[{"_1":2,"_100":-5,"_101":-5},"loaderData",{"_3":4,"_26":27},"root",{"_5":6,"_17":10,"_18":19,"_20":21,"_22":10,"_23":-5,"_24":-5,"_25":10},"user",{"_7":8,"_9":10,"_11":10,"_12":-5,"_13":-5,"_14":15,"_16":-5},"roles",[],"isAuthenticated",false,"isPremium","planName","subscriptionStatus","featureFlags",{},"insightsBudget","isDevelopmentHost","userPreferences",{},"recaptchaSiteKey","6LcvOJcUAAAAAHsB-gPGfGktcRlKpH7OTIU_dMTD","isImpersonating","impersonation","affiliateStatus","isFreedomPortal","routes/v2/article/layout",{"_28":29,"_30":31},"notFound",true,"relatedArticles",[32,76,88],{"_33":34,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":40,"_41":42,"_43":44,"_45":46,"_47":48,"_49":50,"_51":52,"_53":54,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":60,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":66,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":72,"_73":74,"_75":74},"mediaId",6066757,"mediaKeyId","3155755-7b9d5ff60b95ac289ab75994e818a6d7","parentId",3155755,"title","House Education Committee clears a broad slate of bills on tests, school governance, choice and curriculum","audioSeconds",1,"startMs",8000,"endMs",9398,"viewUrl","/Search/View?dp=1&key=3155755-7b9d5ff60b95ac289ab75994e818a6d7&start=8&end=9","thumbnailUrl","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/3155755-7b9d5ff60b95ac289ab75994e818a6d7/thumbnail_8000.jpg","articleUrl","/articles/6066757/Arkansas/House-Education-Committee-clears-a-broad-slate-of-bills-on-tests-school-governance-choice-and-curriculum","mediaUrl","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6066757-fc92c3a46e496bd4411ea7d1cb668f9d/orig.mp4?Expires=1771192043&Signature=JU4XfNs8sH0BMZMe68VScN4JD9gbLIWf94beubvcKfixVV~mgYI6OQokSInH-1vZZ~OH-4JImWRBeXW-pJhAgAdbihWNSVIwxTMvl8qjMs-QX4iejFpgXMD9dKzgJ1ktC6BRvgm59rYmko3nuHD4OkHGkm5Lci-TLQRbsJMMwWLsp8JzREYLkSA30iWAhOlqtJqAKHMb0Bx5dZEVuTguKqnIdV~zz5miGUdGrer~RcKABPzba4x3~c1uiFxuA0kbr~1sbvzmM6u7csGKHyCI54ffEAb8f0vaaBm3hwBs7K4CBkSpX0DWlZBf1kY5PtcN7IQTRp4aDtMxL5B-WMl4lg__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","author","Arkansas State Legislature","date","2025-04-10T00:00:00Z","article","The House Education Committee advanced a long list of bills covering topics from testing and assessment to school governance, rural workforce recruitment, curriculum content and classroom safety. Committee members generally used voice votes to advance measures after brief presentations or limited discussion.

Key actions and short summaries (votes taken in committee):

- Senate Bill 5547 (as stated: \"5 5 47\") — Sponsor: Rep. Meeks. Removes a 25‑mile limit that could prevent homeschooled students from participating in private‑school athletics programs if the private school is farther than 25 miles. No public opposition registered in committee; bill approved by voice vote. (Details not fully specified in transcript.)

- Senate Bill 183 — Sponsor presentation included Department of Education staff. Broadens the set of assessments the Department may pay for (adds CLT / Classic Learning Test alongside ACT); sponsors said the change uses existing assessment appropriation and is revenue neutral. Adopted by committee by voice vote.

- Senate Bill 618 — Amends Arkansas Student Due Process and Protection Act for higher‑education disciplinary investigations: requires institutions to advise parties of rights and shortens appeal windows from 25 to 7 days in the amendment presented; passed by voice vote.

- Senate Bill 504 — Creates an Arkansas rural preceptorship program to place medical students and similar trainees in short, stipend‑supported rural clinical experiences as a recruitment tool for rural practice; Department of Commerce indicated available internal funding; approved by voice vote.

