Senate education committee advances a slate of K–12 bills in work session

The Senate Committee on Education held a work session after hearings and advanced a package of education bills. Committee staff and members summarized amendments and the committee took votes on each measure. Below are the bills acted on in the work session, the committee outcome, and key notes from the record.

Votes at a glance

- SB 81 — Motion to amend and do pass. Committee recorded the motion as carried 6–0 (one member absent). Key points: requires the Nevada Department of Education to create and conduct surveys on school climate, working conditions, and employee departures; prohibits survey data use in certain personnel evaluations; revises terminology and scholarship program provisions. Floor statement assignment noted in the record.

- SB 174 — Motion to amend and do pass. Carried 7–0. Key points: requires districts and charter schools to post policies regarding access to medically necessary treatment or services provided by private instructional personnel to pupils with autism; expands definitions and protocols; includes an amendment addressing assistive technology and supports for blind/visually impaired or deaf/hard-of-hearing pupils.

- SB 175 — Motion to amend and do pass. Carried 7–0. Key points: authorizes military members and veterans holding JROTC instructor certification to receive credit toward required training/experience/certification when applying for employment as JROTC instructors; amendment limits endorsements to JROTC instruction.

- SB 254 — Motion to amend and do pass. Carried 7–0. Key points: original bill language removed; amended to require the Department of Education, in collaboration with experts, to develop an optional model policy for universal behavioral, social and emotional well-being screening (K–12) based on MTSS principles; implementation effective upon passage per discussion with NDE representative.

- SB 368 — Motion to amend and do pass (as amended). Carried 6–1. Key points: ensures continuity of Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) protections in Nevada if federal IDEA were repealed; authorizes the Legislature to adopt all or parts of IDEA as it existed on a defined date; requires State Board of Education regulations and protects use of special education funds for IDEA-eligible pupils.

- SB 396 — Motion to amend and do pass. Carried 7–0. Key points: comprehensive literacy and special education provisions, including a required NDE professional development program on literacy topics, universal literacy screening guidance, limits on certain assignment practices for staff instructing pupils with disabilities, and other IEP and safety-plan adjustments.

- SB 403 — Motion to amend and do pass. Unanimous. Key points: creates a subcommittee on metrics within the Commission on Innovation and Excellence in Education to develop metrics for pupil, school, and district performance; defines personalized competency-based learning and establishes a process for program approval and alternative scheduling.

- SB 278 and SB 374 — Both bills heard earlier in the session were also taken up in the work session and the committee moved to amend and do pass each; records show both passed 7–0. SB 278 concerns streamlined alternative licensure and Read by 3 cleanup; SB 374 concerns professional development, MTSS, and data reporting for student behavior supports.

Procedure and next steps

Committee policy analysts read summaries and described conceptual amendments; several measures referenced that formal amendment language would be drafted by the legal division prior to floor introduction. Floor statements were assigned for bills as noted in the record; several bills explicitly assigned floor statements to sponsors or committee chairs. Where fiscal notes were referenced, staff and sponsors indicated the fiscal notes are available on the legislative information system (NELIS). Several motions were seconded by Senator Titus and others, and committee votes were recorded by voice vote with tallies entered into the record.

The bills will move to the Senate floor in accordance with the assigned floor statements and the Senate calendar. Members and agency staff noted implementation tasks for NDE and districts for items that require curricula, model policies, or pilot expansions.