Full text available on LegiScan.]