Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Education Governance topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Committee sends Senate Bill 1045 to floor to relax spouse-employment limits for very small districts
Summary
Senate Bill 1045, sponsored by Representative Dan Garner, would allow board members in districts under 400 students to employ a spouse in most educator or classified roles (but not administrators), require abstention on related votes, and includes a five-year sunset; the committee approved a due-pass recommendation to the House floor.
Representative Dan Garner presented Senate Bill 1045 to the House Committee on Education as a proposal aimed at small rural school districts. Garner said the bill targets the smallest districts — those under 400 students — and would allow a school board member's spouse to be employed in any teacher category or classified role except administrative positions. The bill retains a requirement that the board member abstain from votes involving payroll, negotiation or discipline of the spouse and includes a five-year sunset provision.
"We are asking you to slightly relax ... before if there was a board member and their spouse taught school, they could teach school but they had to remain in a category 1 teaching level; this is going to allow them to be in any of the categories," Garner said, explaining the change helps districts that struggle to recruit trustees and staff in very small communities. He told the committee there are 40 districts in the state with enrollment under 400 students that would be affected.
Quinn Perry, deputy director of the School Boards Association, testified in support and described the bill as a pilot intended to provide flexibility to very small districts. Perry explained the existing statutory exception applies to districts with 1,200 or fewer students and that the new bill seeks a further limited exception for the smallest districts so a spouse can move through contract status without the administrative complication of a short-term (category 1) contract. "This is seeking a further exception for those super small districts where they can just let that employee move through the contract status," Perry said.
Committee members asked about tie votes and abstention procedures. Perry and other speakers explained that if a five-member board member abstains and the result is a tie on an item, "the motion would die" in that local process. Chairman Pickett and committee members did not record further amendments; Representative Thais moved to send Senate Bill 1045 to the House floor with a due-pass recommendation; the committee approved the motion by voice vote.
The bill would not permit administrators who are relatives of board members to be employed under the exception. The five-year sunset requires legislative review to determine whether the pilot should become permanent or lapse.
