The committee approved R277‑609 (standards for local education agency discipline plans and emergency safety interventions) on first reading and asked the Reports and Requirements Task Force to refine reporting, data collection and monitoring requirements.

Deputy Superintendent Elise Nooyi and prevention specialist Becca Ray said staff reorganized the rule to reduce duplicated or unwieldy material and to make it easier for LEAs to comply. The change reflects earlier legislative amendments (including HB 84 and related measures) and the repeal of a prior system (EARS) that previously collected discipline policy documents.

Committee members pressed staff on what the monitoring would produce and how the collected data would be used. Staff said the rule, as drafted, would require LEAs to develop consistent processes to collect incident, infraction and discipline data — including number of suspension and expulsion days — and to report that information to the state under existing data‑collection authorities. The committee discussed whether the board wanted merely a compliance check (policy filed) or actual implementation monitoring (site visits, outcome measures). Members asked staff which elements are already reported elsewhere and which would be new.

Board member Hart moved to approve draft 3 on first reading and to send the rule to the Reports and Requirements Task Force with direction to further refine reporting and data‑collection requirements for monitoring. The committee approved the motion unanimously.

Ending: The rule advances to the full board for second reading with a parallel task‑force process to define which data elements will be collected, how they will be sourced and how staff will implement monitoring.