Committee reviews H.480 amendments on school emergency plans and approval rules for therapeutic independent schools

Legislative counsel on May 8 presented amendment version 12.1 to H.480 and walked committee members through several technical and substantive changes, including deadlines for school emergency action plans and language intended to preserve approval for converting therapeutic independent schools while a new application is pending with the State Board of Education.

Counsel said the amendment moves a statutory reference into the emergency operations plan chapter and that lines 8–9 of the draft “require school districts and the public schools to have an emergency action plan developed and ready for implementation beginning in the 2026–2027 school year.” Counsel also said the bill’s effective-date language was updated so that the session-law requirement tied to the school-year date would take effect July 1, 2025, while the section requiring actual plans would take effect July 1, 2026.

On independent-school approvals, counsel said staff added the modifier “therapeutic” before “independent schools” and proposed language intended to prevent schools from falling into limbo during a change in ownership or status. Counsel quoted the State Board of Education’s rule language on continued approval: “approval of a school completing a timely application for further approval shall extend until the board acts on further approval.” Counsel said that wording was taken directly from the rule series (identified in the discussion as rule 22.24.5) but cautioned that, without speaking directly to the State Board, counsel could not guarantee the language would achieve the parties’ intent.

Julie Prechette, who identified herself as representing a middle school, asked that the language explicitly state that a school converting from for-profit to nonprofit maintain its approval status during the conversion process. “…for any such nonprofit therapeutic independent school converting to a nonprofit therapeutic independent school shall maintain its approval status,” she said, asking the committee to consider tightening the language to avoid gaps in approval during conversion.

Committee members discussed logistics for obtaining a formal response from the State Board. Counsel said staff would try to obtain a response between the meeting day and the committee’s next convening; the transcript records counsel saying it was likely they could get a response between the meeting day and the following Tuesday. No final committee vote on the amendment is recorded in the provided transcript.

The transcript shows the committee focused on clarifying implementation dates and on ensuring that approval continuity for therapeutic independent schools is preserved while a new application is pending before the State Board. The discussion concluded with staff directed to seek clarification from the State Board and to return with any necessary language changes at the next meeting.