- Senate Bill 619 — See separate article: creates a pathway for designated isolated schools to re‑form independent districts; committee adopted an amendment and passed the bill by voice vote.

- House bill / Senate companion (SB 484) — Representative McCollum’s bill to formalize a transparent process for filling school‑board vacancies; the school board retains first authority, quorum court is the backstop; passed by voice vote.

- SP 624 — Same wording as earlier committee passage; sponsor requested passage at proper time; committee approved.

- Senate Bill 402 — Ban on captive‑audience recruitment (prevents labor/union recruitment during work day on school campuses); sponsor indicated agreed language and no opposition; passed by voice vote.

- Senate Bill 425 — Clarifies enhanced transportation funding amounts and formula mechanics recommended by adequacy work group; Department of Education explained formula drivers (route miles, ridership, cost comparisons); passed by voice vote.

- Senate Bill 149 — Senate version of adequacy funding; sponsors noted differences with the House version (notably language about PLC/teacher PD funding and Solution Tree), and said the House bill will likely be used as the vehicle; committee approved the senate version to keep options open.

- Senate Bill 604 — Delays implementation date for course‑choice provisions in LEARNS to the 2026–27 school year to allow rulemaking and readiness; approved by voice vote.

- Senate Bill 450 — Adds a human fetal growth and development discussion to relevant standards and asks ADE (in consultation with Department of Health) to determine appropriate grade levels; bill requires inclusion of a high‑definition ultrasound image in instruction resources; passed by voice vote.

- Senate Bill 352 — Establishes a definition of antisemitism using the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) working definition and asks ADE and higher‑education bodies to designate Title VI coordinators and report annually; committee approved the bill by voice vote.

- Senate Bill 559 — Technical cleanup to the Arkansas Military Child School Transitions Act, restoring language inadvertently deleted in earlier House bill and standardizing wording; approved by voice vote.

Other bills on the calendar were rolled or held for additional fiscal notes or amendments; committee chair signaled the panel would recess until shortly after adjournment of the House floor to allow staff to circulate outstanding fiscal impacts.

Votes at a glance (committee action): all listed measures above were approved in committee by voice vote; some had technical amendments adopted (SB 619, SB 183/618 amendments, others as noted). Specific roll‑call tallies were not recorded in the transcript; approvals were announced by voice vote.

Speakers and presenters who appeared across multiple items included Representative Meeks; Senator Missy Irvin; Rep. Steven Walker; Rep. McCollum; Representative Keith Brooks; Greg Rogers (Department of Education); Courtney Salas Ford (ADE); Representative Scott Richardson; Senator Brianne Davis; Representative Howard Beatty; Representative Carolyn Brown.","mediaType","Video","parentTitle","House Education Committee - Apr 10, 2025","oneSentenceSummary","In a lengthy session the committee approved a series of Senate and House measures covering testing options, school‑board vacancy procedures, rural medical preceptorships, curriculum changes and more; most measures passed by voice vote with technical amendments where noted.","taxTitle","EDUCATION COMMITTEE- HOUSE, House of Representatives, Committees, Legislative, Arkansas","taxId",20617,"location","Arkansas","headline","","shortSummary",{"_33":77,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":78,"_41":79,"_43":80,"_45":81,"_47":82,"_49":83,"_51":84,"_53":85,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":86,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":87,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":72,"_73":74,"_75":74},6066762,"Committee advances pilot for mental‑health crisis teams to serve students whose behavior risks harm",3190,5160000,8350000,"/Search/View?dp=1&key=3155755-7b9d5ff60b95ac289ab75994e818a6d7&start=5160&end=8350","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/3155755-7b9d5ff60b95ac289ab75994e818a6d7/thumbnail_5160000.jpg","/articles/6066762/Arkansas/Committee-advances-pilot-for-mentalhealth-crisis-teams-to-serve-students-whose-behavior-risks-harm","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6066762-bb67b69194b0cc76d80758ab26048c78/orig.mp4?Expires=1771192043&Signature=Kxjem25W3f~2V2mKsqG24hn4JHvs~kkMgjSuEjd1neQ7xp~ap5eHoqn~8dNxxdQMmihpATeY79Hv6KAz1EEt0Uck~euMgvZHYzrTPjxwfCQJKJjg0cMcaqewdNNlh6~DxnzLRE6ufBDA72vyZbNW2FaNRgy0g7RDRnX6skcSUI4pJ7BtXUdvyb4YEC~5r5xdgNOxzyRnvtkMJX-OA4zp7b0ZlGhWcRW-zDqHNlwf6ZobSd0qnpe6eeI6VtXAVtDVoDaEG56w-obxMVyWEA9asojiSMhsN1g4eb80XQX2GvPEyWg1LV2AgdDimZQLsokc09gV~IKhHF2tbSjtMUxbBw__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","The Arkansas House Education Committee voted to advance Senate Bill 451, a pilot program that would create mental‑health crisis response teams to evaluate and provide short‑term intensive services for students who “demonstrate behavior that is substantially likely to cause injury,” sponsors and agency officials said.

