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Committee approves cleanup to staff-allowance statute that restores hiring flexibility for districts
Summary
The House Education Committee voted to introduce RS 32,458, a cleanup to statute that restores prior flexibility on staff allowance calculations and eliminates a narrowing provision added in 2016; the motion carried by voice vote.
Representative Sonia Galaviz asked the House Education Committee to introduce RS 32,458, a cleanup to statutory language governing school district staff-allowance flexibility in current code (as cited in sponsor remarks). Galaviz said the change would restore the pre-2016 flexibility that allowed districts to carry staffing allocations more flexibly following the 2007–2008 recession.
"Right now school districts are permitted to employ 9 and a half percent fewer positions than they're allocated full time equivalent," Representative Sonia Galaviz told the committee, describing the historical context. She said a 2016 change introduced a one-way reduction in flexibility — shrinking districts' flexibility by 1% when class-size comparisons exceeded statewide averages — that has penalized smaller districts and nicknamed the provision "use it or lose it."
Committee members asked whether removing a reporting line (page 2, lines 47–50 of the draft language) would affect oversight. Galaviz replied the State Department of Education would retain reporting on staff allowance and hiring; the struck language removed reporting tied to the flexibility reduction, not the department's overall reporting on staff allocations.
Representative Clow moved to introduce RS 32,458; several colleagues expressed support in committee comments, including a former school board member who said the flexibility mirrored charter-school practice and could reduce waste. Representative Harris asked for examples and Galaviz said she would provide spreadsheets in a full hearing showing how divisors are used for districts of different sizes.
The committee approved the motion to introduce RS 32,458 by voice vote; committee leadership announced the motion carried and the RS will be printed for the bill hearing process.
