House Education committee reviews draft committee bill on class size, district lines, calendars and school designation

The House Education Committee met Feb. 19, 2025, to review a draft committee bill intended as a working vehicle to coordinate a suite of education reforms including class-size minimums, a statewide school calendar, shared data systems, and district/district-line work; the committee did not take any formal votes.

Committee chair (name not given) opened the session by saying the committee had received "a lot of information" and that "it is time for us to move forward in making some big and hard decisions" using a draft committee bill as a document to work from rather than as a final proposal.

Beth, committee staff/witness, walked members through the draft and repeatedly cautioned that the document was "unedited" and intended as a working vehicle. She said the draft borrows language from previous bills and contains placeholders and typographical issues that would require conforming amendments before any final bill could be enacted.

The draft directs the State Board of Education, through the Administrative Procedures Act, to update the Education Quality Standards (EQS) to include class-size minimums. The proposed class-size minimums, as presented, would take effect in fiscal year 2027 and set average class-size minimums at 12 for kindergarten, 15 for grades 1–5 and 18 for grades 6–12, with exceptions allowed for specialized high school and career-technical education courses.

Members raised multiple questions about the draft class-size language. Representative Harpold and other members…