Representative Scott Richardson, who presented the bill to the committee, described it as a targeted, costly but necessary intervention. “This bill provides that the Department of Education, along with the Department of Health, work together, to create mental health crisis response teams,” Richardson said. He told members the pilot would be limited to 500 students and estimated the initial annual cost at about $4 million, and that the program is intended to bring students back into less‑restrictive school settings as quickly as possible.

Department of Education staff and Department of Human Services officials briefed the committee on the mechanics and fiscal implications. Courtney Salas Ford of the Department of Education said the ALE (alternative learning environment) funding that pays per‑student educational costs would follow students into any new program, and that ADE’s fiscal note reflects a worst‑case projection for ALE reimbursement. Greg Rogers (Department of Education) and DHS Secretary Christie Putnam explained how Medicaid and other payors could cover clinical services: “It is a $4,000,000 Medicaid state share cost,” Secretary Putnam told the committee, while noting a range depending on service length and mix of payors.

DHS’s Melissa Weatherton described operational options and the prior programs that inform the pilot. The department said some service concepts come from earlier day‑treatment models and from in‑home family‑centered treatment pilots; the new effort would attempt to blend what worked into a stepped model so students can receive intensive services, then step down to reintegration into standard school classrooms.

On funding, witnesses and sponsors said the pilot will affect ADE’s ALE appropriation and require coordination between ADE and DHS. The committee received a fiscal breakdown in which ADE’s potential exposure was modeled as up to roughly $12 million moved within the existing ALE pool (the note used a worst‑case scenario), while DHS estimated a Medicaid state‑share cost in the neighborhood of $4 million with an upper range as high as $8 million depending on the length of placement (three versus six months in models discussed).

Supporters described classroom safety and learning disruption as the rationale. Richardson said the pilot is intended to provide services earlier and reduce the need for longer residential placements later. Multiple committee members urged careful attention to student privacy, to anti‑targeting measures and to ensuring teachers and students are not stigmatized by placement in an intensive program.

The committee approved the bill by voice vote after extended discussion. Sponsors and agency staff said the pilot will require additional implementation work and interagency rule‑making or guidance if the bill advances.

What’s next: The bill moves to the House floor. Committee members asked ADE and DHS to continue refining fiscal estimates and to provide implementation detail before the bill advances further.

