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Committee backs changes to school-fee law, preserves no-fee core classes and adds transparency and no-fee pathway
Summary
The Senate Education Committee passed a revised House Bill 344 that preserves non-fee core courses, permits fees for certain elective or advanced courses with prominent disclosure, and requires a no-fee path to graduation; the committee adopted an amendment addressing charter and AP-course edge cases.
The Senate Education Committee on Feb. 14 passed (unanimously) House Bill 344, legislation that refines school-fee rules after unintended consequences emerged from earlier 2024 changes.
Representative Strong, the sponsor, described HB 344 as restoring a practical balance between free, core instruction and fee-based co-curricular or elective offerings. Under the bill as amended, districts must keep “non-fee” core courses—language arts, mathematics, science, social studies and health—free of charges. Outside…
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