The House Select Committee on Youth Health & Safety will meet Monday, March 20, 2023, at 2:30 p.m. or upon final adjournment of the House, on 13 bills, including the following of significance to K-12 schools:
- HB 98 (Moody) relates to the provision of on-campus mental health services by a school district and reimbursement under Medicaid for certain services provided to eligible students.
- HB 249 (Rogers, et al.) relates to a school security volunteer program in certain counties.
- HB 459 (Hull, et al.) would prohibit peace officers and school security personnel who are performing security-related duties on school property or at a school-sponsored or school-related activity from restraining or using a chemical irritant spray on a student who is 10 years old or younger unless the student poses a serious risk of harm to the student themself or to another person.
- HB 516 (Wu, et al.) relates to requiring a school district or open-enrollment charter school to report data regarding certain disciplinary or law enforcement actions taken against students.
- HB 655 (Allison, et al.) would permit a school district to provide virtual instruction to a student who engages in “habitually violent behavior” toward other students or district staff. Additionally, the school district would be permitted to consult with local and state law enforcement to determine whether the violent behavior poses an ongoing threat to students and district staff in a general education setting; and the district could establish conditions that a student or the student’s parent/guardian must fulfill to allow a student placed in a virtual setting to return to an alternative, general, or hybrid educational setting. The conditions would include providing evidence the student has undergone medical and/or mental health evaluation. For SPED students who pose an ongoing threat, the student’s ARD committee would be required to meet to determine the appropriate educational setting for the student. If the ARD team determined that the least restrictive environment is a remote, therapeutic, or residential placement, the district would be entitled to receive reimbursement from the state for past expenses and funding for future expenses for that student. Students placed in virtual instruction would be counted toward the district’s average daily attendance.
HB 1249 (Lozano) relates to continuing education requirements for public school counselors.An updated hearing notice was sent out Thursday, March 16, that showed this bill had been removed from the agenda.- HB 1626 (Allen, et al.) would amend the process of transitioning a student from DAEP to a general education classroom. The bill requires that the transition and enrollment occur within five days. The bill lays out which information must be taken into account to determine proper placement of the student and establishes a check-in required by campus administration at the beginning of the year and end of each grading period. If passed, the bill would go into effect in the 2023-24 school year.
- HB 2857 (Dutton) relates to the removal of a public school student from the classroom for engaging in conduct involving the possession of certain prohibited substances.