Speakers quoted or referenced: Representative Scott Richardson (House District 13), Courtney Salas Ford (Arkansas Department of Education), Greg Rogers (Arkansas Department of Education), Christie Putnam (Secretary, Arkansas DHS), Melissa Weatherton (DHS).","The committee approved Senate Bill 451 to pilot multi‑agency mental‑health crisis response teams for students exhibiting violence or severe behavioral threats; sponsors said the pilot will be limited to 500 students and carry an estimated state fiscal impact in the millions, split between education and Medicaid funding.",{"_33":89,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":90,"_41":91,"_43":92,"_45":93,"_47":94,"_49":95,"_51":96,"_53":97,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":98,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":99,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":72,"_73":74,"_75":74},6066767,"House Education Committee approves pathway for designated isolated rural schools to re-form as independent districts",1997,1059000,3056000,"/Search/View?dp=1&key=3155755-7b9d5ff60b95ac289ab75994e818a6d7&start=1059&end=3056","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/3155755-7b9d5ff60b95ac289ab75994e818a6d7/thumbnail_1059000.jpg","/articles/6066767/Arkansas/House-Education-Committee-approves-pathway-for-designated-isolated-rural-schools-to-re-form-as-independent-districts","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6066767-07c8af7bfa1f7a519cd0be22e524e5dd/orig.mp4?Expires=1771192043&Signature=iyFDWuS~lBjJ5ajCDVrdj0pdbn744JmSP07Etl8EV4-yZ~6kp6ahPaRvw0E0ZIcids82~LVGghUxhrrCvLTc9iU6k2b1tcW~8Km8Gf9DkBzrsSgBgfbOPEofTIHUn1QU~96kJS4grpv-NQ04Q6vim7yr2O-JoJPFeGFgVtvzRZz9MuoQ-sz3tvAYStOFwEEOT98DatVOHLfBq7qxikZMFrHsyhCGU-s6sooHtngreMf0B0-Wk9kQZt2OjrFFkd~ajDai0TGnySZ5bZINflOHMbkkuEJSjKAiv2GYdiBnycSUykdYeEzzcdO1eERDXJOJ-HhnYpLtrXa2DbhtveirKg__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","Senate Bill 619, which creates a process for already‑designated isolated schools to form independent school districts, cleared the Arkansas House Education Committee after extended testimony from sponsors, local officials and residents.

Sponsor Sen. Missy Irvin, R‑District 24, said the bill would return local control to small communities where a single school is a central part of local life and the local economy. “This bill creates an isolated school district,” Irvin told the committee, and it “is about local governance. It’s about allowing people to stand on their own two feet and be able to support that community and that school.”

Committee members heard more than an hour of testimony from rural residents, school leaders and community officials who said the measure would let small campuses that were consolidated under earlier law re‑establish themselves. Mark Rush, superintendent of Mountain View School District, said two small campuses that currently operate under Mountain View — Rural Special and Timbo — serve roughly 200 students each and already operate like separate K‑12 entities with their own bus routes, athletics and extracurriculars. “These campuses … would get to create their own millage. They would get to elect their own board, and they would go back to operating as independent entities,” Rush said.

Supporters told the committee the bill is narrowly targeted: it applies only to isolated schools already designated by the Department of Education and lays out a specific process to form a district. Sen. Irvin and Rep. Steven Walker, who joined her on the presentation, said the measure applies to about 11 isolated campuses identified in current Department of Education rules. Walker described the bill as a way to remedy community losses caused by past consolidations that were triggered by Act 60 (2004), which set a minimum enrollment threshold used then to force many consolidations.

The Department of Education staff and the bill’s backers told the committee there is no additional state fiscal impact because funding mechanisms for those students already exist; the sponsors said the new districts would receive state foundation and isolated‑school funding already provided through existing formulas. Representative Steven Walker said the proposal would allow small communities to levy a millage and receive the same state support their students already qualify for, not to create a new general‑revenue obligation.

The committee adopted a technical amendment that clarified who may vote in the reorganization process and to align some language with companion House legislation governing school board terms. After public testimony that included local leaders and the Mountain View superintendent, Representative Walker moved the bill; the committee approved it by voice vote.

What’s next: The bill now moves to the House floor. Supporters said they hope the committee passage will let affected communities begin the administrative steps toward re‑establishing local districts if they choose.

Votes at committee: SB 619 — amendment adopted; bill approved by voice vote.

Speakers quoted or referenced: Sen. Missy Irvin (District 24), Representative Steven Walker (House District 27), Mark Rush (Superintendent, Mountain View School District), Stacy Avey (Stone County judge), former Chief Justice John Dan Kemp, Renee Carr (supporter).","The committee approved Senate Bill 619 to allow already‑designated isolated schools to create their own school districts and elect local boards; sponsors and local leaders said the change would preserve small schools and their communities without a new state fiscal burden.","actionData","errors"]

Article not found

House Education Committee clears a broad slate of bills on tests, school governance, choice and curriculum

Committee advances pilot for mental‑health crisis teams to serve students whose behavior risks harm

House Education Committee approves pathway for designated isolated rural schools to re-form as independent districts